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Moe Train

Music journalist and host of Moe Train's Tracks, the long-running interview show he launched in 2005. In-person interviews and festival coverage, recorded backstage, trackside, and on the tour bus.

Pitch Moe Train See the interviews

2005 on air since 500M+ total listens 60+ interviews In person always

Press profile

Monty “Moe Train” Wiradilaga

Music journalist and host of Moe Train's Tracks. The show has passed 500 million total listens and built its name on in-person conversations with world renowned musicians: 60+ interviews, recorded where the music happens. A veteran of the festival circuit, with coverage of Bonnaroo across multiple years, Lollapalooza, and Mayhem Fest.

Featured in the documentary No One Died: The Wing Bowl Story, streaming on Amazon Video, Apple TV, and YouTube.

moe@moetrainstracks.com Muck Rack profile Media contact

500M+Total listens

60+In-person interviews

2005On air since

120KPodcasters group members

The conversations on record

The roster publicists ask about. Every name links to the full interview: transcript, photography, and podcast audio.

Moe Train interviewing MGMT on their tour bus — The MGMT tour bus: notebook out, questions ready, both members across from Moe Train. This is where the conversations happen.Photo: Moe Train's Tracks

Moe Train interviewing Oderus Urungus of GWAR at Bonnaroo — Bonnaroo, in person: Moe Train interviews Oderus Urungus (Dave Brockie) of GWAR, MTT mics in hand, armor and all.Photo: Moe Train's Tracks

Bob Weir (The Grateful Dead) Chuck D (Public Enemy) Ziggy Marley Philip Anselmo (Pantera) Oderus Urungus (Dave Brockie) of GWAR Kyle Gass (Tenacious D) Aston 'Family Man' Barrett (Bob Marley and The Wailers) MGMT

Full roster

On screen

Moe Train is featured in No One Died: The Wing Bowl Story, the documentary about Wing Bowl, the greatest radio promotion of all time, narrated by Angelo Cataldi.

Watch on Prime Video Watch on Apple TV Watch on YouTube

The Interviewer, Interviewed

Muck Rack turned the tables and put Moe Train in the interview chair. His answers, in his words, on the record.

What's the most common misperception about your beat?

That it's a Q and A. Anyone can do a Q and A. Mine are conversations, in person, at festivals and on tour buses, well researched and a lot of fun. Listeners say it often plays like two new friends hanging out and having a casual conversation. I build rapport fast, and that is exactly why artists open up. The interviews have drawn praise across the industry as some of the best and most engaging out there. Sound bites don't get you 500 million listens. Conversations do.

Sound bites don't get you 500 million listens. Conversations do.
Moe Train

How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?

Email is best. Give me the who and the where, and tell me why they'd be a good conversation. Festivals and concerts are prime ground for me, so those dates always get my attention. I interview in person, and I'm easy to work with. Professional, accessible, and I build rapport fast, with publicists as much as with artists. It's a huge part of why the show works.

What story are you most proud of writing or working on?

The conversations with the legends we have lost since. Bob Weir (The Grateful Dead), Oderus Urungus (Dave Brockie) of GWAR, Aston 'Family Man' Barrett (Bob Marley and The Wailers), Toots Hibbert (Toots and the Maytals). I sat with them in person, got them laughing, got stories nobody else has. Those conversations can never happen again. Every year more listeners find them, and they get to hear their heroes the way I heard them: relaxed, laughing, telling stories. I treat every interview like it matters.

I treat every interview like it matters.
Moe Train

What does it mean to be a journalist?

It means the person across from you trusts you with their story, and you don't waste it. You do the homework, you listen harder than you talk, and you get out of the way when the good stuff starts rolling.

When's the best time to pitch you?

Email any time. I read pitches in batches and I answer all of them. I'm a busy man with a lot of big projects running, so for festivals and tours, earlier is better. A date six weeks out beats a date six days out, because good conversations take planning. I give every interview its respect and the proper time to prepare for it.

How pitching works here

Pitch

Email first, and be specific

Pitch moe@moetrainstracks.com with the who and the where, and why your artist fits a real conversation. Every pitch gets an answer.

Format

In person, on the record

Interviews happen in person: backstage, trackside, on the tour bus. That is the show. A virtual sit-down is the rare exception, held for a major world renowned musician who can only do it that way.

Ground

Festivals and concerts are prime ground

Festival dates and tour stops get his attention first. Bonnaroo across multiple years, Lollapalooza, Mayhem Fest: Moe Train has covered them on the ground, not from a press release.

Timing

Earlier is better

Six weeks out beats six days out. Every interview gets real research and real preparation, and a busy calendar fills fast.

Talk to Moe

Put your artist on the show.

Interview requests, festival credentials, and press inquiries. Professional, accessible, and easy to work with, and he answers every pitch himself.

moe@moetrainstracks.com