© Dillon Jordan
Moody Joody is a Nashville-based indie pop trio made up of Kaitie Forbes (vocals, guitar), Kayla Hall (vocals, keyboards), and Andrew Pacheco (multi-instrumentalist, producer). Blending vulnerable songwriting with glittering alt-pop, the band brings their high-energy sound to their upcoming debut album, Plain Jane, out October 30 via Photo Finish Records. Built around themes of evolution, self-acceptance, nostalgia and reflection, Plain Jane explores the messy realities of growing into who you are. We caught up with Kaitie and Andrew ahead of the album release to talk about turning past experiences into music, building their sound, and creating a world that feels both nostalgic and distinctly their own.
The B-Side Hour: Your upcoming debut album Plain Jane reflects a period of growth, self-acceptance, nostalgia and pursuing your dreams. What did that period of your lives teach you that you wanted to put into this album?
Kaitie Forbes: The biggest thing I feel it taught me is to just simply be myself unapologetically. It doesn't matter what people think, if it's authentic to me, it's good enough.
The B-Side Hour: You've mentioned that your hope for the album is that someone hears it and feels "completely seen and less alone." How do you write about such personal experiences while still leaving space for listeners to find themselves in the songs?
Kaitie: This album is deeply personal but I think what's deeply personal to us is also personal to women in general. We've learned a lot of this is shared experience.
"It doesn't matter what people think, if it's authentic to me, it's good enough"
The B-Side Hour: Plain Jane carries a "soundtrack of your life" energy through its themes, production, and aesthetics. You've talked about being very "album-oriented" and wanting to create something more conceptual rather than simply a collection of singles. How did you approach building that bigger picture across the record?
Andrew Pacheco: We really wanted people to feel immersed in the world of the album when listening top-to-bottom. For example, the record opens with "Plain Jane," and that track gets revisited and repurposed later in the album. Just things like that—there are a lot of character names, some of which are referenced multiple times throughout the album. We really put a lot of thought into how each song fits into the bigger picture. We even changed the title of some songs to match the aesthetic and theme of the record.
Kaitie: The world of Plain Jane was born out of nostalgia and reflection, so I think naturally telling these stories it all sort of just came together that way. But we had song titles, concepts, track list, all of that before a lot of the songs were written, we knew we wanted it to feel like one big story and world.
The B-Side Hour: You've had the title and concept for Plain Jane since the early days of Moody Joody in 2020. What is it like to finally see an idea you've carried for six years become a real album?
Kaitie: It feels so surreal. I just saw the vinyl in real life today for the first time and it made me emotional. I'm so proud of us!
Andrew: It's so crazy looking back and seeing how much the concept has evolved since then. Listening to the final master was such a surreal experience, and I'm sure release day is going to be emotional. It's been amazing seeing people connect with the singles—I'm just so excited for everyone to be able to listen to the whole thing.
The B-Side Hour: Plain Jane pairs its deeper themes with alt-pop, shiny synths and a lot of dance and party energy. How did you arrive at that sound as the right sonic world for the album?
Andrew: When we started the band, pretty much the first thing we bonded over was a love for anthemic choruses and 80s synths. We've evolved in our writing and sound a bit since then, but I think there's always an element of that in the core of what we do. With this being our debut album, it was kind of like creating our "mission statement" as a band. One thing we've never wanted to do since day one was box ourselves in. The album is meant to take you on a journey, both emotionally and sonically. Despite us tapping into a few different genres on the record, the three of us together somehow always just sounds like Moody Joody, even when it's a more acoustic/folky moment or something.
"One thing we've never wanted to do since day one was box ourselves in"
The B-Side Hour: The visual world around Plain Jane feels very dreamy, colorful, and retro, with a strong sense of nostalgia. How did you approach building that aesthetic alongside the music, and what did you want it to add to the album's story?
Kaitie: We are all such nostalgic people who get stuck in the past. We YEARN for the past and life as we once knew it. Aesthetically, we wanted to create a world that felt familiar to people and created that same sense of longing and comfort.
The B-Side Hour: "Suburbia" is an open letter to yourselves about the reality of chasing your dreams. There are moments when you want to give up, but you also know it's what you're meant to do and that you wouldn't be happy otherwise. How did you capture that tension between doubt and conviction in the song?
Kaitie: I think alongside doubt, there's always been the thought "there's no other option." Even if we tried to quit music, I don't think we could. There's no Plan B, and sometimes that feels lonely.
The B-Side Hour: Your new single "Average Joe" taps into an experience many women will probably recognize: dealing with an immature man. What did you want to capture about that particular kind of frustration in the song?
Kaitie: I had a few toxic love bomby relationships in my 20s that really shaped how I show up in the world today. I'm a more confident, steady version of myself and I wanted to reflect on that time when I was so desperate to be loved and didn't know I deserved better.
"My biggest goal with this is that people feel seen, safe, and find courage to be authentic"
The B-Side Hour: "Average Joe" feels like an interesting counterpart to your previous single. In "Fantasyland," you imagine a dream relationship and sing "My baby makes it worth my while," while "Average Joe" brings you back to a much less glamorous reality. What interested you about exploring those two very different sides of romantic fantasy and reality?
Kaitie: I think this album holds a lot of duality and we wanted to explore both sides of the coin. "Fantasyland" is before you admit it to yourself that you're with the wrong person, and "Average Joe" is after you've admitted it. La La Land vs feminine rage :)
The B-Side Hour: You've built so much of the world of Plain Jane around the idea of letting people step into it and see themselves in it. How do you envision translating that world into a live show?
Kaitie: I would love for the live show to feel very immersive and bring up emotions for people, whether it's pure joy, dancing under a disco ball, or tapping into your rage and crying it out. I want people to know, yes, we wrote this album about us but we wrote it for YOU. My biggest goal with this is that people feel seen, safe, and find courage to be authentic.
Andrew: We're already dreaming up what the show is going to look like and I'm so excited. Everyone is invited into the world of Plain Jane, so we're looking for ways to really encapsulate that live. At the end of the day, we just want people to feel all the feelings.
Buy tickets to The Plain Jane Show