Three decades on, Columbus band Moviola are still doing things their own way.

Their new album ‘Earthbound’ (out August 29 on Dromedary Records) feels like both a milestone and a fresh chapter. With five singers and songwriters working together, the group has quietly built a long, unusual career in the shadows of the Rust Belt, creating music that is stubbornly their own.

The lead single ‘Slage Wave,’ with a video directed by founding member Jake Housh, turns the old union anthem “Which side are you on?” into a surreal short story set at a hot dog stand, complete with a bullying iPad-wielding boss and a ghostly Johnny Paycheck cameo. It is funny, a little sad, and strangely familiar.

‘Earthbound’ pulls together everything that has kept Moviola moving for thirty years: rough edges, small truths, humor, and songs that sound lived in. They still sound like no one else. Moviola is: Greg Bonnell, Jerry Dannemiller, Ted Hattemer, Jake Housh, and Scotty Tabachnick.

“I would say the band is collaborative songwriter rock with a touch of Americana thrown in”

Alright, Moviola! Thirty years in the game, still slinging that insightful and original indie rock. Love it. You guys are like the secret sauce of the Midwest indie scene. Let’s get into it.

So, Earthbound! …That title really feels like it carries some weight after three decades of making music. What’s the story behind it, and how does it encapsulate where Moviola is at in 2025?

Ted Hattemer: ‘Earthbound’ is the name of one of Jake’s songs on the record, and it captures the feel of the collection of songs pretty well. “I’m standing here in your doorway / Cause I just had to say / Come on down it’s ok now / To be here on the ground / Come on down we’ve been waiting / The ordinary earthbound.” To be on the ground, to be in an honest place with yourself, to be okay with the ordinary stuff in life and not having to rely on hyperbole, or drama, or overblown selfishness that we see in parts of our world every day. Smaller and more basic pleasures and interests, I guess, is our focus here.

‘Slage Wave’ video is a trip! Hot dogs, iPad bosses, union organizing, and the ghost of Johnny Paycheck…where did that wild concept come from? Was it a collective dream, or did someone have a very specific vision for that darkly comic scene?

Greg Bonnell: That’s the beauty of the Moviola system! I wrote the song about a composite of familiar experiences, and when we started thinking of video ideas everyone had crappy job experiences to draw on.

Trouser Press called you guys “impossibly slippery” when it comes to categorization, tossing out comparisons from NRBQ to Teenage Fanclub. After all these years, how do you describe the Moviola sound to someone who’s never heard you before?

Ted: I had no idea there was an entry on Moviola in Trouser Press. I would say the band is collaborative songwriter rock with a touch of Americana thrown in, like The Band, Mekons, or The Byrds. Five songwriters in one band gives us the freedom to pick and choose what we work on because at any time everyone has several songs in the works. And since I usually play bass, and Greg usually plays drums, and Jerry, Jake, and Scotty play guitars or keyboards on our recordings, we end up sounding a lot like Moviola.

You’ve got five equal singers and songwriters, which is pretty unique. How does that democratic approach shape your sound and songwriting process? Do you ever find yourselves in friendly musical arguments?

Ted: We used to argue when we were younger. Now I think it’s more like giving each member support for good ideas. I think each of us knows when a song or a part isn’t where it needs to be and keeps working at it. But not taking things personally is a huge aspect of collaborating creatively with others. If something isn’t working, you can guarantee someone will speak up.

Speaking of songwriting, “Fight the power with guitars” is a killer line from Greg Bonnell. What kind of “power” are you fighting on ‘Earthbound’? Are there specific societal observations that really fueled the lyrics this time around?

Greg: I actually got that line from Jerry, but in general I’m always fighting to remain human. To keep things on a scale that works to preserve life and growth, to help instead of harming. Doing “good.” Whatever I can do to try to counter the governmental idiocy in our country right now.

You’ve opened for some serious indie legends…Flaming Lips, Guided By Voices, Califone. Any particularly wild or memorable stories from sharing a stage with those bands over the years?

Jerry: So fortunate we’ve been, to see and play with many great bands. Califone is the one that we played with the most back in early days. They continue to be an inspiring band. I think we hosted a Christmas party here in Columbus with the Fruit Bats (their first-ever out-of-town show), that was a bit fuzzy. Practicing high fives with the Archers of Loaf, blurry after-parties with the Grifters in Memphis, Dub Narcotic in the Antioch College student union…again, we’ve been fortunate.

“Midwestern EGOT energy in a parallel universe”—that’s a brilliant way to put it. Besides the music, what other artistic endeavors are you guys dabbling in these days that contribute to that “prankster art collective” vibe?

Jerry: We’ve all, over our lives, been involved in creative work. Greg is an illustrator and designer, Jake a video producer, Scotty is an educator, and Ted and I have both worked for arts organizations for a long time. The music we make with Moviola is just an outgrowth of that. It’s why we’d rather learn and produce art ourselves (recording albums, designing art, shooting videos). Nothing against anyone else, but we’d rather do it ourselves, produce art, and have a laugh. The “prankster art collective” thing is just a way to try to get at where we’re at now. Sometimes we will produce music with more than a little absurdity. You have to, to stay sane. It’s gallows humor, of a sort, but music like the Holy Modal Rounders, Camper Van Beethoven, Robyn Hitchcock…wit, sarcasm, parody, satire, these are tools in the toolkit.

Thirty years is a long time in any industry, especially music. What’s the biggest lesson Moviola has learned about longevity, both as a band and as individuals within it?

Ted: I guess 30 years is a long time. We took some breaks, had kids and jobs and whatnot, didn’t put out any music at all from 2007 to 2018 and only played a few shows during that time. That said, we are friends and have known each other for a long time, a few of us longer than 30 years. So there’s a bond there that’s probably stronger than the music itself, but the music is what keeps bringing us back together. The biggest lesson is probably: let life happen around you and hopefully everyone keeps showing up wanting to make more music.

Alright, let’s talk Dromfest 2025. You’re playing alongside some serious heavyweights like Yo La Tengo, Madder Rose… What are you most excited about for your set this year? Any surprises planned for the faithful?

Jerry: Al (Crisafulli, who runs the label and festival) does a great job of just setting up a good vibe for the whole weekend. That’s 95% of the battle, yes? Other than getting to see our hometown pals Scrawl again, one of our oldest friends plays in Sunburned Hand of the Man, that’ll be fantastic to see him again. Mark Robinson?! As someone who used to live in DC way back in the early times and was fairly crazy over Unrest, I’m a bit speechless on that one.

What does playing Dromfest mean to Moviola, especially being on Dromedary Records, and what kind of vibe are you hoping to bring to the Catskill stage?

Ted: We’re proud to be playing Dromfest. We played last year and had a fantastic time. I met Al Crisafulli in the mid-1990s in NYC. We stayed in touch over the years but never collaborated on a project. (Al did do a Haiti earthquake relief release that Moviola contributed to back in the mid-2000s.) So when he said he was willing and excited to put out our record, we were all instantly on board. He puts a lot of effort into Dromedary and we are proud to be part of that family. Plus he is just a very righteous person, someone you’re lucky to call a friend.

Okay, so diving into the Moviola archives on Discogs, it’s seriously impressive! You guys have dropped so much music over the years. If you could time-travel back to those very early albums, like Frantic or The Year You Were Born, what are some of the weirdest or fondest memories that pop into your head from that era? And while we’re on the subject of the back catalog, which album felt like pulling teeth to make, and why was that one such a beast?

Ted: I have fond memories around recording the records ‘The Durable Dream’ and ‘Glen Echo Autoharp’ because of where we were in our lives, the spaces we were gathering in to make the music, how often it was happening, and the other creative people around us at the time. That was 1997 to 2000. We had a studio space in an old warehouse just north of downtown Columbus. It was before that section of town went through its current gentrification and there was only one bar in the vicinity, St. James Tavern, which is still there. It had a clubhouse feel, we suffered together in the winter months without central heat, and we were constantly down there recording music. Not that what we are doing now is any less collaborative or enjoyable—it’s hard not to become nostalgic about a more youthful you. None of the records were particularly difficult, but ‘Scrape and Cuss’ (2020) had a bunch of false starts before it really came together.

Alright, if you were to crash at my place here, and we were putting on some records, what would be your absolute go-to, must-play album to put on the turntable? And keep in mind, I’m all about the weird and the wonderful, so surprise me! What’s something that would really blow my mind, Moviola style?

Jerry: Oh, geez, I don’t think you’d want us crashing at your place for multiple reasons! Maybe the better way to answer that is to take a look at some of the music we play in our monthly radio show on a local nonprofit radio station, WCRS. (Search for “Moviola” here.) We started doing this earlier this year and have about six shows under our belt, and it’s really a blast. Everything from weird sound interludes, to old newspaper articles, to lost local nuggets, to Stereolab, to Michael Hurley, to Dr. John…

Klemen Breznikar

Headline photo: Moviola by Carrie Klein

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