Meet Moving City | Vancouver Indie Rock band

We had the good fortune of connecting with Moving City and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Moving, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
“Life is what happens to you, while you’re busy making other plans”

– John Lennon

I like this quote and find it relevant to our band because we just keep going with the flow, life moves forward whether we think about it or not and music keeps being made and played. We makes plans and heading a certain direction, next thing you know we have a catalogue of 4 albums and multiple shows booked, Things happen fast and almost under the radar.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Now a five piece band based out of Vancouver BC, Moving City started back in 2013 in a small shared 1 bedroom apartment with Andrew Facciolo and Logan Shaw. With one of them
sleeping in a bedroom for an extra $50 on rent and the other sleeping in the living room, the
two spent a lot of time together playing acoustic guitars and writing songs. With what was
purely a relationship built on housing affordability and mutual friends, their environment
quickly turned into an immensely creative atmosphere and once they established a shared
passion for music, it forged a life long bond and friendship.
They started writing songs and playing together constantly with a natural ease. The passion
project quickly turned into a life style for the two fledgling musicians, it was the main focus
during their tenure in Toronto for the next 2 years. Playing small shows and hitting open mics
all over the city, the reception was always positive and the two decided to record their first
song together titled “California” with Bernie Cisternas at Number 9 Audio in Toronto, both
playing acoustic guitars and singing vocals. The song was never officially released but had a
short run on Youtube in 2015 under the name Moving City which still stands today.
After the Toronto stint they both decided to put everything on hold to experience different
parts of world, with Andrew going to Australia and Logan to Europe in 2016.
After about a year of travelling and other unexpected life events the two reunited back in
Toronto. This time around they were living in different parts of the city but still making Moving
City a priority, frequently spending time together to write new songs and kept playing shows.
An unexpected event in Logan’s life caused him to move away suddenly in January of 2018,
going to Vancouver to spend time with his father who was terminally ill, eventually passing
away in 2020. During these two years away Andrew and Logan kept in contact frequently,
sending demos and always planning for their eventual reunion, this time in Vancouver.
The summer of 2020 was when the two would finally meet again and continue the Moving City
project under very strange circumstances. Covid-19 had been only a few months in and working
remotely became the only way Andrew could operate with his office job. With that, the move
to Vancouver looked more realistic, him also having family in the area it made even more
sense. Logan had mentioned during a call that he was moving into a bigger unit in his
apartment and his affordable place was up for grabs. Andrew immediately jumped on the
opportunity and was on a plane a month later. In July 2020 the two were back making music,
living in the same apartment building and constantly creating.
The duo wrote a plethora of new songs, immediately diving back in and decided to record a full
album. After consulting a friend and local musician in Vancouver, Kevan Schell (AKA Tobacco
Brown), he steered them in the direction of fellow musician/producer Chris Johnson to start
recording with. The three hit it off immediately after a quick meet and Moving City’s debut
album “2308” began production.

The album was recorded, mixed and mastered in Chris’ warehouse rental that doubled as a DIY
studio and building space for his woodwork, a place that has turned into a home base for the
band with Chris eventually joining about a year later. The album featured Chris playing
guitar/bass and drums, Logan on Guitar and vocals and Andrew on guitar and vocals.
After “2308” released in December 2020, Andrew and Logan continued writing new material,
creating songs that reflected a more personal and emotional feeling then the catchy folk driven
first record. They experimented with different sounds, venturing outside of their comfort zones
to create their second album in 2021.
Once again hiring Chris Johnson to produce, the three ventured off on a road trip to record
remotely in obscure outdoor places, this time in Squamish and Whistler BC. They were able to
capture sounds of nature, from rain beading off a windshield at high speeds to flowing streams
down the scenic rivers of northern British Columbia. The unique experience created a strong
friendship between the three of them and with Chris’ experience producing and playing music,
he became a mentor for the two songwriters. They wrapped up recording in the warehouse for
overdubs and finishing touches and released the 13 track album “Little Dogs’’ in March 2021.
With all the extra time at home due to the lockdowns and living in the same building, Logan and
Andrew were able to be ultra-productive and spent a lot of time rehearsing and writing almost
daily, while also improving their overall skills. By the time “Little Dogs” was released, they had
another group of songs ready to record. This time they were much more selective and each
song was meticulously crafted creating a more rounded rock sound fit for a band as opposed to
just a duo.
After building a relationship with Chris Johnson on the first two records , the three decided to
team up as a band and bring in drummer Madison Norton from local band SEER to start
recording album number three, “Nightflash”. After wrapping up production the four of them
recruited local bass player Jan Toren to join the group and started rehearsing for shows in early
2021.
After playing a few smaller gigs in town the band started to network and gain some exposure
locally as Covid restrictions slowly started to lift. Notably Moving City has played multiple MRG
showcases in Vancouver, opening for Jon Bryant at the Imperial, The Shipyards Festival and
opening for U.K. up and comers Red Rum Club at The Biltmore Cabaret. Moving City also played
at NXNE 2022 and was included on Indie 88s top 20 bands to see for the festival out of over 300
artists and are due back as one of the first 100 invites to play again this summer for NXNE 2023.
More recently Moving City has recorded a 5 song EP titled “SNACKS”, with a single release in
late April following the full EP early June making it their 4 th album in 3 years.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
First we would visit the Sea wall along the ocean in Vancouver, and of course Stanley Park and all the other outdoor adventures to go on. With a full day of walking the shore and grabbing lunch at Vennies on Commercial drive for the most amazing Sandwiches ever created, we’d head to Grouse mountain in north Vancouver and hit the grind up the mountain and burn off some calories. After that burn we would head back to commercial Drive and go to Oca Pastifico for some gourmet pasta dishes and head down to Gastown to Guilt & Co. for the late show.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We’d love to shout out all of our friends and family and fans that we’ve generated over the last couple of years through our music. Local venues like Guilt & Co. and 2nd Floor in Vancouver especially have given us a great platform to perform and reach an audience. All of us in the band have supported each other in all walks of life beyond music and are able to keep thriving because of that unconditional respect and friendship.

Website: www.movingcitymusic.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/movingcitymusic/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MovingCityMusic

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@movingcity9264/videos

Image Credits
Maddy Kristall at Pulp Publicity