Gordon Moakes

Gordon Moakes
Gordon Moakes playing at Madison Square Garden in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Gordon Moakes
Also known as	Gordy
Born	22 June 1976 (1976-06-22)
Origin	Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes, England
Genres	Post-punk revival, Indie rock, Post-hardcore
Instruments	Bass guitar Backing vocals Keyboards Synthesizer Glockenspiel Electronic drums Sampler
Associated acts	Bloc Party, Young Legionnaire
Notable instruments
Fender Precision Bass

Gordon Peter Moakes (born 22 June 1976) is an English multi-instrumentalist and backing vocalist for English indie rock band Bloc Party.

Bloc Party

Moakes became a member of Bloc Party after responding to an advertisement placed in the NME music magazine by Kele Okereke and Russell Lissack, who were seeking a bass player. Although not originally a bassist, Moakes was the only player the band auditioned who was able to play the bassline for a song that Okereke and Lissack had presented. In 2002, Moakes, Lissack, and Okereke formed the first incarnation of Bloc Party—known as The Angel Range—and played shows across London. Moakes also ran and updated the band's website at the time.

Moakes shares co-writing credits with Okereke on some of the band's earlier lyrics. In the early days of the band, he contributed lyrics mostly to the band's more political songs, and he composed a song titled "Diet".

His bass playing is often sparse and usually involves very little playing until latter verses, such as in "Like Eating Glass", "Banquet", and "Hunting for Witches".

Moakes added new instruments to his repertoire on Bloc Party's second and third albums, A Weekend in the City and Intimacy. He played drums on "Sunday", electronic drums on "Ares", glockenspiel on "Waiting for the 7.18" and "SRXT", and a Korg microKORG synthesiser on "Flux" (although he now uses a Korg X50).

He is also a backing vocalist and his voice can be heard in many of the band's songs often in contrast with Okereke's lead vocals.

He remixed their song "Talons" from their album Intimacy. The remix was featured on the songs download & vinyl single.

Other works

Moakes worked with yourcodenameis:milo on the track "Wait a Minute" from the album Print Is Dead Vol 1. "Wait a Minute" was released on a limited edition 7" single on 4 October 2006. Moakes designed the cover art.

In December 2009, Moakes, Paul Mullen (vocalist and guitarist of The Automatic) and William Bowerman (drummer of La Roux) worked in the studio together on a new side project, with Bloc Party on hiatus and both The Automatic and La Roux inactive over the Christmas break. In January 2010, the group were revealed to be named Young Legionnaire and were set to play their first show at the end of January in London.

Influences

Anne Sexton, JG Ballard, Joy Division, melodic hardcore, Stanley Kubrick, Mogwai, post-punk, Sonic Youth.

Personal life

Much like his other bandmates, Moakes is considered to be shy and quiet. He was educated at Ousedale School in Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes, and formerly of Tilehurst, Reading. He has a daughter, Scarlet, and, after her birth, he took paternity leave from the band in July and August 2008. Moakes has a tattoo of a heart on his left arm, as does his wife. During the mid- to late 1990s, he created and edited the short-lived fanzine Conform or Die.

Equipment

Basses:

• Fender Precision Bass-Agave Blue Metallic, white pickguard, rosewood fretboard. Used in almost all live performances.
• Fender Precision Bass-Olympic White, rose tortoise shell scratchplate, rosewood fretboard. Used at Reading 2007.
• Fender Precision Bass-Sage Green, black pickguard, rosewood fretboard. Used at Reading 2007.
• Fender Precision Bass-Dakota Red, white pickguard, rosewood fretboard. Used in the early days of Bloc Party/Union.
• Fender Precision Bass-Butterscotch Blonde, tortoiseshell pickguard, rosewood fretboard. Used at Live Earth

Moakes plays his bass through an Ashdown ABM 500 EVO II amplifier head and an Ashdown ABM 410T cabinet.