I’m standing beside Mog.Y in his room. A near-mint condition MPC sits on the shelf next to me, and his microphone stand is directly next to his bed, as if he goes right from sleeping to spitting. “You want to hear something I’ve been working on today?” He asks me, bringing up Ableton on his Macbook. Vibrance fills the room as he hits play, and Mog sways, bobs, and bounces along, giving this creation the feedback it deserves. “When I’m making music, I need to get a little goofy with it, as it makes me feel loose and free,” he expresses.
In many ways, these moves symbolise Mog.Y’s career over the last year. He swayed through smooth single after single, bounced onto the Acclaim All-Stars list, and had heads bobbing on a countrywide tour with Posseshot. His self-proclaimed goofiness is a celebration of overcoming a tumultuous 2022 and using music to find silver linings amidst strife. He opened 2023 with ‘BURNED OUT & LOVELY’, a track inspired by a psychedelic trip gone awry, where instead of finding perspective, he found himself concussed and unconscious in a garden bed. “It kind of felt like the world had taken its pants off and laid the heaviest load on me,” he states. “That situation felt like a low point, but it also felt like my skin had shed. I might have looked like a beaten down raggedy cat, but I persisted, and it reminded me that my spirit is something that can’t be broken.”
For Mog.Y, it’s hard to think of a time when he didn’t strengthen his spirit through creativity. The streets started as his canvas when he was kickflipping as a skater kid, or colouring in alleyway walls as a part of Melbourne’s graffiti community. Music-wise, he’s been doing this rap thing for damn near a decade now, with Soundcloud and Spotify serving as time capsules for his evolution. You can go back and hear him rap “The Dingo stole my motivation” on 2020 cuts like ‘Hell Off the Highway’, and then sound more invigorated than ever three years later through the witty wordplay on songs like ‘KID LUCKY’. Like the pop in his ollie or the precision in his painting, Mog.Y keeps building to get better. “I tell myself to try and do one thing every day to put myself in a better position than I was the day before,” he says. “I get addicted to things easily, and through doing that, I’ve become addicted to growth. It’s like my crack.”
My interview with Mog.Y leads us to his sun-soaked balcony. We crack open canned margaritas as the luxury raps of LA’s Jay Worthy play in the background, and our conversation transforms into a kickback. It’s an atmosphere similar to the sound of Mog.Y’s music, which transports you to the St.Kilda shores that have served as his stomping ground. There’s a soul in his raspy melodies as he croons on tracks like ‘B THERE (NO TWO$)’. There’s an effortless swagger in the bars he spits on songs like ‘SUMTHIN REAL’. The woodfire-warm bass and cosy keys of Benny Zenn’s production, the producer on all of Mog.Y’s 2023 singles, enhances the rapper’s lively spirit and resembles the wooziness from the cocktails we currently sip on. “I used to listen to Tom Waits every day, listen to Demon Dayz by the Gorillaz on repeat, and go to Obese Records every Friday to buy a new CD,” Mog.Y explains. “Listening to so many different musicians helped me learn not to live for the convenience of others, and that’s helped me learn that creativity is limitless, and to focus on the beautiful people who listen to my music, and not worry about those who try to make you fit their ideas.”
Like the freedom of his spontaneous dances, there’s no telling what moves Mog.Y will make next. Nothing is more evident of this than his 2023 EP You’re Gonna Die On That Hill, released under the alter ego Coupe Devil. The music contrasts his usual output, diving into the dusty gloominess of dark boom-bap, reminiscent of the differences between MF DOOM and Viktor Vaughn. Every verse wades through the hazy mists of O_T’s production with bone-chilling one-liners like “I’ll never let the streets talk down to me” on ‘Irma Vep’. Mog.Y’s journey into the Coupe Devil persona is an extension of his creative limitlessness, but this experiment had two purposes: embrace the eeriness and keep the iron sharp. “When I delved into the Coupe Devil stuff, I was feeling blue, and I wanted to make something that allowed me to tap into that zone,” he explains. “But also, you have to stay consistent, and I’m a die-hard rap fan, so I wanted an atmosphere where I could just really say some shit.”
Whether he’s channelling the warbling soul of Tom Waits or delving into his gritty rap bag, it’s clear that Mog.Y loves music, both as a fan and creator. When he has concerns about the scene he finds himself in, he voices his opinions passionately. Not long ago, he expressed his thoughts on the current quality of music in Australia, writing “The standard for music is literally the floor in this country.” Talking to this further, Mog.Y explains that this doesn’t come from disdain but a desire to see people reach their true potential. “The powers that be in this scene play a major part in what music is getting platformed, and it ends up becoming this delusional circuit, where everyone is doing what the UK did 2-3 years ago, and people are pretending it’s good,” he says. “I don’t blame the artists because this is what the scene tells them is good, but I want to buy into who they are individually, and I want to hear what their music is like when they’re being true to themselves.”
This past March, Mog.Y hit the Revolver Upstairs stage for a special headline show. It was a well-deserved victory lap. The sold-out crowd took part in an experience that represents different parts of his brain, covering everything from BoxedIn sketching the event, to a damn human blunt wrapping competition. Mog.Y and Benny Zenn graced the stage with a live band, bringing the soulfulness of his music to life. There was even an outfit change halfway through as Coupe Devil made his live debut, slicing up the stage with slick raps. It was a testament to staying true to yourself, a scene unified in a love for uniqueness, and simply everything you want from a Mog.Y show. “The band smashed some improv jamming on some beats, everybody was dancing, smiles on their faces, it incredible,” he says. “Being able to put on this show independently was such a positive experience for me, and all of us in the room that night truly shared a special moment.”
As we near the end of our margaritas, each final sip feels worthy of a toast. We raise the can in honour of a man who turns rough times into highlight reels and is fervent about finding growth in everything he pursues. We raise the can in admiration of an artist who sees no bounds creatively, experimenting with style, cadence, and personas to both process the happenings of his life, and inspire some positivity in yours. We raise a can to his ability to see the best in others, encouraging them to be true to themselves and reach their full potential. We raise the can to celebrate Mog.Y, and the biggest year of his career yet, and as we close our conversation, he assures me that this is only the beginning. “I want to keep doing this forever, there isn’t a timer on music for me because I really do love it. Now, it’s time to become unrelenting with it.”