Words by Art Jefferson
Photography by bri.focals and Declan Creffield
Moodbay is the dynamic band consisting of singer Anna Stephens and producer Alfie Cattell. Both also respective songwriters, the pair’s sound, also known as moodpop, is a luscious blend of pop, R&B, club and electronica, erupting with flair and unstoppable grooves.
The North-East-based group’s style is a result of their love of diverse music harking back to each of their earlier years. Raised in Darlington, Anna Stephens also lived in Paris, absorbing the wonders of the city, which would also play a factor in the development of her writing. Alfie Cattell, raised in Wales, grew up playing piano and would later become a skilled producer.
The pair hit the ground at full speed with their 2019 debut single ‘Listen Up’. The synth-striking tune was a finely crafted pop building that garnished praises and support from BBC Radio Wales presenter Janice Long, as well as BBC Newcastle’s Nick Roberts and BBC Tees personality Rianne Thompson. Their next single ‘Alone’ also didn’t miss a beat with the pair demonstrating yet again their ability to pump out a scintillating pop piece, raising the levels even higher. Moodbay’s latest record ‘Ghost’ is a sleek musical gem which features BBC Jazz Award Winner and saxophonist Alexander Bone.
With an already impressive few singles under their belts, Moodbay is ready to dominate the mainstream with their stylish and addictive brand of pop brilliance.
You two met at BIMM in Manchester. How long was it before the both of you decided to actually form a group?
Alfie – It was about six months. We started writing together on and off every week and then realised we had a lot more in common than we initially thought. We formed the band randomly one day when it finally clicked that we should each be focusing solely on this project. We made up the name that same night and that was that.
Anna you left England and moved to Paris for a stint. How did living in Paris fuel you creatively?
Anna – Paris is amazing. It’s a city full of love and art. It’s also full of dirt and grime, which the postcards don’t show. But like all cities, it’s just this big, dangerous melting pot of opportunity. And I loved that. I met some musicians and that was when I started to actually witness songs being written from scratch. I had been scribbling poems at my office desk (where I was doing an internship), and then after I got back to the UK, I started turning all these words I’d written into lyrics, and then into songs at the piano. So Paris gave me my first taste of songwriting – and it was the first time the possibility of being a songwriter popped into my mind.
You two have been able to deliver various styles ranging from your earlier work like ‘Listen Up’ on down to more recent tracks such as ‘Alone’. You’ve dubbed your music as moodpop. How would you describe the moodpop sound?
Alfie – We try to incorporate various genres that we like into our music, from Hip-Hop to indie to the music of bands from across all eras – from Pink Floyd to Blur. Sometimes we write music and quickly realise that it sounds too much like a specific genre so we’ll chuck it out. Honestly, we don’t even know yet for sure what our sound is but we know what it isn’t.
Anna – It’s more of an intuitive thing – a track will just feel right and we’ve definitely started to converge towards our own sounds with the material we’re working on at the moment. The term ‘moodpop’ might stick around or we might evolve into something else and then change how we describe our sound.
Your official debut single ‘Listen Up’ was an incredible record, with yet again multiple styles perfectly blended together. It was definitely well received as well as supported on BBC Radio Wales. Can you talk about that track in particular and could you already feel that this was going to be something special?
Alfie – Thanks for the kind words. Anna wrote this song at the piano originally, and as soon as I heard it in it’s raw form, I knew it was something worth pursuing. This track definitely had an instant vibe about it but it actually took quite a while to pull all the pieces together. As you say it’s a hybrid of various genres but it took some trial and error to get the choruses and verses to link seamlessly. Even though ‘Listen Up’ has distinct elements of Hip-Hop and future bass, we always like to add in piano and strings from our classical backgrounds.
In your song ‘Alone’, you sing “I’m losing all of the control over my mind”, as well as having stories but not wanting to share them. What was the inspiration behind the track?
Anna – The track came from a recent memory Alfie had of driving down the motorway at midnight and seeing some warning signs which read ‘Man In Road’. Next thing he saw was just that – a man in the middle lane walking head on towards oncoming traffic. Who knows what was going through his mind, but it was a startling thing to see and when Alfie told me about it, we ended up talking for hours about this mysterious character.
On your new song ‘Ghost’, you feature saxophonist Alexander Bone, who is an incredible musician, not to mention also hails from Darlington. How did that collaboration come about and did you already know him personally beforehand?
Alfie – Alex is a real maestro and we are thrilled he laid down the sax at the end of ‘Ghost’, which adds a totally new dimension to the song. Someone we showed the song to suggested having sax on it, and Anna knew of Alex from her hometown. They only met once beforehand, but Alex’s mum is a school friend of Anna’s mum. Anyway, Alex is out of the ordinary – he’s a BBC Young Musician Jazz Award Winner amongst other things! It was a pleasure working with him.
What is the creative process like for you two when working in the studio?
Anna – It ranges from exhilarating to a nightmare. We’re so focused on what we’re doing in there that sometimes we forget to eat and sleep, and we can end up niggling if we’ve been in the same space together all day.
Alfie – Yeah, but we have a mutual understanding that creatively, we bring out the best in each other and that we have a lot of potential working together.
Finally, what can we expect from Moodbay in 2020?
Alfie – We feel like we’ve levelled up in our sound and production. Most of our stuff we’re excited about is currently unreleased. It contains lots of synths, varying genres as usual but with more groove.
Anna – We’re thinking about putting on our own shows – perhaps even an electronic music night in the North-East with other bands who make music ranging from experimental modular synthesis to melodic synth-pop to minimal techno. We also have an album set to be released, which contains our earlier work. Oh, and we’re supporting Shingai (vocalist and bassist of the chart-topping band The Noisettes) at a gig this March at Cobalt Studios in Newcastle.
Please visit: www.moodbay.com to read our ‘Diary’ and see all our future gigs.
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