THE BLACK MOODS

THE BLACK MOODS LINE-UP:
JOSH KENNEDY – guitar/vocals
CHICO DIAZ – drums/vocals
JORDAN HOFFMAN – bass/vocals

The Black Moods play raw, amplified rock & roll.

Born in the Arizona desert and reared on stages across North America, the band delivers a fresh, fiery update of a timeless sound. The Black Moods’ three members — frontman/guitarist Josh Kennedy, drummer Chico Diaz and bassist Jordan Hoffman — aren’t looking to reinvent the wheel. Instead, they’re piling into a vehicle that’s existed for decades, upgrading the engine to suit their contemporary style, and pointing the headlights toward their own rock & roll horizon. The result is a sound that Maximum Ink calls “modern classic rock”: a mix of electric guitar, percussive stomp, and anthemic hooks that not only recall the headbangers of rock & roll’s past, but also position The Black Moods alongside other present-day rockers like Dirty Honey, Greta Van Fleet, and Dorothy.

The band formed in Tempe, Arizona. Championed by hometown heroes like the Gin Blossoms and Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers, The Black Moods began building their audience the old-school way: by playing shows and hitting the road. They toured heavily, promoting albums like 2016’s Medicine with gigs across the country. By the time “Bella Donna” hit the radio airwaves during the summer of 2018, The Black Moods’ fanbase had grown exponentially. The song became a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, where it held strong for fourteen weeks.

Modern-day torchbearers of ageless, guitar-driven rock, the Black Moods aren’t shy about nodding to their influences. “Bella Donna” was inspired by the Doors’ slinky strut, while the climatic chorus of “Bad News” — another active-rock hit, peaking at Number 24 and remaining in the Top 40 for five months — points to groups like the Foo Fighters. With one boot planted in the same ground as their influences and the other pointed toward unexplored territory, The Black Moods blaze their own path while still paying tribute to those who came before them. It’s no surprise, then, that they’ve shared shows with everyone from Whitesnake to Shinedown, bridging the gap between hard-rock’s past and present along the way.

Hit singles like “Bella Donna,” “Bad News,” and “Whatcha Got” were recorded with Grammy Award-winning producer Johnny Karkazis, who flew to Phoenix and set up a makeshift studio in the band’s own rehearsal space. There, the band funneled the spirit and swagger of their live show into their most dynamic recordings to date. That live show — which the Black Moods have sharpened with cross-country tours alongside the Doors’ Robbie Krieger, Shinedown, Jane’s Addiction, and numerous others — has always been one of the band’s strongest selling points. Now, with the band’s upcoming album, Sunshine, scheduled for release in 2020, The Black Moods’ fury and fire onstage is matched once again by their electricity on record.

The band’s name is The Black Moods, but these days, those black moods are looking pretty bright.