Kevin Moore

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This article is about the musician and founder of Chroma Key. For Kevin Moore the blues musician, see Keb' Mo'.
Kevin Moore promotional photo
Kevin Moore promotional photo

Kevin Moore (born May 26, 1967) is a keyboardist, composer and original member of the American progressive metal band Dream Theater. He is also founder of the Chroma Key music project, co-founder of the progressive metal supergroup O.S.I. and creator of Turkish film soundtracks. Through his career, he has become known for his emotional music and lyrics, nomadic tendencies and unique use of spoken-word samples.


Contents

[edit] Musical biography

Kevin Moore started learning piano at the age of six. He began his musical career in the mid 1980s on Long Island, writing his first song at the age of 12. After graduating high school in 1985, Moore briefly attended SUNY Fredonia, where he studied classical music, before returning home to form the band Majesty with childhood friends guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung, who had recruited drummer Mike Portnoy (a fellow Long Islander) during their short enrollment at Berklee College of Music. Singer Chris Collins handled vocal duties for Majesty, but he was subsequently replaced by Charlie Dominici (and eventually James LaBrie) and the band was renamed Dream Theater.

Dream Theater's debut studio album was 1989's "When Dream and Day Unite," which earned the group comparisons to well-known progressive rock bands such as Rush and Queensrÿche. Their big breakthrough, however, came in 1992 with the album "Images and Words," featuring the band's highest charting single to date, "Pull Me Under." The song, which included lyrics by Moore, reached #10 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Following their relentless touring in support of the sophomore album, the band also went on to release a live album, "Live at The Marquee," and a video, "Images and Words: Live In Tokyo." The video's extensive documentary footage would subsequently introduce many fans to Moore's sarcastic sense of humor.

In 1994, the band released its third studio album, "Awake," which was the band's highest charting album to date, reaching #32. The album featured Moore's signature song, a haunting piano-driven ballad called "Space-Dye Vest," which describes a heartbroken man flipping through a magazine and falling in love with a stranger modeling a vest. But shortly before the album was mixed, Moore announced to the rest of the band that he wished to concentrate on his own musical interests and would be quitting Dream Theater. According to Portnoy, Moore had grown distant with the other members and was more interested in the independence of working on his own as opposed to the compromise of a band environment. He moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and started writing material for his a solo album. Although Dream Theater has since invited him to play renunion shows, Moore has said he prefers to move forward as opposed to looking back.

Moore's first solo project was demo tape called "Music Meant to Be Heard," and the songs included many spoken-word samples from interviews Moore recorded with strangers during his cross-country travels. Most of these songs were later released in 1999 on a limited-edition CD called "This is a Recording." In 1998, Moore released his first solo album, "Dead Air For Radios" under the name Chroma Key on his self-created record label, Fight Evil Records. Mark Zonder and Joey Vera of Fates Warning served as his support musicians for that record. The album featured a dark, ambient sound, closer to Peter Gabriel and Tori Amos than the complex and intricate Dream Theater style. In hindsight, Dream Theater fans noticed that Moore had subtlely explored this style of composition in "Space-Dye Vest."

In 2000, Moore moved to Los Angeles where he recorded the digitally-themed "You Go Now." The line-up for that record was Moore, David Iscove (guitars) and Steve Tushar (loops, programming). During his westcoast stay, Moore briefly attended California Institute of the Arts, where he created a little-known documentary called "Octember Revolution," which depicted a Southern California gated community intervention. He then moved to Costa Rica, where he worked for Radio For Peace International, producing a bi-weekly activist radio program. In fact, some of Moore's work on Radio for Peace International was later released in an internet-only album called "Memory Hole 1."

In 2003, Fates Warning guitarist Jim Matheos invited Moore to work with him on a new musical project. Incidentally, Moore had worked with Matheos before, appearing as guest keyboardist on Fates Warning's epic 1997 album, "A Pleasant Shade of Gray" and 2000 album, "Disconnected." This new project, however, involved Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy and Cynic bassist/stick player Sean Malone. This would be the first time Moore had worked with Portnoy since leaving Dream Theater nearly 10 years earlier. The band that was formed was named O.S.I., and they released the album "Office of Strategic Influence." Musically, it can be described as a mixture of Chroma Key's dark, melodic focus with the guitars and heaviness of Fates Warning and Dream Theater. Moore assumed vocal duties.

In 2004, Moore relocated to Istanbul, Turkey and composed the soundtrack to the horror film "Okul," which was subsequently released as a solo record titled Ghost Book. This soundtrack experience inspired a new approach for the next Chroma Key album, and Moore scoured public domain films looking for one that exuded a certain mood, intending to write a pseudo-soundtrack to it. The film he chose was "Age 13," an educational film from the 1950s, originally for use in schools. He took the existing film, slowed it to half speed, and let it dictate the moods, textures, and even running times of the songs he wrote to it. The resulting album is titled "Graveyard Mountain Home," which included a DVD containing the movie set to Moore's music.

In April 2006, Moore and Matheos released a second O.S.I. album called "Free," a collaboration made easier by Moore's temporary relocation to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The album once again featured Portnoy on drums. Unlike the first O.S.I. album, which was based on an information-spinning faction of the U.S. government, "Free" was about the personal relationships in Moore's life. Shortly following the album's release, O.S.I. also released an EP that include remixes of three "Free" songs and a video of the title track. In the spring of 2006, Moore and Matheos alluded to possible tourdates in the support of the album, but nothing ever materialized.

In December 2006, Moore once again teamed up with Turkish producers for another soundtrack project. The film, entitled "Küçük Kiyamet," tells the horrific tale of a family who decides to rent a summer house by the seaside. Exactly three months later, Kevin performed his first live show since leaving Dream Theater in 1994. The hour-long concert, which was held at Turkey's Balo Stage on March 23, 2007, was described as a try-out to "play some songs for a local crowd...with longer, more elaborate shows planned for the future." The setlist included 11 Chroma Key and O.S.I. songs, which were all accompanied by video material projected on two screens.

Today, Moore remains a resident of Istanbul. He has two brothers, one an artist and one a New York City Fireman who helped in the rescue mission during the September 11, 2001 attacks.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Gear

[edit] References

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