Thirty-five years on the road is no small feat—but for jam-rock veterans moe., the milestone comes with both volume and vision. The beloved six-piece band is marking its 35th anniversary with a twist on its trademark sound setup: bright pink TELEFUNKEN M80 microphones, used to raise awareness for Rock The Pink, a breast cancer initiative that fuses music and philanthropy.
The idea is simple but powerful. For the entire month of October, TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik will donate a portion of proceeds from sales of its M80 PINK dynamic vocal mic to Rock The Pink. At the same time, moe. is putting their own personal spin on the effort by autographing and auctioning off the same pink mics used onstage—with all proceeds going to the same charity.
It’s a fitting gesture for a band that’s built its career on connection, community, and the long jam.
moe. isn’t the type of band to compromise on tone, no matter how good the cause. Their stage manager and longtime front-of-house mixer Frank Hopkins says that, even when touring under wildly different conditions, one piece of gear remains non-negotiable.
“We carry our own Telefunken vocal mics everywhere,” Hopkins says. “We have so many open microphones and loud sources on stage… rejection and isolation are paramount, and the nice natural beefy tone we get from our M80s dependably night after night is a must have for moe.”
The pink version, it turns out, sounds just as good—and looks even better.
Formed at the University at Buffalo back in 1989, moe. has spent the last three and a half decades evolving from a scrappy college jam band into a cornerstone of the American improvisational rock scene. Their debut album Fatboy dropped in 1992, landing them alongside contemporaries like Phish and Widespread Panic in the growing jam-band movement.
Over the years, they’ve shared the stage with The Allman Brothers, The Who, and countless others, while headlining major venues from Radio City Music Hall to Bonnaroo (five times, no less). As American Songwriter once put it, the band’s “mind-bending musicality” and "witty, insightful songwriting” have made them a force of nature in modern rock.
This latest collaboration adds another layer to their legacy—one that goes beyond music. For TELEFUNKEN, which will showcase its lineup at AES in Long Beach on October 23–24 (Booth #303), the partnership is a way to spotlight both their gear and their giving spirit.
For moe., it’s about using the spotlight for something larger than themselves. Pink microphones may not change the world—but for a few weeks this fall, they’ll certainly help fund the fight.
Learn more about moe. and Rock The Pink.
