Spacemoth

w/ Teal Pop, Chime School

About Spacemoth:

Devotion to music has driven Spacemoth’s Maryam Qudus—a performer, composer, and now sought-after producer—for as long as she can remember. At age twelve, she traded chores for guitar lessons; at sixteen, she took on after school jobs to pay for voice lessons, learning to drive so she could take herself to both. Qudus is the first-generation Afghan-American child of working-class immigrant parents, who she describes as encouraging, but apprehensive about her earliest creative pursuits. “Afghan culture has informed my identity with so much wonder and beauty, but has also challenged me”. Being a female musician was not common in the Afghan & Muslim community, and women who chose that path received a lot of heat,” she explains. “I did it regardless of cultural acceptance and my family’s approval. I knew if I followed my dreams, I could start breaking cultural barriers—both Afghan and western—and hopefully pave the way for those around me to feel like they could do the same.”

DOE EYE, Qudus’ first project, found quick success with radio play, magazine features and blogosphere buzz following its first EP. The follow up, 2014’s T E L E V I S I O N, was a lush collection of indie pop and spacey rock produced by John Vanderslice at his legendary San Francisco co-op-turned-studio Tiny Telephone. Working with Vanderslice opened new artistic avenues for Qudus: “It was the first time I’d been in a studio where I felt the producing process clicked with me. I realized the studio is an instrument and if you know how to use it, you can take advantage of that in really cool ways.” She began studying at Bay Area recording arts non- profit Women’s Audio Mission, eventually interning both there and at Tiny Telephone before becoming a staff engineer at both.

Studio tricks picked up from clients like Toro Y Moi, Sasami & Tune-Yards gave new inspiration for her own arrangements. And in between sessions, she was able to toy with electronic ambience and tape experimentations for her own project, resulting in her first self-recorded & produced EP, 2017’s b-room, while also writing for a new solo project. After five years of work, Qudus is ready to introduce her newest project: Spacemoth.

It’s a lot for one person to write, engineer & produce on their own, and while Qudus does a demonstrable bulk of her work alone, she recruited a handful of close collaborators to step in on these songs; among those credited are drummers Liam O’Neill (Hazel English) & Jason Slota (Thao & the Get Down Stay Down), bassist Nathaniel Brenner (Tune-yards, Naytronix), percussionist Andrew Maguire (Luke Temple), and Qudus’ husband and longtime collaborator Beau Sorenson (Bob Mould, The Dodos) as mix engineer.

As an artist who has spent the last decade refining exactly what she loves in music, it’s no shock that the bulk of the performance on Spacemoth songs comes from Qudus herself, who favors vintage synths like the Yamaha CS50 and Korg Polysix alongside tape manipulations, creating unpredictable, stretched out, and springy sound beds. As she continues work on Spacemoth’s first album, she’s excited to take her years behind the boards and reels on other inventive musicians’ projects and apply that experience to her own imaginative songs. “I finally have the skills and knowledge to make the sounds in my head come to life,” she says. “Spending the last few years discovering what kind of music I want to make has been worth it; I feel like I am finally making music that embodies who I am.” From these first few releases, it’s clear Spacemoth is a project with limitless sonic potential, and it’s anyone’s guess what gorgeous, clever songs she’ll turn up next.

About Teal Pop:

Teal Pop emerged from the cosmos in 2019 when longtime friends and collaborators Marina Aguerre and Lionel Williams embarked on a moonlit pilgrimage to reveal sonic expressions from deep within.

With their enchanting melodies and ethereal lyrics, the Los Angeles-based duo effortlessly transports audiences to a world where modern psychedelia meets sunshine pop. At the heart of Teal Pop's sound lies Aguerre’s dreamy vocals and groovy basslines, which glide effortlessly over Williams’ celestial synths, jangly guitar and sun-drenched rhythmic patterns Drawing inspiration from an array of artists like
Stereolab, Broadcast, Joyce, Air , the Free Design, and Enya, the duo has created a unique sonic tapestry that is at once nostalgic and extra terrestrial.

Teal Pop’s mission is to explore the depths of human emotions through their music. The two embrace "melancholy bliss" - the exquisite state of joy in sadness, acceptance in death, and the beauty of being just a blip in the universe. Embark on a journey with Teal Pop, and let their mind-expanding arrangements transport you to a place where time and space merge in a vibrant kaleidoscope of sound.

About Chime School:

Marrying the pristine jangle of electric 12-string guitar and nervy, hooky songs, Cime School lives up to the band’s name and goal of updating the indie pop sound of the Sarah-Creation-Subway labels in the mid to late 1980s. 

Guided by Andy Pastalaniec and a live group that now includes Bay Area music vets Phil Lantz, Josh Miller, and Garett Godard, Chime School pays homage to the formative jangle of The Byrds by way of early Primal Scream and The Springfields; the production and pop sensibility of the Biff Bang Pow and The Razorcuts; and the spirit of great singles labels like Creation, Postcard and Sarah. Although they could have found a home on any of those labels, their 2021 debut LP and 2023 follow-up 7” single fit right in with Bay Area indie stalwarts Slumberland Records (with a sophomore LP coming in 2024). If you’re looking for guitars that sound like they’re dipped in gold, stop here.