**Moffatts--pronounced not "moe-fats," not "muffets," but "moh-fets"**

Unlike other teenage pop groups, The Moffatts were not brought together through cattle-call auditions, nor are they just singing heads. The four boys are brothers, born of a talented gene pool. Despite their young ages, Scott 16, an 15-year-old triplets Bob, Clint and Dave are all gifted, accomplished musicians who write their own songs and do not need auxiliary players on stage.

"We've been playing our instruments for a while now, but over the last six years we've been really working together and trying to become a great band, " says guitarist Scott. Bob plays drums, while Dave handles keyboards and Clint is on bass.

For those familiar with the young sibling group from its line-dancing 'Caterpillar Crawl' days, The Moffatts have switched from performing country music to pop. Some kids denounce spinach when they get older, others refuse to wear a tie on special occasions; in the case of The Moffatts, they simply gravitated towards the music they preferred-hipper pop-rock.

The boys are no strangers to hard work.

Born and bred in Victoria, B.C., The Moffatts first appeared on-stage in 1990 when they were still in the single digit age group. Two years later, after several memorable appearances at large-scale country music festivals, they were nominated for five awards by the British Columbia Country Music Association, without ever having released an album.

Following an initial tour, the entire Moffatts family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to seek their fortune in the Mecca of American country music. And fortune did come their way: a tour with the Osmonds, a seven-month engagement in the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, over 200 television appearances, including "Good Morning America", and, of course, their first country album.

Home-schooled-or should that be bus-schooled?-by their father Frank, because there was no time to sit still in a classroom, The Moffatts played over a thousand live dates in four years, including state fairs and automobile shows, eventually selling a quarter of a million albums.

While they had the duds, the drawl and the dance down pat, their music was not the heart-wrenching, hurtin', cryin' country stuff but fun, and more kid-oriented without being juvenile. They even covered The Beatles' "This Boy" with a balladic '50s vibe, perhaps paving the way for their future pop path.

There was only so far the boys could go in the country market, plus their personal tastes were changing. They had already picked up instruments, which they had practiced on the tour bus during those long commutes from gig to gig, and were becoming quite proficient at them. They began checking out artists like Metallica and Nirvana, artists favored by most teenagers.

"Because of what we listened to, we figured we needed to expand," explains Scott. "If we sang country music, we'd be stuck in one place, so if we sing pop-rock then we could do a lot more with our career. It's what we like; it's what we listen to."

The Moffatts's pop/rock debut, Chapter 1: A New Beginning marks the start of something exciting for The Moffatts. For the first time, these talented siblings are really st the helm, writing the material, playing the instruments and, true to form, appealing to their peers. Produced in part by the Berman Brothers (Hanson, The Real McCoy, She Moves, Amber) in New York and Toronto, the songs are mainly about love.

"You can't sing about the rodeo," Scott jokes of the biggest change in switching to writing pop music. Although he admits he and his brothers don't have "very many" experiences with romance, he says, "we watch movies and we hear other songs."

From rockin'teen anthems "Wild At Heart" and "Crazy" to the ballads "Miss You Like Crazy" and "Love". To the upbeat flavour af ska-infected "Say'n I Love You" to the infectious groove of "Jump", The Moffatts burst with ingenuity within the pop framework. This is a band with many more chapters left in its songwriting tome.

The upbeat pop single, "I'll Be There For You", with its catchy "nah nah" refrain, has already charted in Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Asia. Here in Canada the single is making its mark to Top 40 radio by entering the Top 20 in just 5 weeks. The CD single has gone into the Top 5 at retail after only 2 weeks.

"We are young/we are free/You can run away with me/If you only believe/That everything you wanted/Is not so far away," they sing on another one of their teen anthems "We Are Young". Indeed, everything The Moffatts wanted is not so far away with Chapter 1: A New Beginning.

[ EMI Music Canada ]

AFFILIATES

Magiz Moffatts

daze

come to butt-head bob

shining-illusions.com

moffattsonline.com

CLIQUES

i can love you

moffatts trade police

i'm an asian fan

nothing to prove

VOTE for KAEO

LINK KAEO