mxdwn Best New Artist of 2025: Interview with Randy Moore on Bones Shredder’s Inspirations and Debut Album

mxdwn’s best new artist of 2025, Bones Shredder, is the latest solo project of Randy Moore who is no stranger to the music industry. Moore has been in numerous bands including Dan Andriano & The Bygones, Lektron, Get Married, Teens in Trouble and The Moore Family Band, and was recently introduced as Ghost’s touring rhythm guitarist in 2023.

Now, the Bones Shredder moniker has given him the creative freedom to release his debut solo album, Morbid Little Thing, a thrilling combination of Weezer, a little bit of horror and the music of the ’60s.

mxdwn: Hi, my name is Eve Pierpont and I’m the editor for mxdwn’s music features section. I’m here today with Randy Moore, more recently known as Bones Shredder. Hi Randy, how are you?

Bones Shredder: I’m doing great. How are you doing?

mxdwn: I’m doing good. So, what made you decide to take the leap to start your own solo project and how does it differ from the band you started with your siblings, The Moore Family Band?

BS: I just wanted to have more, I mean, it may sound kind of like egotistical of me to say, but I kind of wanted more like creative control. It differs from The Moore Family Band because I think as much as we are a unit, individually, we are all very different. I really wanted to explore this kind of like macabre, kinda like goth Weezer kind of vibe a little bit more, you know? And I feel like I kind of embody that more than my two other siblings. My brother still plays drums on my record because he’s an animal, but I’ve never been in a project where I was like the leading force of every aspect of it. So, I just really wanted to explore that avenue and see what I could do.

mxdwn: Nice. I love that. Where did the name Bones Shredder come from?

BS: {Laughs}. About 10 years ago, I was on my first tour with my first band Get Married, and the singer, Jake, just decided to give everybody nicknames in the band, and one guy was like, muscles, glasses, and then Bobo, and then he goes to me and goes Bones. And I was like, what? Like, that’s my name? Then just because I play guitar, it became Bones the Shredder Moore, and then it was Bones the Shredder, and then I like subbed it down to Bones Shredder.

mxdwn: That’s awesome. Why is it important for you to include horror imagery in your project? For example, in the music videos and lyrics throughout the album? Does it fit an aesthetic, is it for fun or is there a deeper reason?

BS: I mean, I’m really into like, I guess, the macabre and horror stuff, like Halloween’s my favorite holiday and stuff like that. Alkaline Trio is like my favorite band of all time and they kind of teeter that line of, you know, darker imagery lyrically, but maybe the songs don’t reflect that. So, I really like being like tongue in cheek about things that are a little bit darker subjects. I think it’s really fun to play with the, you know, spooky stuff.

mxdwn: Yeah. I get that, and I totally agree. You started as a touring rhythm guitarist for Ghost in 2023. What was that experience like for you?

BS: It was rad. Those guys are great.

mxdwn: Yeah. That’s awesome. If you can answer, how has that influenced your solo project, if it has?

BS: Not really. I mean, I’ve learned a lot through being in that organization, but I haven’t like talked shop with Tobias or anything about songwriting tips or anything like that. It has been a big like, learning experience and just like really cool to get to know how the whole, the machine works, you know?

mxdwn: Gotcha. Yeah. I’m sure. I can only imagine. You are an extremely skilled guitar player. Can you tell me about when and how you started playing? Is playing guitar something that came naturally? Because it’s really impressive.

BS: Oh, well, thank you. I’ve grown up in a musical household. My dad is a musician and my mom loves music. So, at a young age I was exposed to music and live music especially. But you know, my dad comes from this like, classic Led Zeppelin, Beatles kind of background, and then my mom is like Metallica and Ozzy and Megadeth and all of that kind of stuff, so it kinda sums up who I am musically between those two a little bit. But then just like discovered punk music in high school and like really got into like, the local scene and DIY and just like cutting my teeth that way and like playing shows in random halls and doing stuff like that. But for guitar, I just really gravitated towards, never like over technical guitar players, but just people that I think that have really a lot of personality in their guitar playing. I try to showcase that as much as possible when I play.

mxdwn: Yeah. Well you definitely do. Who comes to mind when when you think like, personality as a guitar player, just out of curiosity?

BS: Ace Frehley is like the number one.

mxdwn: Gotcha.

BS: Ace Frehly was a huge reason of like, why I started playing guitar. Seriously.

mxdwn: That’s awesome. Because I don’t know, I always listen to guitars and music and I just was like, wow, very rarely am I like impressed because that sounds horrible, but, very rarely am I like, wow, this is like really, really, really incredible, like, noteworthy. And when I was listening to your music, it was like that, so I was just blown away, you know, some crazy skills.

BS: Thank you.

mxdwn: Of course. So what was it about “Daylight” that made you release it as a preview single for your debut album?

BS: I think “Daylight” kind of encapsulates the record, if I could pick one song, you know, I think that was kind of like the strongest song to get people’s attention from the get go. It has all these elements that I really like about songwriting and I think “Daylight” is like one of the best songs I ever wrote, so I’m a little proud of it, you know, so I’m gonna indulge in it. But, to me, it’s got this very ’60s kind of vibe, and then the guitars were really heavy at times, it’s very like Weezer at times. It reminds me of like Nirvana, but then it’s got this dual guitar thing that I’ve always really liked. It’s kind of been my signature of adding dual guitars, to some people’s dismay, as I’m like in their bands I’m like, what if we had this dual guitar part? You know? I think it has all the elements that kind of encapsulate the album in that one song.

mxdwn: That’s awesome. What is the most personal song to you on Morbid Little Thing?

BS: They all kind of come from a place of, I guess, vulnerability. “Wasted Days,” I would say is one of the more personal ones, speaking on surface level it can be about just cutting things that are like bad in your life out. For me it was like smoking weed all the time and that’s kinda what that song is about, and kind of coming to terms of being like, maybe this isn’t good for me anymore. It works for some people and then for me it was just, it’s wasting my days. So, yeah, I’d probably say “Wasted Days” is probably that one.

mxdwn: Gotcha. I kind of came to a similar realization, so I understand.

BS: Seems like a lot of people are doing that recently.

mxdwn: Yeah, I think so too because I’ve also had a lot of friends where I noticed, I’m like, okay like you also kind of think the same {laughs}.

BS: Like once you have it readily available, then you’re like, ah.

mxdwn: Yeah. Exactly. It takes a lot of self-control to be able to step back and realize that and then actually do something about it.

BS: Absolutely. Yeah.

mxdwn: Yeah. How did you decide what direction you were going to go sonically with your cover of The Beatles “Baby’s in Black?”

BS: The cover I had been kicking around I think like, during the pandemic is when I really started learning how to record. There’s nothing else to do during that time, so I would just like sit in my room and work on song ideas or covers or whatever. And I was just kind of thinking, I was listening to it one day and I was like, this could kind of work as like a Weezer-ish kind of big guitar kind of thing. I sent it to my friend Henry who ended up producing the record and he was like, we should record this. Then nothing happened and then when we were talking about the album, he was like, what about that Beatles cover you did? And I was like, oh, we should totally bring that back.

mxdwn: Yeah. Great choice, because it works really, really well and you kind of wouldn’t expect, it’s probably, I guess, been done, but for a Beatles song to be like played in that way, and it just works so well.

BS: Totally.

mxdwn: Yeah. What was it like working with, um, with Dan Andriano and Matt Skiba?

BS: Those guys are my heroes, so to work with them, I feel like that was a huge life changing moment when I got to work with those guys. Dan is just like the coolest musician in the world and because that was the first time I interacted with anybody in that band, was meeting Dan and working on the record, and for the first couple days I was just like, don’t talk about Alkaline Trio. Do not talk about Alkaline Trio {laughs}. But yeah, we just talked about The Beatles and Tom Petty and Steely Dan and all these bands that we really liked. And then by like the fourth day I was like, I really like Alkaline Trio {laughs}.

mxdwn: Yeah {laughs}.

BS: I think he said something like, I know. And I was like, oh no, {laughs}. But yeah, Dan is an incredible person and he’s become such a great friend to me, and same goes for Skiba, you know, Skiba’s songwriting style has influenced me in so many ways. Getting to see both of them work in their individual ways, just like how the process is, is like crazy, you know? Because the project I worked with Skiba, he just kind of walked in one day and was like, here’s the song. I was like, okay. And seeing it get fleshed out from an idea on the acoustic guitar to where what we ended up getting is like pretty inspiring. And that has a lot to do with my process of just being like, you just have to do it and like, see it through.

mxdwn: Yeah. No, I can only imagine how fascinating it is to see something like that just unfold before you I bet it’s awesome. What was it like for you to meet Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo? I saw something about how meeting him changed your outlook.

BS: I mean Rivers, again, is one of those pillars of inspiration because I like his process of just being able to write songs. He’s very prolific, you know? It’s gotta be like Rivers Cuomo, Paul McCartney, Matt and Dan, and then like Danzig, like those are my guys and like Billie Joe Armstrong. So, being able to meet those guys has been pretty rad. But, I met Rivers and he was like really, really nice. He was like a fan of some of the stuff that I was doing and we just started talking and it just made me kinda realize that like, he just like is a dude, you know? Same goes for Alkaline Trio, when I met those guys first. But there’s something about Rivers Cuomo, who’s like “Buddy Holly” and The Blue Album and all of those like early Weezer songs, they’re kinda like ingrained in society a little bit, you know what I mean?

mxdwn: Totally.

BS: So, to meet somebody who is just like, yeah, I just wrote that, I was like, you know what? Maybe I can do that.

mxdwn: I totally get that because I’ll like interview people and I’m like, alright, wow, this is crazy. I can’t believe I’m actually gonna be able to talk to this musician. Then you realize that they’re just a person and you’re like, wow. And they’re really cool, like really down to earth and you’re just like, wow. That makes their music and them as a person just, you know, so much more admirable.

BS: I think I realized that like everything kind of came from like a genuine place.

mxdwn: Exactly. It makes a huge difference.

BS: Yeah. He’s never done… I mean, people have opinions about Weezer’s music, but I just, I think, just the craft of him being able to like push himself and explore all these different avenues is really inspiring.

mxdwn: Yeah, it definitely is. The closing song, “Wasted Days” is much longer than the other songs on the album and is thoughtfully constructed in a way that makes listeners feel like strangely whole at the end of the album. At least that’s how I felt. I know we talked about it before, that was probably my favorite song on the album, honestly. Can you tell me a little bit more about the creative process for that song and just where the decision came from. Did you write it to be an ending song or did it just kind of happen that way?

BS: Sure. When I was working on it, we just wanted to have 10 songs to work on, and I think pretty early on we were like, this is definitely the like behemoth closer track. Because it’s so grandiose and epic. And again, working with Henry, the producer, we both kind of were just like Beatles. Like let’s try to do as much, and I think that song “Wasted Days” also encapsulates the record in a different, like the other side of the coin, you know? I would say it’s the three main bands I keep referencing are The Beatles, Alkaline Trio and Weezer, and I think that song also has that, but maybe a little bit more expressed element of the Beatles where it’s like drawn out and slower and experimental, sonic wise, but we just kinda went for it and we’re just like, what if we had a cello on this? And he was like, okay, like backwards guitars? And all this different stuff. So, we just kind of wanted to make the song what it wanted to be, you know? And I think from very early on it was supposed to be this epic, psychedelic trip almost, but not really.

mxdwn: I mean, it really is.

BS: Yeah. It kinda takes you in this weird head space in the middle of it where it kind of builds up and explodes.

mxdwn: Yeah, exactly. And maybe like all the sounds of the album, kind of coming together, maybe that’s where I got that whole feeling from, if that makes sense as it for a closing song. I really enjoyed that song and it is like a psychedelic trip. It’s amazing.

BS: Well thank you. Yeah.

mxdwn: Of course. What does the future look like for Bones Shredder?

BS: Right now, we’re just trying to get the word out about the record. We are kinda working on some songs. I’m working on a record with Teens in Trouble coming up in the spring, so I’ve kind of got my fingers in a lot of different pots right now. But eventually I want to get Bones Shredder to tour and I’m always working on songs, so in what order that comes in, who knows, but there’s always progression.

mxdwn: Yes. Well that’s awesome, and I can’t wait to see what you do in the future because this album was very, very good, very interesting, very different. Even if it has similar sounds to, obviously music that’s out there, but I really enjoyed it and I really like what you’re doing, so, yeah, I cannot see what you do in the future. Congrats on the debut album. I mean, that’s huge. Most people don’t take the leap and you seem very confident about it, which is a good thing.

BS: I’m glad it comes off that way.

mxdwn: Well you have to stand behind your music, so it’s a great thing, and it does come off that way and in the best way possible.

BS: Thank you. Thank you. That really means a lot.

mxdwn: Of course. Well, it was a pleasure talking to you. Thank you so much for your time.

All photos by Marv Watson