“So often, people go to a place and don’t know why they’re there”: Moor Mother & Hieroglyphic Being in conversation

Immaculate Deception Of History is a brand new project, launched at New York’s Dweller festival earlier this year. And the pair behind it – Moor Mother and Hieroglyphic Being – are an experimental match made in heaven, where urgent vocals and exploratory sonics combine.

Both are US underground staples, whose work is built on challenging rules and systems. Composer and poet Moor Mother is a truly one-of-one sound artist, whose work blends experimental electronics, neo-classical and freeform jazz while exploring the Black experience through her voice. Meanwhile, Chicago-hailing Hieroglyphic Being aka Jamal Moss cut his teeth as a producer who brought the classic house music of his home city and fused it with boundary-pushing industrial and avant-garde influences.

It makes for an exciting linkup, which they are bringing to Den Haag this weekend for the 2026 edition of Rewire Festival. To find out more, we caught up with the pair to chat about the project’s foundations, its live experience and the parallel influence of Sun Ra on their own work.

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How did you first come across each other’s work?

HB: I’d heard about Moor Mother through an agency I used to deal with. 

MM: And I heard about you, being from Chicago, because Chicago was one of the first places in America outside of my city of Philadelphia that really embraced me. So when a scene welcomes you in, you tend to become a historian of what’s cool there. Who’s a part of this? Who’s playing? 

What were some of the starting points of the name of this project, Immaculate Deception Of History?

HB: The name alone just makes people think about existence, period. We bring what you feel, what you think, all your senses and non-senses. That’s the whole point of coming together and trying to shift the fabric. Like, we already know everything’s a lie. Now it’s just to get everybody to be able to put a life jacket on and stay afloat until somebody comes and saves all of us. 

MM: That was perfect.

Do you think there’s something in the idea that, in both of your work, there’s been a general interrogation of history?

MM: Oh, definitely. We’re well read, and reading leads to knowledge, and knowledge shifts perspective. So we’re going to follow these kinds of threads – whether we’re talking about Sun Ra or whether it’s underground scenes. It’s interesting because we both have a connection to Sun Ra. We both have shared the stage in some capacity with The Sun Ra Arkestra. This is part of the history. 

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HB: When I went to university, I started working at the radio station. I got really sucked into Sun Ra’s music. I was like, okay, I need a catchy name to be on the radio. So I decided to call myself DJ Sun Ra. But I switched over to Hieroglyphic Being because people would look at me sideways. The name was basically Sun Ra, but different. Years later, I just wanted to focus on making stuff. I would basically remake a lot of his tunes. I would look at name titles and I would say, how would I translate these name titles into sound? I would put them on CD, give them to some DJs to play around. I started selling these CDs globally. And I got this big write-up in The Wire.

Paul Smith, owner of the label Blast First, reached out and said I reminded him of Sun Ra in my mannerisms and approach to creativity. I looked at him like, what the fuck is he on? He brought me over to the UK to open up for the Arkestra. So that’s how I came physically into their universe and met a lot of the members, because of this guy. 

MM: That’s so funny because, for one of my first big art pieces, I sampled five to 10 seconds of every Sun Ra song and made this kind of mixtape. And from that mixtape, I would go on to open for them and tour with them. Because I lived in Philly, I would also open up for Marshall Allan. I see how these things are swirling. And then look at us. 

HB: I never imagined that doing my takes on Sun Ra tunes would get me full circle, to the point that it got me on the cover of The Wire. All based off Sun Ra’s energy – the blessings. I was so enamoured by what he did. It actually blessed me back a hundredfold.

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When you’re at a festival now, or you’re meeting up with artists, do you feel like you’re continuing that legacy of keeping your ears open? Seeing who you can work with and finding collaborators?

MM: Well, a lot of promoters tokenise. So it’s very rare to have, like, two black women on the same night. You really have to make those connections yourself and do the work. I’ve been brainstorming and talking to other artists to build so we can do this much easier. Because everyone is just constantly doing their thing, trying to make a way, so it’s really up to us. 

Immaculate Deception Of History is still very much in its infancy. But is there anything people can expect from the Rewire performance?

MM: To feel their body, some type of reminder that they exist. I know it’s such a simple thing. But they have a body, they’re connected to something. I feel like so often, people go to a place and they don’t know why they’re there. It’s just like an out of mind, out of body experience. They can’t get grounded within themselves. We’re so scattered and distracted. So one thing that’s guaranteed is this reminder that you are here, you exist. You’re grounded in something and you’re going to feel it in your stomach and your head. This is a bodily experience.

HB: Through this creativity, we’ll learn as we go, the more shows and collaborations that we do. People will finally see from the inception all the way to its zenith how it’s supposed to be, because these are just beginning stages. I mean, that’s how history is made.

Moor Mother and Hieroglyphic Being perform as Immaculate Deception Of History at Rewire Festival 2026, which takes place between April 9 – 12.

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