The Opener: Kelly Moran composes patient avant-garde piano

The Opener is The FADER’s short-form profile series of casual conversations with exciting new artists.

Kelly Moran has been a pianist since her childhood in the far-flung suburbs of Long Island. When she was 12, after five or six years learning, her first part-time job was accompanying a local vocal teacher during informal musical therapy sessions. That early experience not only proved to Moran she could make a career out of playing, but more importantly, that music could heal.

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Her recent albums Don’t Trust Mirrors (2025) and Moves in the Field (2024) trace their inspiration back to pandemic-era spiraling, but Moran’s experiments with the Disklavier and prepared piano feel transcendent, not (just) therapeutic; the arpeggios of “sodalis (II)” and “Systems” ebb and flow through harmonics in pursuit of catharsis.

Though her avant-garde piano compositions are studied and deliberate, Kelly Moran has an obvious appreciation for the silly, stoned, and sublime, whether discussing the festival rave circuit or Tate McRae. She’s also a massive figure skating fan – check out the Winter Olympics roundup she made for us back in February.

Next week (April 27), Moran will be opening up for William Basinski’s West Coast tour dates (get your tickets here). She’s previously toured with Oneohtrix Point Never and performed with FKA Twigs alongside Lucinda Chua; she recently wrapped up her own run of U.S. and European dates behind Don’t Trust Mirrors.

The FADER caught up with Kelly Moran to chat about the best part of touring, practicing patience, and her “Labubu trauma.”

What’s the coolest thing to do in your hometown?
I grew up in Port Washington, a Long Island suburb outside of NYC. I went to high school during the peak of the emo subculture there, so my friends and I were always going to shows at the Landmark theater to see local bands (You can tell I’m a millennial because I still have a side part).

Usually as a nightcap we’d drive to the super wealthy neighborhoods to smoke, blast music, and see views of the city over the water. It’s not the most exciting place if you’re a rebellious teenager, so we’d often escape by taking the train to the city to see bigger shows by bands like Glassjaw and The Mars Volta.

What was the last movie you watched?
I watched Bugonia on my last flight home. My review (spoiler alert) – a wonderful film and excellent reminder to not let annoying guys who spend too much time online overpower the alien empress inside of you.

When you’re not making music, how do you spend your free time?
I spend a lot of my free time watching figure skating with my cult of skating friends - it’s the perfect sport because it’s campy, creative, and competitive. I’m part of a fan community that meets up over Zoom and in-person to watch competitions together, which sounds nerdy but is extremely fun. It’s an extremely subjective sport because of the creative element, and it attracts a lot of colorful personalities, both in competitors and fans. (I have a playlist of my favorite programs to watch if anyone is interested!)

What’s the ideal level of fame and why?
My ideal level of fame is being well-known enough in your field that you’re always working and never have to worry about income. I just want to make enough money that I have absolutely no fear of taking my senior cat to the vet.

Describe your perfect afternoon.
My perfect afternoon finds me oscillating between playing my piano, hitting my bong, and petting my cat. After that rotation, I’d call my best friend for a hike in the nature preserve.

What’s the best thing you’ve bought for $100 or less?
Every time I come back from tour, I go to Chinatown and get a 90 minute body work massage for $80.

What’s something you’re looking forward to?
I’m really looking forward to playing a show in the Canary Islands this year! I keep saying that I want to tour less, but it’s hard when I get opportunities to visit places in the world I’d otherwise never see. I didn’t even know where the hell the Canary Islands were when I got the offer (they’re off the coast of West Africa) so I’m really excited to go there now. I have a couple extra days off on that trip, so I’ll get to have a mini vacation there in addition to the show. Send me recommendations if anyone reading this has been to Tenerife!!

Tell us about the first album you bought.
The first album I bought for myself was Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt in 1995. I was around 7 years old when I first saw the “Don’t Speak” music video on MTV, and I became completely obsessed with Gwen Stefani. As a kid, I remember thinking she was the absolute pinnacle of beauty and musical talent, and even though I was way too young to have a boyfriend, I still marveled at the fact that she could withstand being in a band with her ex.

She was one of the alt heroes I idolized growing up along with Courtney Love, Tori Amos, and D’arcy Wretzky. But as I reminisce, I also realize she was the first artist I looked up to who I saw sell out in real time – by the time she got to her Harajuku phase she had completely lost me.

What’s a motto you think everyone should live by?
“The time will pass anyway.” My childhood friend Lisa said this to me when we were talking about her starting a new career path in her 30s. She’d have to go back to school and wouldn’t be licensed in her new field for several years, but she still felt completely confident about being patient for the payoff. I think about this whenever I feel impatient or hesitant to take on things that I won’t see results from for a long time. We’re so used to instant gratification, and for me it’s a good reminder that good things take time to develop.

What are 3 Songs You Need?
Three of my most talented friends recently put out singles from their upcoming albums, please go listen to them! :)
Káryyn, "Collapse Phase"
Kelsey Lu, "Portrait of a lady on fire"
Ana Roxanne, "Untitled II"

Tell us about your favorite accessory.
I’m a little bit late to the Labubu moment, but it’s shown me that there is a fascinating, seedy underbelly to the world of Labubus that exposes some deeply dark psychology about humanity.

Last fall at my album release show, my friend Alex gave me a gorgeous pink and yellow Labubu - a somewhat rare and coveted version of the doll. I named her Pink Lemonade and decided to bring her on tour with me. After 17 days of schlepping through Europe (and on the night before my birthday!) a thief ripped Pink Lemonade from my backpack in Manchester while I was leaving the airport. Of all the losses I’ve had on tours, this felt the most upsetting and violating.

Once I got to my hotel, my concierge told me that Labubu thieves are a huge problem in the UK because they have high resale value and that you need to be careful with them while visiting here. I scoured Reddit for answers and learned from seasoned collectors that I needed to invest in new products that were designed solely to protect Labubus from theft and secure their chains so that they can not be ripped or cut off bags.

Distressed by the theft, one of my family members went to a toy store to buy a new Labubu for me, and upon opening we discovered the newly purchased toy was fake! The store didn’t even know their product was fake, so somewhere in the supply chain people are somehow replacing the real Labubus with counterfeit ones. There’s just so much going on that I was unaware of in this world – I currently know way too much information about toy thieves and how to tell the difference between a real and a fake Labubu.

But on a positive note, on my birthday right after Pink Lemonade was stolen, a lovely fan in Manchester named Emily came to my show and gave me a peach-colored Labubu with a very calming aura. I’m very grateful to her for being a sweetheart and healing my Labubu trauma.

Best advice you’ve gotten.
Put a plastic keyring guard over your Labubu chain to protect your doll from theft.

Worst advice you’ve gotten.
“Treat yourself” – I do not need more treats, I need discipline.

What’s the last thing you wrote in your notes app?
My grocery list, and reminders to text a bunch of people back because I’ve been extremely avoidant lately. I used to be so anxiously attached and now I’m an avoidant…not sure how this happened. But the good news is sharing this made me text every person on the list! Yay accountability :)

What’s a song you’d want to remix and why?
A couple months ago I threw some Tate McRae tracks into a granular synthesis patch in Max/MSP and the results sounded absolutely magnificent. I’d love the chance to work with her stems and do a more intricate rework because I love her melodies so much! (My ambient remix of "Siren Sounds" is in here)

I also think it would be fun to remix Katseye to try to make their music sound good. I feel like that band is a sick experiment from their label to put out the worst sounding music imaginable, so it would be a great challenge to make their music listenable.

Describe the best concert you’ve attended.
Wow, impossible question. But I’ll go with The Mars Volta at Roseland Ballroom NYC in 2005. They were my absolute favorite band at the time and had just put out their insanely epic LP Frances the Mute. I had been a huge fan of At The Drive-In so Mars Volta was like the second coming of Jesus to me. I went to the show with my high school crush and we realized we both liked each other that night, so it will always be a very special concert to me.