Stand Up comedian Trevor Moore, aged 35, feels inspired by his parents who used to be Christian rock singers in the 80s. The ‘High in Church’ rapper, while talking to splitsider.com, revealed how he got inspired by his parents to write songs and perform.
He also spilled the beans on how his devout Christian parents reacted on his shows ‘Whitest Kids U’ Know’ and his songs that were featured on his sketch shows as well as his love for music.
The American actor, comedian, writer, director, producer and musician, who is best known as the founding member of the New York City-based comedy troupe “The Whitest Kids U' Know” talked about his past life with his parents and how it influenced him while growing up.
The 35 year old son of Christian folk rock artists Mickey and Becki Moore, while talking about why he preferred keeping songs in his shows and sketch comedies said: “I grew up on a tour bus. My parents were Christian rock singers in the 80s. I’ve always been around it. Even in Whitest Kids, I would always put out two or three songs every season.”
He further added that after the wrap up of the aforementioned show after five seasons, the actor revealed to Comedy Central his idea for songs. “I really enjoyed being in the recording studio with the musicians, making the songs and then shooting the videos for them. When we started to wrap up Whitest Kids after five seasons, I just went over to Comedy Central and was like, “You know, I’ve got a whole album worth of songs that I’ve never done anything with. Would you guys be interested in me putting out music?” They were into the idea,” he explained.
And talking about his musical journey with his parents, who were devout Christians and music lovers, and how his childhood influenced his comedy style, Moore stated: “I grew up in a very, very rural environment, kind of on a farm. We didn’t have cable or anything. It forces you to create things out of sheer mind-numbing boredom. It pushed me toward making little videos and sketches to entertain myself. I return to a lot of themes, constantly. There’s a lot of politics, history and religion. I think it is part of growing up in a very conservative, religious area in Virginia where these were the topics that were always around when I was growing up.
“I went to a Christian school. We would go to church on the weekends. Then, we would go on the road and my parents would play their concerts. I grew up in an area full of Civil War battlefields. I would go out with my grandfather with metal detectors and find cannonballs, sword handles, stuff like that. History was always present.”
“Those things are topics that I keep coming back to now that I’m older. At first, I think my parents felt like I was personally attacking them by coming back to these topics. Now, they’ve sort of realized that it’s not about them. I’m not attacking them. These were just such big parts of how I grew up that it’s only natural that I write about them now.”
And finally, the hardest part of growing up in a religious family was going to church every Sunday, something Moore did as a young boy. But now, this stand-up comedian is creating history with his comedy and songs like ‘High on Church” and raising issues of religion and politics. So what was his parents’ reaction on all these? Let’s see…
“Toward the beginning, we would have these big arguments. As time has gone by, they have come to understand that it’s not personal. But still, like for this album, they were like, “Should we watch the special when it comes on?” I said, “Eh. I’ll send you some links or something, but don’t knock yourself out.” Then they asked what the special was called. There are some eggshells. I don’t want to anger them or hurt their feelings. That’s never the intention. It’s just more about the fact that these issues dominate my headspace,” he revealed.
His show, “Whitest Kids U’ know” is currently being developed into a feature film.
His net worth remains undisclosed.