Moscow Apartment is a self-described queer indie rock band made up of feminist musicians and songwriters taking the Canadian music scene by storm.
The Toronto-based band consists of teenagers Brighid Fry and Pascale Padilla. Critically acclaimed thus far in their career, Moscow Apartment has won various awards such as the Canadian Folk Music Award, Stingray Music Rising Star Award, Toronto Independent Music Award, and Slaight Music It’s Your Shot Award. The duo is currently up for Band of the Year at the 2021 Indie Awards.
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In June 2020, Moscow Apartment released their self-produced sophomore EP Better Daughter.
The six-track production delves into themes ranging from growing pains (“Halfway,” “18”) to misogyny (“New Girl”) to how we can all be better daughters and sons in our relationship to nature (“Meredith Palmer”).
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The song “Meredith Palmer” was initially written after Fry had a strange dream about the titular character from The Office. The chorus is illuminated with soft harmonies by Fry and Padilla, singing the refrain: “I could be a better daughter / You could be a better son.” Moscow Apartment reflects that since writing the song, it has since taken on a new meaning after they played it at Toronto’s climate march in September 2019. Within the new context, Moscow Apartment chose the lyric “better daughter” to represent the messaging of their new EP as a whole.
Both Fry and Padilla are adamant advocates for environmental justice, primarily utilizing their platform on Instagram to speak out about climate change. Moscow Apartment is largely involved in Music Declares Emergency: an international coalition of artists, music industry professionals, and organizations calling for an immediate government response to the climate crisis.
So far, over two thousand artists have joined Music Declares Emergency alongside Moscow Apartment, including big names such as Billie Eilish, Radiohead and Canadian stars Tegan and Sara. The campaign by MDE demands government and media transparency regarding the climate emergency, calls on governments to reverse biodiversity loss, and is working to improve the environmental footprint of the music industry via greening music festivals, merchandising, and live concerts. MDE is currently preparing for its 2021/2022 campaign NO MUSIC ON A DEAD PLANET and hosting musical events, some of which involve the band as a performer and Fry as a keynote speaker.
Fry is also the driving force behind the Canadian chapter of Climate Live, a youth-led organization comprised of artists that push for world leaders to take action and combat the climate crisis.
In April, Climate Live hosted simultaneous global concerts around the world. The Canadian show featured Moscow Apartment alongside musical guests July Talk, Scott Helman, Luna Li, Barenaked Ladies, Lisa Pappas-Kemps, and more. The collective goal for the Canadian chapter is to influence leaders to pass Bill C-12, a novel piece of climate accountability legislation. The larger goal of Climate Live is to garner support before the COP26 United Nations climate conference in November 2021.
MDE and Climate Live, though they are separate movements, are striving to raise awareness on the lack of government action regarding climate change and influence fans of big artists to learn and contribute to the movement. Fry told Now Toronto: “Musicians are in such a unique situation to get people to care because they have a direct line to people’s feelings and their emotions.”
In an interview with the National Observer, Fry talked about how the band is currently negotiating with a record label to include climate commitments and sustainable practices in their record deal. Moscow Apartment hopes that with the negotiated deal, they will be able to use recycled vinyl and reusable plastic sleeves for future records and create a domestic closed-loop system for band merchandise.
“To be a little macabre, we are going to have to live with this for longer than older people,” Fry told the National Observer. “But also, we don’t have the same power and say because youth aren’t in government or high up in companies that have large carbon footprints. So for us, the way we can change this is through activism and all coming together and using our voice.”
Moscow Apartment’s weaving of artistry and responsibility is a product of new Gen Z values: acclaim comes with a platform and responsibility to speak up. Environmental activist movements such as MDE and Climate Live are an indication of this generation’s commitment to investing in a future where they can live, work and thrive.
All images in this article are courtesy of Moscow Apartment.
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