https://www.muzic.net.nz/artists/684/moofish
https://www.facebook.com/moofishmusic
https://open.spotify.com/album/4v9EXlvc32lUGivwkgvnyM

​Two creative folks combined with some truly beautiful songs, gripping powerful vocals and melodies hypnotic choruses.
'entropia' out the gate 10 Nov 2023
 From the opening track to the final notes, 'entropia' is loosely a concept album based around books books from Immanuel Velikovsky, and our interpretations of Earths ancient history tuned to song.

A few notes to get you familiar with what ‘entropia’ is about.
Writing/recording ‘entropia’ began Jan 23 finished end Oct 23.

​'entropia' was created in collaboration remotely between Tokoroa and Hamilton N.Z with Rhonda Hofmans Johnson - Chris fish Johnson & Andrew Newth of Southern Tribe who we were keen to collaborate with.
From the opening track to the final notes, it is loosely a concept album based around the books of ancient catastrophist writer Immanuel Velikovsky, and our interpretations tuned to song.

An Ancient Greek word.
‘entropia’, which means "a turning toward" or "transformation, “measurement of disorder”

‘entropia’ is based around events that have shaped the human psyche since the beginning of time, from cataclysm raining down from the heavens and or to volcanic winters as in 535AD, the beginning of the 'Dark Ages'?

“How cruel are the planets that stay there and conspire evil in their rage . . the planets conspire in rage against us.”
The Romans and the Greeks worshipped their gods in the planets, not as gods of the planets.

Our Moon and Sun and planets are great luminaries, and the imagination of the peoples were preoccupied with them and ascribed mythological deeds to them.
Marduk, the great god of the Babylonians, was the planet Jupiter; so was Amon of the Egyptians, Zeus of the Greeks and Jupiter of the Romans.

Certain modern day festivals we celebrate were warnings to humankind, this is lost upon modern times civilisations, the past is forgotten.
The “seven days of light” just before the Deluge overwhelmed the Earth are recreated in 'The Feast of Lights'.

"Herodotus describes a nocturnal light festival held each year at Sais in commemoration of Osiris’ death and resurrection. It was called the Feast of Lamps".

Hanukkah and Christmas are both feasts of light and, like the Saturnalia (Roman) both can be traced to the days of the Universal Deluge.

The feasts of light were later taken over by the festival of Christmas, which was originally observed for seven days, from the 25th of December until the first of the New Year.

“The life of our planet has its real source in the Sun,” wrote E. Renan. “All force is a transformation of the Sun. Before religion had gone so far as to proclaim that God must be placed in the absolute and the ideal, that is to say, outside of the world, one cult only was reasonable and scientific, and that was the cult of the Sun.”

It may be convenient to cherry-pick tracks or create ones personal own playlists. 'entropia' is a concept album to be listened/playlist from the opening track to the final notes. 

credits
releases November 10, 2023

Rhonda Hofmans Johnson - Lyrics - Main Vocals - Harmonies
Acoustic Guitar
Artwork - 14 paintings including album cover, and a piece for each song

Chris Fish Johnson - Lyrics - BVs - Spoken Word
Electric Guitars on all tracks
Acoustic Guitar - Classical Guitar - Soundscapes - Synths
Piano Keys - Bass & drum production

Andrew Newth - Electric Guitars on Cataclysm & Beautiful Darkness
Synth Keys - Soundscapes & Percussion on all tracks

Recorded in The FishTank Tokoroa N.Z - Chris Fish & Rhonda Hofmans Johnson
Andrew Newth recorded in Hamilton N.Z

Produced - Mixed - Mastered by Chris Fish & Rhonda Hofmans Johnson
Tokoroa N.Z

​“How cruel are the planets that stay there and conspire evil in their rage . . the planets conspire in rage against us"

Video link to #1 song from 'entropia' Eyes To The Moon.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiGP7Az47Mq1ewMQ2oP7OYQ
​"No wonder it has a space motif, the title, the hurtling and a singer who bears something of a burden on their shoulders to a degree that we can feel their insides turning inside out at the pain of it all. It is all suggestive of course because we never quite get to the bottom of it all and Eyes to the Moon is turned out in that fashion where it is meant to be as abrasive as it is alluring. Moofish are an interesting prospect, they have something folk in their make up but always psychedelic whims so it might take me just a little more time to determinate it. Mp3hugger.
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”Reviews"
07 JUL 2022 // A REVIEW BY KEV ROWLAND
A short while back I reviewed Ash Tree Lament by MOoFiSh, and the first thing I said was that I had no idea how on earth I was going to be able to describe it, and now I have their latest single I am wondering why on earth I volunteered as I have exactly the same problem! There is just so much going on in this arrangement, from complex layers to simplicity, that one really does not know where to start. When one realises the music was written and recorded in two days, with Chris recording acoustic guitar and drums, then bass, piano, and finally electric guitar and Rhonda writing the words in just 15 minutes, then one can fully appreciate that they have been partners for more than 30 years. The lyrics and music come together to create something which is a world away from reality, getting us to relate to and think of a sparrow, probably has a family, is free to fly, does not need a job, gets its food and lodgings free, has no ego, and is literally a free spirit.
There are times when Rhonda’s vocals are single, others where they are multi-tracked, while Chris creates a tapestry of sound as he weaves the threads, with the electric noodling tying everything together. The video is a delight, with imagery created by StefWithAnF which has then been treated with Chris and Rhonda sometimes appearing in the background, with psychedelic images and styles over the top, with the video being as much a piece of art as the song itself, with the two combining together to create something which is psychedelic, pop, New Age, Kate Bush, beautiful, delicate and mesmerising.

26 MAY 2022 // A REVIEW BY KEV ROWLAND
I must confess to knowing very little about MOoFiSh apart from that they are a duo of Rhonda Hofmans Johnson and Chris Fish Johnson, and while Rhonda is the lead singer I don’t know if they create all the music themselves or if other musicians are involved. They have been releasing music since 2018, and my first thought on playing on this was “how on earth am I going to be able to describe this”? It is massively layered, and while everything has been brought in tight with little room for space, every instrument is clearly and cleanly defined, with electric guitar often being the picked lead. It is psychedelic art rock, and I found they reminded me quite a lot of the UK progressive band Babal, but more in their approach as opposed to the music being produced.
Over the top of the arrangements are the vocals of Rhonda which are lush, clear yet with breadth and packed full of emotion. The chorus is almost hypnotic, and to that respect the video is perfect in that we get the perfect harmony of visuals and audio, something which rarely happens. If the music is tripping, then so is the video, with Rhonda and Chris appearing in black and white, often with other images playing over the top of them, and there is a great deal of imagery involved, so much so that I would love to have a conversation with them at some point while the video is being played to ask exactly what message they were conveying at each point.
At one level this is an incredibly simple refrain, but it is also an earworm, while the closer one pays attention the more one realizes there is a great deal going on at all times. Just follow one instrument closely, such as the bass guitar or underlying acoustic, and one will be surprised just how many changes are taking place, yet one can also let this wash right over the top like a classic late Sixties pop number. For me this has been a very strong introduction to MOoFiSh and I look forward to hearing a lot more from them in the future.

All Official Releases

LONG VERSION
So we have been around in different musical forms since the mid 80s, for Chris it started by moving to N.Z Tauranga in 82-83 after seeing Flying Nun bands via TV/radio in West Australia. Could not resist the music, it was a starting point, and has evolved musically from first Punk band Some Social Deviants, to Kiwi pop Three Men Missing (Bandcamp) still in 80's, they lasted until 88 with various members coming and going. Rhonda was a vocalist in 3MMissing when they met, we discovered we clicked besides the obvious ha, and began writing and recording on 4 track cassette tape as a duo, doing sporadic live work using the name Beat Angels. During 1991 hard edged rock seemed appealing so Chris joined up with a former 3MM member and formed Hula Troupe played lived then self destructed 95?, but not before 3 or so EPs? (Bandcamp)

Next up, Electronica/Industrial music seemed appealing and ran into brothers Scott/Andrew Newth who had formed Love and Violence we ended up a 3-piece (Chris's introduction to computers and there capabilities/frustrations in music production) Chris recorded a few tunes/video at the Rock 93 premises in Hamilton and a few Electronic/Industrial gigs. They had already recorded an Album before Chris joined. (Bandcamp)

Next up GROK and Department of Correction (hazy memories) in 96 at the same time. Brothers Scott/Grant Brodie saw an ad for a Waikato Uni battle of the bands so we entered GROK who had no songs, no practice, and no name for the gig. Chris has Korg MS10, still using today, we reversed Korg and came up with GROK. Funny thing happened, there are now two GROK band versions, a Northern Hemisphere version gigging in London U.K and a Southern Hemisphere version based in NZ. Come December the NH version members are heading here for xmas and we gig at the Nivara Lounge 17th Dec. Been a long wait for travel plans. GROK totally improv with audience participation via The Wheel of Destiny much like an carnival old spin the wheel to get a starting chord/chords and audience involved, it's real chaos but so good fun.

They won 1st place at the battle earning them studio time at 89FM Hamilton Uni studios with an album recorded by Scott named Bubbles complete with bubble wrap cover, kind of in the 'Kraut Rock' category. Also during this time Department of Correction (Industrial strength vibe) entered and came in second place, 'funny story' there was a band called Trinket who later named themselves The Datsuns who also entered.

Next up 97 - releasing under the name Beat Angels it was early days Internet but already a band in the U.S threatened us using that name, so Rhonda and Chris came up with MOofish and quickly wrote some songs for a self titled album. Recorded by MOofish on the farm (farmers then ha) Early days on the Internet were exciting, we hired a publisher and promoter and released it along the U.S West Coast college radio scene with some success, especially in the mp3.com days, musicians made money for their efforts. It was so new we got invites to music colleges to demonstrate to students how to record/market your music via the Internet. (digital recording tech was new for the D.I.Y, to us it just seemed like an affordable way to capture creativity).

We gig'd some, but really Chris was busy with Rhonda raising a family. We decided to shelve our musical creativity as a duo, though we did not stop writing, recording became sporadic as MOfish. By early 2000's to 2006 we started to gig again in various forms as MOofish.
By 2008 a new experience showed up, so we headed to Canada for 8 years (Ottawa based) where we worked and gig'd as a duo. Met so many greats, mostly Blues players, and here's Chris who always seems to play 13 bar Blues, no one cared it was awesome, and we flourished as a live act.

We recorded many of our songs with a handycam in our apartment so we could remember them. We wrote so much that they really needed to be captured or end up in the cardboard box. Chris discovered a looper and partial capos for the guitar, and at times would use three simultaneously much to the amusement of the Blues enthusiasts.
Still use a few today for songs like Ash Trees Lament. We have a MOofish acoustic Distro Playlist on YouTube.
A couple of those tunes were reworked when we came home from Canada and ended up in 2017 -2018 released recordings released as MOofish.

By 2020 MOofish older/wiser discovered themselves, and the urge to produce art became the real driver of our releases, so much so we pretty much release a song a month now, or that is our goal. We live in Tokoroa, not many musicians to meet unless your Bunny Walters brother and want to play at the local market. Live is not our focus these days, we just want to get ourselves out of the way to get these songs created.

So we have a small art/music studio literally where we sleep, we find in your face reminds us to carry on.
Interestingly the approach to recording the written word with music never goes to plan and we have learnt to get out of the way of the creative process; it is what it is, for MOofish that's art.

Rhonda is the primary lyric writer/vocalist, with boxes to her credit. Last year a MOofish song Phrophecy was selected by Oz TV show 'Murder She Wrote' giving us a need piece of direction and positivity around music.
We mainly have a two versions approach to the initial idea/concept of writing a song, either guitar or keys, sometimes just a vocal melody.

We're thinkers and we write/record accordingly, we are an acquired taste musically, and prob as people lol.
MOofish have used other musicians in their recording, mostly Mark Tupuhi a talented multi instrumentalist from Hamilton who gets our ethos.
Mark plays Bass and keys on 22 released MOofish recording since 2017

Since Covid we have re-organised and now Chris writes most instrument parts via midi (Bass - keys - drums)

Chris plays guitars, acoustic and electric, a little piano on all recordings, and so we let the process run its course.
Self taught recording/mixing/mastering/its digital nightmares for him.

In one sense you could say MOofish are very isolated musically because we do it all ourselves these days. You could argue this process really lets one reach their musical potential, but we have been around for a long time, luckily for us it seems never ending and joyful.
Another learned jem is the mistakes that creep into songwriting/recordings, they are the unexpected pieces that make you smile ear to ear without knowing, how the fuck did I do that.

None of us are classically trained, it all by ear/feel. We never search for little gems in the process. Though they may seem hidden at first, experience has taught us to trust the process you develop, they will find you, if it works, don't change it.

Sparrow the latest song was lyrically written in about 15 minutes, Rhonda finds the best are the quickest, and if it's too laborious creating, forget it.
What's it about? good question. It could be a love song! definitely we use the psychedelic imagery in the videos to tell a story. We find from our experience the two, song and video are inseparable, the two are needed in order to tell that song's story and this somehow is closure for the song and us.
So more skills learned and still learning around video creation.
We read loads of ancient texts/audios etc., mainly because the ancient past is really inspiring us. There is so much missing/forgotten/and re-written by the conquerors. Authors/thinkers/inventors like Immanuel Velikovsky, Wilhelm Reich, Nikola Tesla all get wrath from academia, and still do today.
So the song is about our experience of the 'World' and together as Chris and Rhonda, and the MOofish persona, feeling out/experiencing our relationship with music and each other at that particular moment (never gets old).

Musically it was ready within two days. Started as a melody, first the chorus line 'Like a Sparrow' then it appeared from that point, recording tracks like acoustic guitar and drums, then Bass, and then piano.
Electric was last, from experience we find Chris's style really is masterful at washing over melodies and playing like you think there's more recorded on the track than actual; maybe this a result of creativity meets the need, just get out of the way and get on with it.

Think of a Sparrow, probably has a family, is free to fly, does not need a job, gets its food and lodgings free, has no ego, and is literally a free spirit.
Band Members:

Rhonda Hofmans Johnson - writer/vocals/arranger/production/video /guitar
Chris Fish Johnson - writer/arranger/vocal/recordings/mix-production/mastering/video
guitars/programming/coffee

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