MOIO: "I just wanna make sure that Black kids, or anyone that looks up to me, know they can be themselves, and express themselves without the constraints of what’s expected of them"

In an alternate universe, Christopher Walken could have been a lion tamer. Tom Cruise might have become a Catholic priest. And Moio (whose real name is spelt Moyo) may have been scrumming for Ireland.

“Yo that’s crazy, I did score right?” he beams, recalling his try against Newpark Comprehensive in the 2019 Vinnie Murray Cup. “Unfortunately my rugby days are over. I could have been the Black Brian O’Driscoll. In a different reality.”

Instead he’s had to settle for becoming one of the country’s most intriguing musical forces. Building a community around his sound and style, he produces for rapper (and his brother) Monjola, as well as rising R&B talent Aby Coulibaly, as part of the Chamomile Club collective.

Close to half-a-million people are listening to his own tunes each month, and his soulful brand of indie/bedroom-pop has drawn comparisons to artists like Daniel Caesar and Steve Lacy. The roots reach back to Sunday mornings.

“My first formal introduction to music was church,” Moyo says. “I feel like a lot of people who grew up in church would say the same thing. Seeing praise and worship, and seeing how that moved people, and understanding what a groove was.

“In school it was a performance I fell in love with. It made school bearable. I didn’t understand the concept of making music – no one around me had an FL studio or anything. We were just performing because we loved it.”

Moyo wasn’t a standout musician in school. I can say this because I was a year ahead of him, and we often crossed paths in the music corridor. What set him apart was restless curiosity. He’d scrutinise other guitarists at jazz band practice, leaning in to ask about chords and techniques.

Fast forward a few years and there’s a pod of industry heads, the kind that don’t show up for no reason, greeting him ahead of our interview. He’s stayed his humble self nonetheless. When a waiter at a Capel Street café brings him a pot of tea instead of the coffee he ordered, Moyo doesn’t make a fuss.

“I would still never say I’m a great instrumentalist,” he says, pouring himself a cup. “I knew a bit of piano. The summer I left school was when I started making music. One of my friends told me about FL studio, and helped me crack it on my laptop.

“Once I understood what it was, probably for the first time in my life, I found what I was supposed to be doing this whole time. If I had known what production was earlier, I would have been obsessed.

“I was driven by listening to the records I love, and being like ‘How can I create this?’ I would listen to Vespertine by Björk, On My Mind by Pharell, Currents by Tame Impala. I wanted to make music the way that music made me feel.”

SELF-BELIEF

He talks about the importance of process.

“Being at home with myself and just fucking around,” he muses, “it’s almost like playing with lego as a child. Slowly it starts to sound a bit better and it keeps happening. You never realise how much better you got until you look back and listen to your old stuff.”

His new single, ‘Figure It Out’ (part of a soon-to-be-announced EP), is emblematic of that growth – introspective and self-aware, but resilient.

“I was feeling anxious and overwhelmed. It was uplifting though, because I‘m like, ‘I dunno what the fuck I’m doing, but I know I’ll figure it out.’”

That conviction underscores much of his journey. “Self belief is everything,” he says. “Nothing has happened that I didn’t believe could happen.”

This manifested in ‘Moments’, the track that transformed Moyo’s trajectory, after it caught fire on social media at the end of 2024.

“That song really made all the crazy shit happen,” Moyo says. “I haven’t said this to a lot of people, but I wrote down that that song was going to change my life. I’ve never done that before

“When I dropped it, it was organically spreading, it didn’t go viral. But then it did. Once a song is out there, it’s there forever, there’s no start or end to its life. People can discover it for eternity. Artists shouldn’t worry about trying to make things happen all the time. Timing is out of your control, you just have to go with it and things will happen if they’re supposed to happen.”

Moio. Photo: Abigail Ring

His patience was rewarded. ’Moments’ reached #1 on Spotify’s Viral 50 playlist in Ireland, as well as the USA, UK, Canada, Norway, and New Zealand. TV appearances followed, as did billboards in major cities. There was also a duet with Dermot Kennedy in London.

“He’s an Irish GOAT. I’ve always fucked with his music,” Moyo says. “We were doing a show, and for some reason our managers were in contact. I didn’t believe it at first. Dermot messaged me the week of, and

I was like, ‘Okay, this is looking more real.’

“When I saw him in person, it really hit me that he was going to sing with me, which was a crazy feeling. He’s the loveliest person. I’m grateful for that, it was a big deal for me.”

When pressed for what Kennedy said to him, Moyo smiles and taps his chest. “I’m gonna hold that advice here.”

That performance was during one of his Moio’s World shows, intimate sessions where he builds songs in front of small audiences. The concept has been brought to New York and Paris, as well as Dublin and London.

“People don’t know the process of making music most of the time. I always wanted to bring an element of that to life. I wanted to be able to high five people, I didn’t want a barrier of the stage. We’re all in a room, and I play some songs, and we go through ideas and allow things to happen. It’s scary too, because I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

That appetite for experimentation carries into Chamomile Club, the Dublin-based collective he co-founded. It’s gone from being a DIY movement to having a real presence, hosting pop-up events, gig nights, and even a festival last summer.

“It started off as three friends,” Moyo says. “We were just making music in my living room. It’s blossomed into a hub of creativity. It’s not an exclusive club, it’s a movement really. Anyone who’s anyway involved is part of it. We’ve been able to uplift each other.

“Music is like the heart, but there’s other organs – a whole body of things. I think it’s important to have the world surrounding it make sense. It’s such a big part of the experience. Having something that you can really experience on a deeper level than just hearing music.”

SOMETHING TO SHARE

Initially, he was behind the boards, producing for others. What pushed him to start releasing solo stuff?

“It was never planned,” he says. “I was producing records for other people. I was writing at the same time, but it was very much a secret. No one was hearing any of my shit.

“I got to a stage where I felt like I had something to share. I wouldn’t say making music for other people is easier. It’s easier to release music for other people! It’s harder to release music as an artist, but it’s also very fulfilling, in ways that I don’t feel when I’m producing for other people.”

That leap, and the subsequent success, is intertwined with Moyo’s identity. On his social media, you’ll find the hashtag #BKDI. It stands for ‘Black Kids Doing It.’

“It’s something I wrote to myself a couple of years ago. I felt as if I needed something to anchor me,”  he says. “Growing up as a Black kid in Ireland, I’ve always felt out of place. It was important for me to state that Black kids are doing it. I just wanna make sure that Black kids, or anyone that looks up to me, know they can be themselves, and express themselves without the constraints of what’s expected of them.

“We’re definitely put into a box, and people only want to see us do specific things, but that’s silly to me. It’s important for me, and everyone around me, that we’re doing this or that, regardless of what anyone thinks.”

• ‘Figure It Out’ is out now.