This year’s Spring Fest lineup was nothing short of a showstopper! The anticipation was high as the audience eagerly awaited performances from the incredible Group Shower, SLU’s very own and much-loved band, as well as the popular Neon Trees. It was the addition of the incredibly talented Indie band, Moxie, that really took the festival to the next level. Comprised of the sensational Rei Kimura on lead vocals and guitar, Leander Holzapfel on guitar, Daniel Snyder on drums, and Inky Cohen on bass, this group has been making waves since they burst onto the scene in 2017 in Brattleboro, Vermont. Their latest album, VT-9, is an absolute masterpiece, named after the primary east-west highway of Bennington and Windham counties in Southern Vermont. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a backstage pass and have a quick chat with the band before their set. 

Alright, Moxie, are you guys excited to be in the North Country tonight?  

Moxie: Yeah… So excited… Excited  

It’s (The North Country) a little bit different from Vermont can you speak to that?  

Moxie: Yeah! I mean it’s very country. Very country. Very rural. Very rural. We saw a lot of cornfields and stuff driving out here. A lot of horses and buggies! Yeah…Yeah! We don’t see too much of that in Vermont definitely didn’t expect that. Rural places always have a place in our hearts so.  

How do you guys find St. Lawrence University to be so far? I know you’ve met the ACE staff and everything like that, but what do you expect tonight?  

Moxie: Well, we saw some pretty fun-looking frat parties! We hope their drunk asses will find their way over here! Definitely looks like a lot of fun! We had Dartmouth last night and it was a lot of fratty energy which we love. We love it! We love the frats!  

Rei: I am super psyched to be here: I didn’t know St. Lawrence before being invited here.  

We actually have a lot of people who go to school here from Vermont so, I think it’s actually important that you guys are here.  

Moxie: Are you a big Neon Trees fan?  

Uhhh yeah kinda, but I’m just here for the vibes you know!  

Do you guys have any pre-show rituals that you do that you can speak of?  

Moxie: We do some yoga sometimes, to kinda zen out, but we’re not consistent with it enough I gotta say to call it a ritual. As you can see, we had fun shotgunning seltzers! We have to stay hydrated you know; it’s going to be a hot one today.  

Are you guys going to play any new music from your album? I think it’s called VT-9! 

Moxie: Oh yeah absolutely some new material from that and some unreleased things. We also wrote a song like two weeks ago that we’re going to be playing tonight which we’re super excited about. New things. New things in the mix for sure. And some old ones as well.  

And what would you say your inspiration was for VT-9?   

Moxie: Great question! Who wrote the progression?  

Rei: I wrote the progression! I think for me a big inspiration for this project is a lot of reference tracks I’ve been thinking of like, Spoon they’re like, my favorite band of all time from Austin, Texas. I’ve grown up listening to them. We have two more songs coming out with this project, a lot of influence comes from that and us coming into our full sound. Production-wise and everything. Spoon for me! 

What songs are you guys most excited to play tonight? What songs are you like, we’re going to drop this song and everyone’s going to go crazy.  

Moxie: The new one that we wrote. Yeah! That one is great! Blue Skies and Honey they’re always the crowd-pleasers. The new one is all around our favorite! We hope it goes over well.   

Thank you, Moxie!!