Artist profile · Drum & bass
Need For Mirrors
Deep in the music.
Closer to the artist.
Need For Mirrors is Joe Moses, whose sample-led drum and bass spans Swim, Flames, Joey Tuna, and his work behind the Soul In Motion label and club nights.
Behind the music
About Need For Mirrors.
Need For Mirrors is the drum and bass project of Joe Moses, a producer whose route into the music began with hip-hop records, DJing, and graffiti. Growing up in New Zealand, he encountered jungle and drum and bass while record shopping, first adding those faster records to the end of his hip-hop sets.
Sampling remains central to how he writes. He has described listening for ideas in films, television, and music outside drum and bass, building an organised archive of sounds, and recording friends’ studio equipment for later use. Albums Swim and Flames followed on Commercial Suicide and 31 Records respectively.
His 2025 album Joey Tuna grew from an existing connection with Serum and Souped Up. Moses did not originally write it for the label; the project took shape from tracks that belonged together, with Serum helping to pace the sequence. A mascot he had seen in Japan helped inspire its fish-like character and pop-art presentation.
On Cuban Heel, he drew on Armand Van Helden’s Necessary Evil for a techno-leaning roller. Phantom of the Ops reflected snippets of music heard around London, from passing cars to headphones on public transport. Alongside production, his Soul In Motion project brings together club nights and a record label.