Moe Berg (left) with The Pursuit of Happiness.
It was in 1986, on the Pursuit of Happiness's breakthrough hit I'm An Adult Now, that Moe Berg sardonically sang that he "couldn't take too much loud music." We didn't believe him then, and now that he's 58 years old, we still don't. He was recently spotted at a show at Velvet Underground by punk survivors Dag Nasty and he's currently part of the power-pop supergroup the TransCanada Highwaymen, with Chris Murphy (Sloan), Steven Page (Barenaked Ladies) and Craig Northey (Odds). On June 2, a live Pursuit of Happiness radio taping from the early 1990s will be released as part of an anthology, the Braves New Waves Sessions. In the meantime, Berg lets us know what else has him turning it up to 11 these days.
What he's listening to: "I'm enjoying the new side project by my bandmate in the TransCanada Highwaymen, Sloan's Chris Murphy. It's called TUNS, and it's an East Coast supergroup he has with Matt Murphy from the Flashing Lights and Mike O'Neill from the Inbreds. Fans of great melodies and singing will love the band's self-titled debut from a year ago."
What he's watching: "I'm not usually anti-technology and I prefer tidy endings, but the writing is so good on British sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror that Mrs. Berg and I burned through everything they had on Netflix and are hoping there will be new episodes. This show really proves that TV is currently the best of the popular arts."
What he's looking forward to: "Dave Bookman's Nu Music Night, at the Horseshoe Tavern. I've been going to this off and on for years and always see at least one or two interesting acts. Indie 88's Dave (Bookie) Bookman and the Horseshoe's Craig Laskey and Jeff Cohen have an uncanny ability to find good artists for this enduring series, including last week's Jordan B. Wright. I can count on seeing one or two friendly faces every outing and always hope that Teddy Fury, the "Pope of the Horseshoe," is bartending."
For more information on The Pursuit Of Happiness's Brave New Waves Session: cbcbravenewwaves.bandcamp.com.
Brad Wheeler