About Moe

Moe Staiano is a musician and composer of new music works and angular rock music. Since 1995, he has been at the forefront of the Bay Area improvisation scene, playing drums and percussion through innovative solo shows that can feature prepared drum kit, found objects, audio looping and the inventive use of a "percussion guitar." All this is woven in with a performance art aspect that gets the audience involved and wondering what might happen next. He will play (or smash into pieces) just about anything he can get his hands on, and somehow make a compelling musical statement out of it.

Moe's compositional work has included music for large ensembles, a piece for two bass clarinets, and a work for percussion quartet. He has also conducted aleatoric improvisatory ensembles, using a glossary of handcues as well as composed sections cued in the moment. As conductor and composer for the Moe Staiano Ensemble, (formerly Moekestra!), he has composed pieces that can include over 30 musicians playing instruments ranging from violins, clarinets and cellos to drum kits, wine glasses, sirens, oscillators and electric guitars. Moe Staiano Ensemble performances are high-energy, electrifying experiences that create unique and intriguing soundscapes.

Moe also is the leader and frontman for Surplus 1980, a post-punk band that continually evolves its percussive, no-wave progressive musical exploration. Surplus 1980 features Moe's bracing guitar and wry wordplay and a wide palette of timbres from the multi-instrumentalist members of the group. They have released three albums, 2011's "Relapse In Response," 2014's mini-album "Arterial Ends Here," and 2019's "Pigeon Obstacle Course." Additionally, Surplus 1980 appears on one side of the shared 7" record, "International Static Split," with Dutch band King Champion Sounds.

In 2018, a collaboration with vocalist G.W. Sok (Formerly with The Ex) led to the creation of a 14-piece expanded version of the band--the Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl. This unique group recorded "Forget All This," an album featuring Sok's poetry set to Moe's music, which was released in 2019. Later that year, the group, including Sok, brought this album to the stage in full for a pair of shows in the San Francisco Bay Area.

From 1999-2004, Moe was a percussionist for metal progsters Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (and appeared occasionally for live guest performances afterward). He appears on their albums "Grand Opening And Closing," and "Of Natural History," as well as the "Live" album. He played and recorded with San Jose collective Vacuum Tree Head (also doing percussion first, then as drummer) from 1996 to the early 2000's. In 2006 he formed Mute Socialite, an angular no-wavish punk band, in which Moe played drums (and occasional guitar), along with second drummer Shayna Dunkelman, and guitarist Ava Mendoza. They released one album, "More Popular Than Presidents And Generals."

Over the years, Moe has worked with a veritable who's-who of the Bay Area creative music scene, including Ron Anderson (the Molecules, RonRuins, PAK), Tom Nunn, Vacuum Tree Head, Thollem McDonas, Z'ev, Amy X Neuburg, Ava Mendoza, Nurse With Wound, David Slusser, Karen Stackpole, Ches Smith, Michael Evans (God Is My Co-Pilot), Caroline Kraabel & John Edwards (Shock Exchange), Gino Robair, William Hooker, Tom Dimuzio and has performed with all these plus Henry Kaiser, Mark Growden's Electric Pinata, Amy Denio, Jordan Glenn, Telepathic Birds, Feona Lee Jones, Jon Raskin (ROVA), Cheer-Accident and has performed in the sfSoundGroup, Rova::Orkestrova, Terrie Hessels (the Ex), Rhys Chatham (A Secret Rose for 100 guitars) among others.

Solo Percussion

Moe performs solo percussion shows, some are based around a modified drum set and looping, while others include "playing" a variety of found objects. His performances are always interesting and engaging, and often include the audience as a participant, as well as observer.

Compositions & Ensembles

Moe Staiano Ensemble (formerly Moe!kestra) is a large-ensemble avant-garde orchestra, which can include over 30 musicians that play everything from traditional classical instruments and percussion to contemporary mainstays like electric guitars and drum kits.

Moe's ferocious conducting leads the ensembles through his own compositions--epic forays into sonic landscapes from pastoral and evocative to jagged and frenetic.

Moe has created over ten works for his ensemble, including the dramatic and safety-glasses-encouraged "Piece No.1: Death of a Piano"--which climaxes with a frenzied crescendo and Moe destroying a piano with a sledgehammer.

His first work for multiple electric guitars, bass and drum set, "Away Towards the Light" was performed at the San Francisco International Arts Festival in 2018.

Collaborations

Moe has collaborated in small ensembles with notable musicians such as Amy X Neuburg, Aram Shelton, Jordan Glenn, Thollem McDonas and more.

Upcoming shows

To see Moe in action, visit the calendar for all the latest show dates and ticket information.