The Russian-American, Los-Angeles based alt-rock singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, novelist and poet, Moses Mikheyev, is back with his new single Black Sky, White Moon. The song is a part of his debut album ‘I Only Have Hundred Years to Love You’, the song balms your soul with magic of love and the celebration it brings with it.
Mikheyev uses alluring acoustic guitar melodies that compounds the charm of his husky vocals. The artist employs lyrical metaphors that beautifully tie into his personal memories of love and light. The song reminds you of the charm old-school love that was born with the cosmos and shares its age and wisdom.
The autobiographical song explores the art of loving someone – with strokes of care, colors of compassion, gushing verses of love and rhythms of patience all enveloped in a landscape of kindness. The artist uncovers the healing effect of love and casts light on how loving someone in the purest way can help you find your way to loving yourself and everything around you. ‘Maybe there’s truth to loving that which we hide’ is a glistening pearl of wisdom from the song that stuck with me.
1. Your songs range from alt-rock to folk music and sometimes even defies genres. Which genre do you feel most rooted to and why?
Definitely rock. I love rock music. Guitars, electric and acoustic, with fat bass and thick drums. I love organic rock music. I think I’m mostly a rock musician even though I enjoy other genres and sub-genres as well (pop, folk, indie, etc).
2. You wear several hats as a musician, song-writer, multi-instrumentalist, novelist and poet. How does your varied artistic abilities intersect to help you find and compose your sound?
I think being a writer makes me hyper-fixated on lyrics. So it adds to my songwriting abilities. It certainly doesn’t take away from them (at least, I don’t think so!). In any case, I think being versatile is a good thing. One of my favorite bands is Anberlin. And one of the things their lead singer said years ago stuck with me. He said something along the lines of, “The album has many genres on it. As an Anberlin album should.” I would say the same thing about myself. I ONLY HAVE A HUNDRED YEARS TO LOVE YOU will also include—surprise, surprise!—a hard rock, screamo song. You better believe it. We’re already recording it. So, it won’t just be romantic and mellow folk rock music.
3. The thumbnail of the song is a crescent moon that seems to have been imaged by your team. Can you tell us the story behind the song’s title and thumbnail?
The picture was taken and processed on film by David Gavrishov. He’s the mastering engineer behind the song, “Black Sky, White Moon.” It was taken on July 4th, so you can see smoke from the fireworks near the moon. There’s also a tree there, because he lives in the Pacific Northwest.
I wrote the song for a Spanish girl I fell in love with in Seattle, Washington. One night, somewhere in Kirkland, I kissed her under a black sky and a white moon. I left my iPhone in my car and had the heater turned up. I thought I was just going to kiss her goodnight, but I didn’t. We ended up spending an hour or two just talking and making out. When I went back to the car, my car was very hot, and the phone had shut off due to overheating. That was quite hilarious.
A few months later, when she left me for another man, I wrote the song about that moment. I wanted to remember my love for her in a positive, romantic light. I tend to romanticize everything, even people who hurt me. She would later tell me I romanticized too much. I guess she thought being positive and seeing the best in people was a bad trait to have. (I vehemently disagreed here!) Anyway, the song was written for her. I don’t always get what I want, or whom I love, but I almost always get my songs right!
4. Black Sky, White Moon forms a part of your album “I ONLY HAVE A HUNDRED YEARS TO LOVE YOU” that is releasing next year. What can we expect from the album in terms of its theme and artistic style?
The album’s theme is romance in all its various manifestations. The songs are mostly romantic. However, I do have break-up songs on the record and songs that deal with emotional turmoil in the context of relationships. The hardest thing you’ll encounter in your life is another human being. That’s the truth. And love brings out the best and the worst in us.
So, I wanted to record a record that captures all that. I wanted something that deals with heartbreak, love, romance, cheating, being used by girls, et cetera. Hence the need for multiple genres. I think a hard rock song with screaming on it works well for a break-up song. I mean, not everything should be written from a folk-pop lens. You can also write music that’s wild as fuck, just like many relationships are. It’s a weird world out there.
So, I think having a record that reflects that is a good thing. I’m an independent musician so I don’t give two flying fucks about sticking to a single genre. If I feel like adding an orchestra and a gospel choir on the record, you bet your ass I will. I won’t ask anyone’s permission when it comes to my artistic freedom. I do what I want, how I want. And that’s the beauty of being independent. I don’t think I’d want to be involved with a record label at this point in my career.
5. You have several music and book releases lined up in 2023. Can you tell us a little bit about what to expect?
I have two science fiction books coming out next year. One is a sci-fi/fantasy children’s book called “Olivia & The Gentleman from Outer Space.” And the other book is an adult novel called “Vanishing Bodies.” The adult book is hard to classify. It, like my debut album, is genre-defying. It has elements of science fiction, thriller, crime, mystery, and romance. All of that wrapped into a single book. I have an editor in London working on the book right now, so I’m very excited to hear her input and to see what she likes (or doesn’t). I’m always excited to see what resonates with people and what doesn’t. Some of the songs on the record tie-in with Vanishing Bodies. I think I will mention the record in the novel just for shits and giggles. It would be very meta of me to do something silly like that!
Available on Spotify.
Listen to Black Sky, White Moon by Moses Mikheyev here –
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