The Moorelands Project

On a laptop with recording software, all it takes is a couple hours to craft a beat or two. Lay down some vocals, post it to YouTube, then sit back and wait for a record deal. Congratulations! You’ve just followed in the footsteps of a new generation that is eager to bring music to the public by themselves, forgoing outside help.

The do-it-yourself (DIY) movement in music is growing quickly. Traditional record sales may be dropping, but instrument sales have been skyrocketing more than ever.

We can now post our creative endeavours on the Internet and share them with our friends with one click. In today’s social media frenzy, it can be hard to stand out, so the need to establish credibility comes into play.

I caught up with Mike “Greener” Greenwood and Mike “Kraz” Krasnowski, the members of The Moorelands Project, to talk about music and their band. They are vets of the DIY scene, having logged years of collective experience in many environments. Both pursued music in school. Kraz attended Durham College, and Greener went to Carleton University, going on to study right here at Seneca@York.

The Moorelands Project is a band that “prides itself on being completely produced in-house.” The duo writes, records, and mixes everything from a home studio, while maintaining professionalism in their music production.

“It’s not what you put out exactly,” says Greener. “It’s how you put it out. Anyone can post an online recording, but it takes that extra step to get it onto iTunes.”

In order to try and be distinctive today, you must try and appeal to many tastes. “Everyone likes everything these days,” says Kraz. “From Rihanna to Tokyo Police Club. You never know what’s going to be big next.”

“DIY music has been growing over the past decade or so,” adds Greener. “Musicians are sometimes fearful of labels. In the ’90s, you had to go to a record company for everything from photos to pressing demos. Now, Google does it for you.”

Promotion and distribution has changed so drastically, it has become easy to make the public aware of you. “It used to be posting flyers wherever the show was. Nobody cared,” says Kraz. “Social media [like Twitter and Facebook] is now there to get your name out. Someone may not know you’re in a band, and then they get an [online] invite and come.”

Of course, it doesn’t hurt to promote yourself the old-fashioned way. When Greener attended Seneca@York for independent music production, he often collaborated with other students and provided music and beats for the radio amongst other things. Greener and other artists even honed their craft with open-mic nights at Blueberry Hill.

The Moorelands Project filmed a music video for their first single, “The Trip”, on Greener’s home street employing friends and family, and it’s on iTunes now.

They also released six songs for free download, with Kraz chipping in, “You buy one, get six free. How often do you see that?”

The music business has definitely changed, but is it dead?

“No way, that’s bull,” exclaims Greener. “It’s just different.”

The business has evolved, and now there is serious money in searching for the next big sensation on the Internet. - Excalibur: York University Campus Paper

The Toronto music scene's latest up-and-coming act is anything but ordinary. Their approach is fresh, their videos are fun and their music is a blend of....everything.

The Moorelands Project classifies themselves as Rock Hop and Roll, and if you take a listen to The Trip, you'll find the classification is almost bang on. We think they could even throw in a little Punk and Indie. So they'd be Indie Rock Hop and Rolling Punk? Either way...it's different, and we like it!

This duo contains two multi-instrumentalists/songwriters; Mike Krasnowski (vocals, keys, guitars) and Mike Greenwood (guitars, synthesizers). The band is only a year old but by the looks of their behind-the-scenes stuff, it's pretty clear these dudes have known eachother for much, much longer. Word on the street (their site) is that they are working on an LP which should be released in Fall 2011.

Recently, a music video for The Trip was released online and it's exactly like the title indicates...trippy.

Picture yourself in a dream where the most random things join you in an adventure to a place unknown. Rabbits, apes, clowns, grim reaper type dudes and hot fairy girls that turn into hot fairy girls with masks. It's creepy and awesome all at the same time! The video is well-shot and the song itself is super catchy. If you have a listen to the chorus, it's totally commercial, as in- we can hear it being played on a Telus or Skittles commercial. Really awesome stuff.

We caught up with The Moorelands Project to find out a little bit more about them. Check out CW's interview with the guys below:

Cw- Tell us a little bit about yourself?

TMP- We’re two best friends who have enveloped our lives in music, both achieving post-secondary school educations in music related fields. Kraz-an advanced diploma for Music Business Management; Greener with a bachelor of arts honors in music and a diploma in sonic design, as well as certificate in Independent Music Production. We always wanted to make music together but went on our separate musical paths after high school, only to come together at full force in the past year. As of February of this year, we both decided, with the blessing of our families, that we would drop everything in order to do this on a full time basis.

Cw- What are some of your key influences?

TMP- We are able to take influence from any kind of music that is out there. We love any type of music from pop to hip-hop, classical to metal, new and old and everything in between. The production style of Phil Spector is a big part of our anatomy as a band. We love to make full sounding songs to create an almost cinematic experience for our listeners.

Cw- How did The Moorelands Project form?

TMP- Our circle of friends is full of very talented musicians. We wanted an outlet that would allow all of us to come together and create music together, while still participating in our other musical projects. This way we have all sorts of influences and ideas that are able to come together and grow into The Moorelands Project. Our bands dissolved at the perfect times in order for us to start doing this together.

Cw- How long have you been making music?

TMP- The two of us have been making music for the better part of the last decade. Kraz has been playing in metal bands the past couple of years, while Greener was in a more hip-hop infused sound. Just within the last year is when we joined forces and decided to create together, within the last 5-6 months is when we really knew we wanted to give this a big push. We also knew that the knowledge we attained during our post secondary educations set us apart from many other independent musicians.

Cw- What's your writing process like?

TMP- Any idea that we have is considered. We usually just write parts that we like and build off of them. A lot of our ideas are created, and then built on at a later date. This allows us to figure out what’s wrong with the piece or what could be improved. We want to make enjoyable music of all genres. Even a haunting waltz has been in our idea book for a while that will come to fruition in the near future!

Cw- Have there been any big shows recently?

TMP-We have not put together a live show as of yet. With there being only two of us in the band we will have to hire musicians to play with us. We are starting to conceptualize a live show to start touring this fall. We want the production value to be huge, with much more than just music being played on stage. But fans will have to stay tuned for that!

Cw- Sounds good, we'll stand by! You describe your music as Rock Hop and Roll, what other artists/bands are you similar to?

TMP- We want our sound to stay as diverse and different as possible. We feel as though nowadays you can look at anyone’s iPod and find a wide variety genres and we want to be “that band” that is able to infuse as many sounds and influences together as possible, while keeping a commercial aspect to it. We coined our music as “Rock Hop & Roll” because we thought it described our diversity well. We’ve heard “The Trip” be described as “psych/brit pop”, while songs like “Old Futures/Sweet Dreams” compared to something from Blink 182. Others have associated Kraz’s rapping style to The Dirty Heads.

Cw- You released a video for The Trip, it's pretty crazy...who came up with the concept? Can you describe the concept for those who haven't seen it yet?

TMP- When we decided to make a video, the two of us had the same idea to make a parade-like feel for it. We had a couple different ideas that evolved into what it is. The song “The Trip” is meant to be taken as a metaphorical journey through the ups and downs of life, or the ups and downs of a drug trip. The video starts off very happy with costumed characters like flowers and fairies, but starts to get weirder as the character is walking through upside down clowns and bunnies, etc., finally getting to the grim reapers. We thought this was a great idea as many people who have tried drugs before know that a major drug trip is incomplete without thinking you’re going to die at one point. The suburban surrounding is changed to a dirt road that signifies the low point of life or the drug trip, which then leads back to the suburban area as the character accepts what has happened to him. Everyone knows acceptance is the best way to come out of a drug trip!

Cw- haha Alright then! Are you planning to release other songs/videos soon?

TMP- We’re planning to release our next single, Set It Off, Johnny McEnroe, in the next couple of weeks. The video we plan to shoot in early July will be the prequel to “The Trip”. We plan to reference the costumes as like “the night before the trip”. It should be pretty funny and we’re excited to see how this one turns out as well.

Cw- Nice! Any plans for the near future?

TMP- We plan to release another EP this summer, release another single and video, get a tour in the works, and begin writing a full length LP to be released later this year. We also have some publicity stunts set up in order to spread the word about The Trip in the downtown Toronto area. That’ll be a lot of fun!

Cw- If you could have drinks with any artist in the world, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

TMP- Greener has to go with Bruce Springsteen. Why? “He’s the %$#@$^& Boss!”

Kraz says Bob Marley. “I don’t think would’ve had many drinks, but his outlook on the world is beautiful, whether positive or negative, and he conveys that in his songs perfectly.”

Cw- If you could tour with any artist who would it be?

TMP- Greener says The Gorillaz. They’re stage show is unmatched by anyone. Kraz chooses Lady Gaga. Just so he can chill with Lady Gaga as much as possible. Alternate personas in rock & roll are entertaining!

Cw- Who would you rather roam the city with, Justin Bieber or Drake?

TMP- Greener chooses JB, because of Selena Gomez and Disney. “Once you’re in with Disney, you’re set”. Kraz chooses Drake. He’s always been connected with Drake’s honesty and the transparency in his lyrics. We’re all born in ’86, and we would get along quite well we’re sure!

Cw- Final words of inspiration for upcoming bands/musicians?

TMP-Never be afraid of the sacrifices that HAVE to be made in order to succeed in this business. It’s scary, but you have to be willing to sacrifice everything in order for it to work. Time and money are the biggest things. Even if you fail, it will be much easier when you’re 40 years old knowing you tried, than being 40 years old and regretting that you didn’t give it everything you had!

And now, we bring you.....'The Trip'!! - www.indiscover.net

The Moorelands Project

Two of my passions are music and self-promotion, so when the guys from The Moorelands Project persistently requested I check out their tunes, I had no choice but to relent. If anyone knows the benefit of hustling your wares on the Internet, it’s me, so why not pay it forward by giving these guys the chance to get their music heard by not only me, a Third-Tier Internet Celebrity, but literally hundreds and hundreds of people who follow me on Tumblr and Twitter.

But this isn’t about me, this about The Moorelands Project, who describe themselves as “A production team that consists of two multi-instrumentalists/songwriters; Mike Krasnowski (vocals, keys, guitars) and Mike Greenwood (guitars, synthesizers), The Moorelands Project creates commercially appealing music that occasionally enlists musicians from across the Greater Toronto Area.”


I listened to their self-titled EP and during each song, I tried to pin them down. It’s what we, as music listeners, as a society, have been programmed to do, right? I couldn’t do it. That’s the defining quality of this group, in my opinion. From the bluesy funk garage-vibe of “Few More Times” to the hip-pop groove of “Follow My Melody,” The Moorelands Project incorporate a true melding of styles. About the only thing missing from this collection is a country-infused jazz number. It wouldn’t surprise me if they actually pulled that off though.


I find it curious that they describe their music as “commercially appealing,” for two reasons. One, admitting to wanting commercial success seems to be the death knell of credibility, and two, it was my first thought when I listened to their single “The Trip” on their blog. I won’t say it’s a detractor in this instance. They’re not trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes, and personally, I think the music is inventive enough that it deserves some commercial attention.

The above song is “Few More Times” which is my favorite track. - Electric Pencils - Chris Fullerton

Local Pickering band The Moorelands Project, filmed their first music video this month on Moorelands Cres. With the street shut down, speakers playing, and many friends dressed in costumes The Moorelands Project completed their very first music video which was released on May 15th along with their new EP. The Moorelands Project is the brainchild of production duo Mike “Kraz” Krasnowski and Mike “Greener” Greenwood. The team of multi- instrumentalists/songwriters, Kraz (vocals, keys, guitars) and Greener (guitars, synthesizers, percussion) describe their sound as Rock Hop and Roll, seamlessly combining a range of genres, offering a unique blending of tones and “live off the floor” feel.
Check out the video at: http://www.themoorelandsproject.com/ - SNAP Pickering