Bella Moss is the stage name of Iowa City singer, guitarist, and University of Iowa third-year student Bella Nekvinda, performing alongside a rotating band consisting of keyboardist and UI third-year Kara Dinolfo, guitarist and UI fourth-year Joe Shanks, and cellist Blake Shaw. Bella Moss’ music is available to stream on all major platforms.
Bella Moss is one of four groups of musicians The Daily Iowan invited to perform for a video series of live concerts called Headliners, a recorded and edited version of these concerts to bring Iowa City’s music scene beyond the community. This episode of Headliners is available at dailyiowan.com.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Where did ‘Moss’ come from?
Shaw: The ground.
Nekvinda: For that question, you’re gonna have to talk to someone a bit more in touch with nature. But no, I was workshopping with my sister because I was like, nobody can spell Nekvinda — and this was before I started doing open mics around town, so I just had a SoundCloud with my music on it, and it came down to either Bella Moss or Bella Nevada, which seemed a little…
Shaw: — Like Hannah Montana.
Nekvinda: … A little inappropriate. So I felt like, by default, Bella Moss had to take the cake.
How would you describe your sound?
Shaw: If you can imagine the cutest thing you’ve ever seen and then also imagine the softest thing you’ve ever laid on, and then if you can combine all the sweet, yummy things you’ve had in your life — that’s what Bella Moss sounds like.
Nekvinda: I think he covered it. Can we make sure they know that I did not say that?
On that note, what are some of your musical inspirations?
Nekvinda: Dolly Parton for the look. And when I’m running out of originals to play on stage, I will always pop out with my “Jolene” cover. From the beginning, Robin Pecknold from Fleet Foxes was who got me started on folk music and inspired me to play the guitar. Blood Orange is another band; listening to [Dev Hynes] talk about how he makes music on his episode of Song Exploder gave me a lot of creative insight.
Shanks: Blake Shaw is mine.
Dinolfo: Bella Moss.
How has your experience been performing in Iowa City?
Nekvinda: I was kind of on the outs doing open mics for a while, trying to get my foot in the door, but once you get one good show, it’s a snowball effect. The Iowa City music scene is very compact. You always see other musicians at your shows.
Shaw: I like how everyone mixes it up here; you can go to a show with like three totally different bands. And a lot of the shows I play or go to see are pretty well attended. There’s always a really good walk-in crowd and there are people that just go all the time. It’s a nice little fun community.
Dinolfo: I’m not a huge performer. I was classically trained when I was five years old and just kept rolling with it, but two years ago I did my first performance, and it was really fun. When I play classically, I like keeping up and playing with other instruments and singers, improvising as I go.
Shanks: I think my favorite part is playing in spaces where you’re allowed to have collaboration and improvisation. It’s fun to see people’s personalities come out through their instruments or when people have opposite personalities than you’d expect. I’m a bit of a quieter person, but then I very much enjoy getting really loud [on stage] and being creative with other people.
What kind of experience do you hope your audience has at your shows?
Nekvinda: My entire album, “Midwestern Daydreams,” is based on the lessons I learned while growing up. I wrote my first song when I was 12 and my most recent song when I was 19, so I write very much about the human experience. So I hope people can — this sounds kind of cheesy — relate to the lyrics and resonate with them.
What is your favorite original song to perform or song you most enjoy covering?
Nekvinda: I like the classics. When I was younger, I did shows at a dive bar and would come in with my little guitar and play folk music, and I’d be like, why is no one listening at a dive bar on a Wednesday? So I started playing a lot of classic rock songs and putting a softer edge on them. I haven’t been able to do it in a while, but I loved playing “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac.
Why did you choose to participate in the Headliners series?
Nekvinda: I’ve never done anything with the DI but I’ve always wanted to work with them in some form, so this was a cool opportunity. I texted Blake [two days before the performance] and texted Joe fairly recently as well.
Dinolfo: I ran into [Nekvinda] on Thursday night. We sat down on Friday and wrote all the chords for the piano for our performance [on Saturday].
Jami Martin-Trainor, Natalie Dunlap, and Evan Weidl are the executive producers of Headliners. Sound production was by Dan Miller, and videography and editing were by Emily Nyberg and Cody Blissett.
