Alice Vol. 3 No. 2

Rock the Boat:
Alaina
Moore of Tennis
talks songwriting, their tour
and sailing sabbaticals
By Katie Huff and
Ellen Johnson
Writers, including lyricists, have
varying, often isolating, methods for
generating their craft. Thoreau retreated
to his pondside cabin to write
Walden; John Mayer to a sprawling
Montana to write Paradise Valley.
For Alaina Moore and Patrick
Riley, the married duo behind the
band Tennis, it’s to a seascape rather
than land, during their sporadic sailing
stints, where they go to write their
best material.
Tennis’ 2017 LP Yours Conditionally,
an album full of nuanced lyrics
revolving around the equally striking
aspects of relationships and laced with
hazily refreshing instrumentals, as well
as a few songs from their September EP
We Can Die Happy, were the products
of one of these extended aquatic dwellings.
Moore and Riley took to their 30-
foot sailboat for a six month writing
sabbatical on the Sea of Cortez, where
they floated 2,000 miles offshore.
“Not only is [sailing] an inspiration,
but it’s still a completely integrated part
of our lives,” Moore said. “In our lives
we have to go through phases where
obviously our lives are land- based and
we’re recording and touring, but after
about five years of actively touring we
were able to get away and live in the
middle of nowhere on the sea again.”
Perhaps it’s the ebbs and flows of
the sea that have resulted in so much
of their dreamy discography since the
band’s inception seven years ago. Post
college graduation, Moore and Riley
sold their possessions, including Riley’s
car, and bought a sailboat. Sailing was
a mutual obsession for the two philosophy
majors, who shared a mindset of
needing to immerse themselves in their
surrounding world. The couple then
fled from landlocked Denver to Fort
Lauderdale where they began their offthe-grid
voyage along the Eastern Seaboard.
It was then in 2011 when they
released their first record, Cape Dory,
which was named for their Cape Dory
Yacht. The stately vessel and their sailing
ventures have been largely inspirational
for the band’s sound, approach
to making music and overall aesthetic.
Moore and Riley opted to create their
own nostalgically 1960s production
style, largely influenced by hearing
“Baby It’s You” by The Shirelles over the
radio while docked in the Florida Keys.
Alice Spring 2018 85