Danny Moffat created his first album on a 4-track recorder in Bellingham, Washington when he was just 15 years old. And in the years since, he’s followed his wandering musical impulses across New Zealand, Seattle, Portland, New York City, and presently Boston. He’s spent time as the guitarist for rapper Que Believe (appearing on “Diamonds“) and worked as a touring guitarist for indie rockers It Was Romance. His cross-genre experiences also found him working as a session musician for hip-hop/EDM producers Soca Rebel and Ray DaPlug at BMJ Studios and as an assistant recording engineer under former Passion Pit and Team Spirit member Ayad Al Adhamy at Diamond City Studios.
Eventually, all these different experiences and musical histories led Moffat to form The Collect Pond, an indie pop project of the decidedly lo-fi variety where he channels the ramshackle aesthetics of Guided By Voices and the early work of The Mountain Goats. For his forthcoming EP, In the Garden, Moffat sought out the advice of songwriting guru Charlotte Hatherley, a former member of Northern Irish pop-punk band Ash. Combining her guidance with the inspiration he received from Brian Eno’s “Oblique Strategies“, Moffat developed and recorded 4 tracks of buzzy, bedroom pop, pushing himself in new rhythmic directions as a result.
On his new single, “Washing Dishes” he discusses his experiences as a dish washer while dousing everything in a haze of gorgeously disheveled pop textures. Every moment is filled with a sense of DIY wonder, as the instruments carouse and ramble about in precarious ways. The track is revelatory in its ability to hold all these wild creativities together without losing any of its impact or persuasion. There’s a gauzy sincerity permeating the music that allows you to fall completely under its sway. Moffat has created a minor indie miracle here, as the song effortlessly tumbles around through this landscape of obscured boundaries and restriction-free impulses. It’s an ode to mundane labor driven by arranged fuzz-pop instincts.
Keep up with The Collect Pond on Facebook and Instagram. In the Garden is being self-released on August 7.
