Below, you can read our interview with Chuck Moyer of G Clef Fusion, and listen to his album Diabolus Scis in Forma Musica. Check out our full music review of Diabolus Scis in Forma Musica here.
Q: Great to be speaking with you, Chuck! We last heard from you after the release of With Dark and Light back in June 2025. What have you been up to since then?
A: Thanks, Jess, always great to talk music with you. The bulk of my music time usually gets divided between working on my musical skills and learning; or working on new music, with a little bit of time spliced in for ‘marketing efforts’. The more ‘fun and easy’ task is always the creating new music, so I easily defer to that one. So for the last 6 months, I have been working mostly on the tracks for the new album: Diabolus Scis in Forma Musica. Between composing, which goes through some start, stops and bursts during what I call the creative period, to recording and mixing – which is more systematic, and for this release working with talented session drummer Tom Warner, then to cover art creation, and then the administrative steps of getting the work ‘released’; all took that six month period to get it all to fruition. Not my fastest CD release, but I am still very proud of the results. I think I keep improving, which is always the goal.
Q: The title of your most recent release is “Diabolus Scis in Forma Musica”, which translates loosely to “The devil you know in music.” Can you unpack the moment or idea that sparked that title and how it shaped the album’s creative direction?
A: With the last CD: Geryon Claque Fermata, there was a track “Tea Among Cognoscenti”, which I thought was one of the standout tracks of that release, I was doing some “marketing” and had got some online reviews of this particular track. Well, one of the reviews came back with some extreme comments – “This is like if muzak and the Devil had a baby and the baby came out in musical form. I heard absolutely nothing that was even remotely redeeming about this song. G Clef Fusion is hopefully embarassed (sic) with themselves for writing this garbage.” Now I may have some songs that are not among my best work, but not sure any of them warrant this unproductive and vile of a response. I am not one to take critics overly serious with praise or critique. This one was wildly specific and I started thinking and being creative with the idea about the ‘devil in music’ and how people sometimes are ‘not what they seem’, and then this led to learning about ‘Tritones’ and how they were banned in medieval times for representing the literal devil in music, which directly led to creating the track ‘Tripping Over a Tritone’ in this release, and the snowball just kept rolling and building into more and more songs while thinking about the ‘unseen and not what they seem’ themes. Reflected in specific tracks like ‘Hidden in Zagre Forest’, ‘Trepidation Knocks’, ‘A Cross Purpose Dalliance’, ‘Lambency Amid Darkness’ and even the more upbeat ‘Secret Decoder Ring’ and ‘Invisible Dog’. By the time that negative context cycled through a positive creative process, the snowball turned into 11 great tracks for a new CD.
Q: This album explores “the unseen” and themes of mystery, misdirection, and the things that “go bump in the night.” How did you sonically translate those concepts into instrumental compositions?
A: All the tracks that hit heavy on these particular themes have timbres that convey certain elements – like the slow attack chords and warbly synthesizer in the middle sections of Hidden in Zagre Forest for the ‘beast’ rustling in the woods – or have a pattern and sequence of structures – like the heavy bass sections of A Cross Purpose Dalliance that imply that dark and sinister ulterior motive coming out – or even musical structures or scales like the heavy use of actual tritones in Tripping Over a Tritone and the overdriven organ bringing a musical harshness – or even the whimsical but underlyingly very complex Secret Decoder Ring being more than it seems.
Q: Your discography is extensive – four albums and eleven EPs in just a few years. What does your writing and recording workflow look like to sustain that level of output?
A: I let inspiration come from almost anything, and the song creation process evolves most of the time from improvisational fiddling on my instruments and then just listening or playing for what I think comes logically and artistically next in the song. I think this openness and free play let the songs flow more often. Though like most musicians, I have periods of firehose creation bursts and other periods of a slow trickle of progress. I think I have been lucky these last few years in generating a lot of what I feel is quality output. And my hands-on instrument approach and working to improve my skills continuously help me to not get stuck in the rut of the slow trickle times. Besides, I have to get these current songs out of the way so the next ones can come [snickering].
Q: This is the first G Clef Fusion album featuring session drummer Tom Warner on all tracks. How did that partnership begin, and how did his playing influence the overall direction of the record?
A: I have always done the drums for all previous G Clef Fusion releases. And in general, I’m vain enough to think the quality of those results have been very good. But there’s always been a nagging question; what would it sound like with a performing drummer versus my programmed attempts of a drummer? So after the solo keyboard EP With Dark and Light, I resolved myself to answer that question. My original intent was to do the next EP 5 songs with a collaboration, per se, of using an actual drummer ( and maybe other instrument collaborations and /or multiple drummers – a kind of ‘The G Clef Fusion Band’ release ). So I started researching online session musician hires – all fitting into my budget and studio self-recording methodology I’ve become accustomed to. But while doing this, the songs for the next release just kept coming and flowing, so it wasn’t just 5 songs anymore; it was quickly looking like a full CD. So I found Tom Warner on the AIRGIGS website, and he was willing to do a full album of drums for a very reasonable price, and he seemed like he had the skill set to handle the G Clef Fusion type of songs. So we hooked up, and it was a great choice. The songs were structured and essentially complete except for instrument solos. I sent those to Tom and we did some back and forth on what would fit, and finally, he provided the drum stems that I mixed with the rest of the tracks into the final results. I think it worked out for the best with Tom on all the tracks, he had the skill and talent to add quality and creative drum patterns to every wild thing that a G Clef Fusion track could throw at him and I think the CD is a more cohesive body of work because of Tom’s thread throughout.
Q: Many of your compositions feature intricate rhythms and tonal shifts. How do you map out arrangements? Fully scored, sketched frameworks, or evolving improvisations?
A: It is safe to say; All of them. I would say 80% plus of the songs start with some improvisational riff which I play with to fully vet out into what comes next through repeated performance or exploration. Once I have Verse and Chorus and Bridge sections that have some similarity or familiarity with each other, I will start to sequence and group those frameworks into more complete piece in which and mood or intent is represented. Then I start fleshing out the song with Timbres/Patches, Solo sections, refinements of support instruments, atmospheres, and drums until everything is fully scored out. Then what is left is polished and finalized into what you hear. With all this I am usually working on 3-5 songs at a time, shifting to another track when I get stymied on another, and rotate through them while creating seeds for new tracks.
Q: The official release date lines up with a Cold Supermoon – and this theme is also reflected in the album artwork. What inspired you to tie the release to this celestial event?
A: If I can tie a thread through a release, I will keep it going through the songs, to the titles, to the artwork, and even to something as inconsequential as the release date. In this case, once I knew roughly when the mixing and mastering would be done, I started planning out what day to release it. With the almost ‘ominous/mysterious’ elements of the whole release, but knowing I wouldn’t be able to hit a cliché Halloween release, I was still looking for something with that vibe. I had been reminded of the famous quote from the Batman movie from 1989 where the Joker says, “Ever dance with the Devil in the pale moonlight?” This tied into not only some of the themes I was playing with in the music, but also very specifically with the cover artwork. So I needed a full moon to tie it all to the release, so I caught the last one of the year!
Q: What was your first instrument? Do you still have/play it?
A: Wurlitzer Home Organ, which was sitting in the living room, heavy polished wood and all. The first real professional keyboard gear was a used Rhodes Suitcase 88. Neither of those are still around. I have always been a bit of a gearhead when it comes to keyboards, constantly trading in old gear to get newer gear. I have had at one time or another a Sequential Circuits Pro One, Yamaha CE 25, Korg Poly-800, Crumar T-1 Organ, Korg DW8000, Roland Juno 106, and probably some others that I have since forgotten about. My current setup consists of Kurzweil PC4, Yamaha YC-61, Roland Juno Stage 76, Moog Messenger, Roland Lucina Keytar, and Roland AX Edge Keytar w/ black keys.
Q: Perhaps in some unspecified amount of time, your musical career explodes in the best of ways…what does that look like for you?
A: If I am dreaming and wishing. I really enjoy what I am doing, but like most musicians think, it would be real nice to have a decent-sized base of interested fans that enjoy the music, look forward to new music, and support the continuation of the creative process to a net positive economic result. A bit of renown as a keyboardist wouldn’t hurt either. Beyond that, having a group of like-minded talented musical collaborators that I would work with from time to time in creation of live shows/tours or a beyond G Clef Fusion music idea exploration would be a great dynamic for growth musically. And then I’d really like to have one of my existing songs, or one I write for the purpose, be a Hit Movie Theme Song!
Q: You get to collaborate with anyone of your choosing. Who is it?
A: Not sure I have anyone specific on that list. I enjoy collaborations, but I like when they come about organically, kind of like opportunities of the moment, choices at the time.
Q: Your favorite album of all time? (Yup, you gotta choose one.)
A: Just one eh? My ‘Stranded on an Island’ Playlist has probably 44 albums on it. But just one, it has to be Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Tarkus. It has everything I love about music: energy, intricacy, complexity, virtuosity, and storytelling with musical sound. And it touches on so many of my interested genres; Progressive (Obviously), Jazz, Classical, Rock, and more. It was probably the initial seed that got me into Keyboards.
Q: Your favorite song of all time? (Again, only one!)
A: Then by rights of the previous answer, it has to be Tarkus (the song). A 20-minute tour de force of progressive rock organ playing, which 50 50-plus years on, still sounds fresh and inspiring.
Q: What would you like fans to know about you that they’re most likely unaware of?
A: Songs for me are reflections of a point in time from an emotion, skill, and creativity perspective. I think that is why I don’t get hung up on constant refinement of songs to the point of never releasing them. I can sense, for me anyway, when they are done.
Q: Any shout-outs you wanna make?
A: I would give one big one to my Family and Friends, if they didn’t actively support me, they certainly tolerated my musical obsessions and aspirations. I wouldn’t be here without them.
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
A: Support music in schools and local live music venues. It keeps the cycle of new music moving through the generations.
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