Callow - Mothdust (2018)

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? In the case of Red Moses and Sami Knowles, who met by engaging in a fight over the preferred lighting at a party they were both attending, they merged. They collaborated behind closed doors for three years before finally creating a channel for the energy they were generating, and in 2009 they formed Callow.

The duo, which features Moses on vocals/guitar and Knowles on drums/keys/vocals, have released two LP’s since their formation and toured the country extensively, at one point even committing to bohemian ideals and trading their Bay Area rental for an extended period of life in a van, traveling and playing music around North America. Having now settled back into a routine in the East Bay, Callow are preparing to release their third LP, Mothdust.

Largely inspired by the imbalance of wealth in society and the struggles of said routine, the album is paradoxical in its sentiment and takes cues from its namesake. A creature of the night that’s drawn to the light—the dust from a moth wing is little more than an unwelcome stain on the wall to most, yet important to the insect’s survival for a magnitude of reasons. Mothdust is perfectly imperfect and intentionally so, and through its creation, Callow have harnessed their anger and turned it into a visceral representation of those contradictions between the self and society.