Shmoods provide the vibe with creativity, hip-hop and instruments
Members of The Shmoods come together for a group photo. (Photo Courtesy of The Shmoods)
This story has been updated to include an adjusted saturday concert time at the Arboretum.
They call themselves The Shmoods and their goal is to make sure that everyone--no matter the race, age or gender--feels something from their music.
Members of the Shmoods, formerly known as the DMV Hip-Hop Orchestra (HHO,) gathered Tuesday evening in the living room of founder and composer, Marcus Moody’s, house for a rehearsal in preparation for their show on Saturday.
A fall-scented candle added a cozy feel to the vibe as band members riddled off witty jokes, found the right key and engaged in other musician jargon.
Marcus Moody in efforts to encourage the band to work through mistakes after they identified problem areas while rehearsing a song said, “If it happens during the show, just keep going.”
“Just keep going” could be a motto for the band as their story is all about evolving from humble beginnings and continuously growing to new levels.
Those humble beginnings date back to Moody’s time at UMD, the place where the hip-hop orchestra began. “I remember lugging up my gear up this big ass hill to rehearse with them and it was great,” said Randy Hayek, a member of Box Era, a band that often plays with The Shmoods. HHO started with about seven people and continued to grow, Logan Nyman, the bass player in Box Era, considers himself a “second wave generation” in this band family.
The Shmoods, created by Moody after he graduated, is the product of those early growth periods, as more members joined and everyone honed in on the music.
Their soulful sound pulls from “genuine emotion unbounded by genre,” said Moody. Each member has their own style but when everything comes together, one feeling and sound is created. Because of this creative mash, no one in the audience will feel left out when listening to their music as the goal is to find the “silver lining between all people.”
They also don’t focus so much on the process, as they instead have an open mind when it comes to creating and getting to the final destination. With no rigid mindset of working only to achieve one specific outcome, The Shmoods enjoy each other’s company and the experience that leads them to the music. “It’s just us. Emotions, people, ridiculous jokes and good times,” Moody said, describing their music-making process and rehearsal spaces.
A quote featured on The Shmoods Instagram reads, “Sometimes when starting a project, the less you know, the more original your creation may be. - Rick Rubin.” Moody believes that if more people would stop caring about how close the process is to their expectations, our world would be very different.
The free-forming process is exactly what continues to be the driving force for The Shmoods today. Now that they have a name and sound secured, the next step is ownership where they will attempt to become an LLC.
The Shmood’s concert on Saturday will be from noon until 2:30 p.m. at The Arboretum in Washington D.C. The show is free and RSVP and donations can be found here.
Moody believes that Saturday’s show “is the prelude to blowing up.”