HCM Sits Down For An Exclusive Interview With Radio/Hip-Hop Artist Moose Harris
HCM. Tell us a little bit about yourself?
Moose Harris. Anthony Bernard Daniels aka Moose Harris.Originally from New Iberia, Louisiana. I’m a Music and Sports Polymath – which is beyond a Jack of all trades – artist, musician, producer, syndicated radio show founder/host, event promoter, festival coordinator…..
HCM. The name “Urban Flosarus”, how did you get that and does it have a particular meaning?
Moose Harris. The word “Flosarus” was originated by me back in 2010. It means a thesaurus of Flow – to show the variety of music that I play on my show. A thesaurus has a lot of words that gives a lot of meanings, especially alternative, synonyms,etc. Well, that’s what the show is about. “Playing Anything With a Groove….” I mean that seriously, especially for the independent and underground types internationally.
HCM. What made you realize you wanted to pursue a career in music?
Moose Harris. I’ve always done music. It was just one of those child things that I did. A cassette recorder was my main toys. I’ve always looked at the different aspects of it, and wanted to know more. By the time I was 16, I knew I wasn’t going for anything else, regardless of what else I had previously pursed.
HCM. In addition to ‘Urban Flosarus’, you have another alias… Can you tell us about it as well?
Moose Harris. Real quick – It’s kinda funny to be referred to as Urban Flosarus, or just Flosarus. But it happens, and as long as the association is there. But I assume you’re talking about Moose Harris. Well ‘Moose’ was my nickname since (New Iberia) Freshman High. The Harris part came from college in New Orleans. A former friend was, shall I say “under the influence” and rhymed Lucious Harris (the basketball player) with “Mooshus Harris” and I liked it, so I kept it.
HCM. How do you balance being a radio show DJ and being an artist, or does one over shadow the other?
Moose Harris. It’s all the same for me. It’s all about being a part of the presentation somehow. Yes, Radio and DJing (they can be and are separate things for me) has taken control over the last 5-6 years, but on the other hand, I have an entire anthology (on my bandcamp, Mooseharris.Bandcamp.com) of music that I can go perform anywhere, anytime, with or without a band. And I still write and record. The real balance is in the preparation. Preparing for events as a DJ, preparing for another radio episode, whether live or prerecorded, or even just preparing to write poetry that could become a song. It’s all about having the right preparation for it to all work.
HCM. With that being said, what was your biggest risk taken in your career?
Moose Harris. I have a bad habit of trying to make money with my friends, and the majority of people I can consider a friend are in music. Also, there have been many times where I would go from point A to point B without knowing if I could get back to point A as an artist. I’ve been fortunate to have performed in 3 time zones, and each time was some sort of adventure, the risks being all a part of that.
HCM. In your opinion, what is one of the best ways to promote yourself and your music?
Moose Harris. Being a cultural and social butterfly. I mean, there are people that know me from Urban Flosarus, that may never have known I am an artist. There are people that know me from me hosting shows who don’t realize I’m on the radio. There are people who still think I live in New Orleans, though I haven’t lived there since Katrina, but because I have news interviews and I’m signing autographs because I’ve worked as a Beerman in the Superdome for the last 20 seasons (which is like being a performance artist within itself) – these are 3 different groups of people, who I can introduce at least 2 other aspects of myself to eventually. As long as people can identify some aspect of quality with what I do, that’s branding, that’s promotion.
HCM. Before we go, is there anyone you’d like to thank?
Moose Harris. I want to thank every person who has listened to my music, whether from the stage or from the stream, the CD, the radio. etc; thanks to every person who has subscribed to my radio show podcast, has listened to me on FM radio, or watched my episodes from Facebook Live; I also want to thank all the associates and friends I have that are actually beyond being an in-home, soundcloud mainly “rapper.” All those that are above me level wise in this independent game, I look up and cheerlead yall all the time.
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