And now here they are, Nick and Sue on Chatterbox.
When the stars talk, they talk to Nick and Sue.
Welcome back to the Chatterbox Redux Podcast
with Sue and Nick and today our special guest
is Jess Motta Luke. This is Nick and Sue with
Chatterbox giving you all you need to know about
musical entertainment. Oh yeah! Chatterbox, the
best interviews with Nick and Sue. Chatterbox,
the best news Down Chatterbox UK, we're just
lucky enough to welcome Jess Moskaluk. Jess,
welcome. How are you? Welcome. I'm doing well.
How are you? Well, good. Thank you. Well, good.
Thank you. Hopefully things are warming up over
where you are now because you're Canada, aren't
you? So you've just been through that. No, still
bad? Minus 12? What is it today? I'm not sure
what the temperature is today, but it is snowing
currently. So we're trying to get in our second
or third winter. Usually there's not just one,
there's several. Oh, there's me thinking you're
coming out of it because I saw like a minus 12
the other day. Yeah, that's how it that's how
it gets you through the long winters is all the
snow will go away and then it will come back.
Well, we got a 12 degrees over here. We've had
two 12 degrees plus 12 this week and we've been
running around in shorts down here on the South
Coast. So that's quite warming. We get to 20.
We're doing well here in the height of the summer.
Can't wait for that. Oh, bring it on for you.
Yeah. Right. We're at 2026. It's gonna be an
amazing year for years. They're all rounds many
ways Let's start first of all Last rodeo obviously
we've listened to it. We think it's great. We're
gonna give it some airplay as well on our live
shows It was released back on the 27th of February
Tell us about it. And why specifically do you
think this is all right for? Specifically for
a British audience because obviously you do because
we're here doing interviews about it So is this
the one that's that's gonna do it for you in
the UK? I have no idea. You're the UK expert,
not me. I don't really think about releasing
songs quite in that way, if I'm being totally
honest. I make music that I want to listen to
and that I think that my fan base would listen
to. I don't necessarily target one specific region
of the world and be like... so -and -so is gonna
love this or so -and -so. I think that that's
really tricky territory. But Last Rodeo is a
love song, and I haven't released a lot of love
songs in the past. They just have to be really,
really special and just right for me to feel
confident enough to put it out in the world.
And I write lots of love songs, but... This one
this one was special enough and it's it's a love
song about just finding your person and Loving
them so much and treating every day like it's
your last day on earth When you write a song
yourself, whether it be a love song or whatever
the song might be Is there any elements of your
life in that song? Oh, yeah, like almost almost
every time Yeah, that's the that's the beauty
of being a songwriter. I say almost every time
because sometimes it's fun to just make things
up as you go that's the that's the beauty of
it is you know being a creative person you can
you can make it up you can embellish if you want
but um usually more often than not it comes from
a place of honesty and experience okay and i
think when we talk about the territories uh i
mean obviously different things work in different
territories and you say about me the uk i do
you know i don't actually know the uk audience
i like to think i do but then again i hear things
like this song and i'd like them to hear it i'd
like them to like it do you know what i mean
and uh i think that's more more what my job is
it's not just playing uh oldies on oldie stations
it is also introducing good new music to people
do you think oh well they like that they should
like this and that that's sort of the way it
goes so i like to introduce them to what i call
good music because i can find good music in all
genres even punk it could can be yeah totally
it's a great guitar and stuff in it you know
so uh i could appreciate all genres even if it's
going to classical uh there is good there's bad
in everything as well but so yeah when it comes
to me i like to introduce them and play them
stuff i think they're going to enjoy and i think
it's good so you know good i hope so i hope you're
right i'll take your word for it uh have you
ever been to the uk and done any any any gigs
or anything like here Yeah, a couple of times
we've done a few little tours around the UK.
I'm trying to think of when the last one was.
It's been maybe a couple years now, two years
maybe, but we have. Now, you've been quite prolific.
I mean, I've done some homework and when I say
that's your promoters over here, we work with
a great deal. as I said you would come out for
interviews you had this song coming out and I
did the Wikipedia bit the fact is you've got
a full -on Wikipedia page but of course what
I know it can be very wrong Wikipedia it's only
as good as what the person's put on Wikipedia
of course it's not as correct as that but what
I did really take note of is the amount of hits
that you've had in the Canadian country charts.
I think it was 24 country hits, you've had Christmas
hits with somebody else and you've done this
and you've been very popular in Australia, but
I think the fact that I think it was 24 or 25
country hits, including number one and number
one in Australia and stuff, that's pretty well
established really in my book. Yeah, I've been
around for a minute. So what's it like when you
when you go to when you actually do a concert
in Canada? I mean, what's I mean, are they big
venues? Because I mean, that's that shows signs
of huge success that that shows you should be
able to pack out venues with thousands, you know,
couple thousand, three thousand, whatever. Is
that happening? Not necessarily. It depends on
the event. Canada is a little bit different and
we have a really strong country music scene here
as well. full of incredible artists. So, yeah,
I can play venues. I just did a Cross Canada
headline tour in the fall, and those venues were
around 500 or so. Some a little more, some a
little less, because Canada's a big place. It's
a country, not a city, right? it's a big place
and it's split up into provinces and some provinces,
you know, you do really well in some provinces
need a little more work. But yeah, we can do
around that and then but I also fest like festivals
are a big thing here in Canada in the summer
as well. So when I play those, that's a little
bit different because you're playing to a crowd
that's there for multiple different artists and
that can be tens of thousands of people so i've
really quite done it all from tiny little venues
small acoustic shows to massive massive stadiums
and um it's it's pretty cool festivals was of
course the thing i was going to move on to next
you must have known that that's where i was going
next now are these festivals that you've been
playing and i mean are they just all country
ones is it a mixture is it like like big full
-on things and they got all genres or a bit of
everything are they or what sort of no they're
primarily country I also know what you mean about
the size of Canada. I've not been to Canada.
I've not been that side to the waterfall. So
the tour you were talking about in the fall,
was that the life for me tour that I've got here?
Yeah. Yes. Yeah, it was. Right. We move on to
something really big in your life in a second,
because this could sort of lead to what the answer
to this question is going to be. Is there any
tours for this summer? Well, yes, but no so Not
in the I think we're understanding this question
differently So let me explain a tour a proper
tour Like I just did on the life for me tour
here in Canada is usually you hop on a tour bus
And you play every night for a month or whatever
in my case. It was two months. We did a tour
But in Canada in the summer we do summer festival
season. It's not a tour It's a couple shows a
week that you're flying in and out for And usually
a tour, as I've described, it happens every couple
of years. Though Canada is big, it's also far
between each kind of city. So if you're there
often, you're exhausting the market. So you really
can't tour like that every single year. So to
tour just a couple of months apart is out of
the question. But that being said, I will be
doing summer festival season. Oh, brilliant.
To tangle and to to present a radio show So here's
Nick and Sue Your musical duo This is Nick and
Sue with Cheddar Box giving you all you need
to know about musical entertainment Cheddar Box
Cheddar Box Cheddar Box Cheddar Box Cheddar Box
Cheddar Box Shut the box! Now, you're about to
become a mum, so... Exciting times, so hopefully...
When? There could be some songs opening up there,
I can see, but... Does the young lady know what
she's having? Ah, do you know if you're having
a boy or a girl yet? No, we don't. We're keeping
it a surprise. Okay, am I allowed to pry that
little bit further on your list of names? Have
you got any favourites for both boys and girls,
or can't I go there yet? I'm not gonna tell you
what they are. We haven't told anyone not even
our parents, but but we do have our names locked
in for I wouldn't be doing my job. I mean, we're
not nothing tabloid here, but I wouldn't be doing
my job Because people at home will be like you
know, they would So, how do you think you're
gonna be able to handle motherhood in your career
I mean Don't know. Is this your first one? This
is my first one. Exactly. So you don't know?
So I don't know exactly. It's venturing into
the unknown. I think that all I can do is be
as prepared and well read as I can. And I think
it's really important to be able to learn and
adjust and grow as you go. And, you know, I've
got a really great support system, but we'll
see how it goes. I've never met the person that
I'm about to spend the rest of my life with,
so I don't know what their tendencies are or
what they need from me as a mother. So those
are all things that we're going to have to learn
along the way. That's a great way of putting
it. I've never heard it put that way before in
my life, but how wonderful. I've never met the
person. That is amazing. It is absolutely true.
I have to work together to figure it out. That's
good. I like it. Yeah. Okay, now you've also
been acting as an artist manager for a couple
of your friends or your colleagues or whatever
on the label. So how's that been working out?
Yeah, that's been really great. It's been the
last two years of managing two other artists
by the name of Josh Stumpf and Savannah Jade
who, as you mentioned, we've had her on twice.
We love Savannah Jade. She writes some great
songs. Yeah, she really does. And she's in the
studio right now working on some more. And so
I'm sure you'll be hearing from her very shortly
smashes. But it's been going really well. And
it's really cool because, you know, I am their
manager. But I'm also an artist that is still
actively working and promoting herself as an
artist. So It's really cool to be in the trenches
with them and be their peers. And I think that
I'm able to kind of offer a unique experience
to what other people on our team can offer because
I'm the only one that's really been through it
and going through it with them still. So it's
been a lot of fun. And I'm really happy to watch
their stars rise. And every success for them
is such a success for me too. So it's really
cool to see and to be a part of. Yeah, yeah,
I mean I must admit I mean the first time we
interviewed him was to do with I only have X's
and I thought what clever title, what a clever
title, I only have Y's, what clever lyrics, it
really is, you're never going to forget that,
you're never going to forget that, you know,
you're just not, ever, just great lyrics, so
yeah cool, so you keep that, so you're going
to keep that going as well, so I think we basically
almost covered the markets outside. How do you
go down into the USA? Have you pushed yourself
down there at all? How do you get on with the
country market there? Because that's quite wide
and different sorts of country there, isn't it?
It's quite diverse. And I would say Canada is
the same. We also have different sorts of country
here. But I spend a lot of time in the States.
That's primarily where I do my songwriting. I
love writing there in a place that feels inspired
with, you know, some of the best writers in the
world. I think it's so fun to be collaborative
and I can learn a lot there. But we haven't done...
much in the US market. It's just a massive thing.
It's expensive. It's daunting. I'm already touring
so much that to add, you know, another country
that would be, you know, about the like size
and workload of the three territories, I'll say
that I already released music and is like, I
can't I can't double my workload right now. So
it's just it's not really been for me. It's for
a lot of other people. And I, you know, I have
tons of artists, friends who are over in the
States crushing it. And I'm so proud of everything
they've accomplished and really happy that they
chased something that meant something to them.
But it just wasn't the path for me. Well, absolutely.
And it is another very big place with lots and
lots and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of
massive cities all around the place. Yeah, exactly.
Which to us here. Well, if we were to go from
where we are on the south coast to Glasgow, which
is almost the top of, well, halfway in Scotland,
to us, that's, yeah, that's over a day traveling
to us, you know, and that's massive. Of course,
too, in terms of a state, you're only part way
across some of the states and 700 miles. Yeah.
So it's a different world to us, we just can't
relate to it, you know? Yeah. Or a thousand miles,
we could be in the south of Spain, you know,
it's a sort of totally different a different
ballgame yeah it totally is totally is but yeah
so um very exciting times all around for you
i would normally ask this question if you would
come back on in six savannah's had this but uh
i'm going to change it slightly for you uh normally
it's if you were to come back in six months time
what would you like to tell me you've achieved
because you've got so much going on let's say
yeah let's say a year a year to 18 months we
were to have a chat then what would you like
to be coming onto chatterbox and telling the
people all the listeners in the uk that you've
achieved well hopefully motherhood successfully
that would be nice hopefully we've got into a
rhythm but um yeah my year is going to look different
this year um I don't know that it's going to
be a big groundbreaking achievement year for
me this year because I'm making the biggest change
I've ever made in my life. So I don't know. I
think it would be mostly personal life things
in a year and not. I'll still be releasing music.
I'll still be playing shows. I'll still be doing
all of that. But it's going to, you know, just
consistency is going to be the achievement, I
think, for me this year. Oh, brilliant. Okay,
let's do some social media for you, Jess. So,
yeah, websites, whatever you got, so chuck it
at them now so they can take a look at you. Yeah,
totally. I'm on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook,
YouTube. My website is just www .jessmoscaluke
.com and you should be able to find all those
links right on there. Moscaluke, M -O -S -K -A
-L -U -K -E. We've got it. Perfect. Jess, it's
been great meeting you at last and I love the
chat and I'm sure we can do it again sometimes.
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much. Who's wishing
you all the luck with the little one, of course.
Thanks Sue. And yeah, we'll catch up sometime
soon. So all the best for that and every success
with Last Rodeo, which is already available.
So yeah, brilliant. And Jess, Oscar Luke, thank
you so much for coming on Chatterbox. Thank you.
Take care. Bye bye now. Bye bye. Awesome. Thank
you. Have a good day. Bye bye now. Bye. You've
been listening to the Chatterbox Redux podcast
with Sue and Nick and today our special guest
was Jess Motta Luke. If you're interested in
becoming a future guest on the Chatterbox Redux
podcast or the radio show Chatterbox UK, you're
welcome to submit songs, books or whatever it
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Chatterbox giving you all you need to know about
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