Below is our interview with the rock/synthpop duo Moon Party. Be sure to check out their latest single "Caught Up" which is available to download for free on their official soundcloud page.
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PART 1 - THE INTERVIEW
What is your earliest musical memory and what pushed you towards perusing a career in the music business?
Tom: "I'll confess to having
been really into Cliff Richard when I was like four. I don't know how exactly I
was exposed to that but there you go. 'Wired For Sound' is my guilty pleasure. I
still listen to that song regularly. I also have this weirdly vivid memory of
hearing 'Give It Up' by KC And The Sunshine band on the radio of my granddad's car
one night when I was very young and it blowing my mind."
Lee: "As a child I was
privileged to have been brought up by a musical mother who often played the
likes of The La's, Manic Street Preachers, Nirvana and The Cure on our home
stereo. My best memory to date is singing Nirvana's 'All Apologies' in the bath
when I was two years old."
What kind of records where on around the house when you were younger and would you say that these records still have an influence on your songs today?
Tom: "The Beatles and some of
McCartney's stuff, Wings and all that, were around a lot in my house. Pretty
sure R.E.M, particularly 'Automatic For The People', was too at a time. We used
to get those 'Now That's What I Call Music' CDs as well, and they made me realize
my true allegiance was to guitar music, bands man."
Lee: "My mum often played a
mix of records throughout the nineties but ones that stand out for me and still
live with my musical influences to date are those bands...The Cure, The La's,
Manics. I love those bands."
Had you been involved in any other bands or musical ventures before Moon Party?
Tom: "Yeah, I was in a band
with my best pals at school from the age of twelve till about eighteen, then did some solo
carry on for a bit before Moon Party."
Lee: "I was in a band called
A Day Overdue from 2011 to late 2012. We played across the UK on various tours,
made a music video and had some decent recognition. It was great fun at the
time but I felt I never really got a chance to write and play music I fully
believed in."
Can you introduce the members of the band and tell us what they play?
Tom: "Well there are only two
of us writing the songs at the moment. We share drum duties, Lee plays bass, I
do guitars and sing. Keyboards feature a lot in our music but we both come up
with keys."
How did Moon Party begin?
Lee: "We began through myself
and ex member Jed Cossar (guitarist) looking for a drummer. I was on a mission
to find a powerhouse, a ground breaking band and tear up the streets of
Kilwinning. Tom came along on drums, did an excellent job, but I soon felt he
was a talent wasted if he wasn't the front man of the band. Eventually over
time we found our sound and are now at the stage of wanting to let everyone
hear it. Extra large."
Where did the name Moon Party come from?
Tom: "I don't really know. We
really struggled to find a name for ages, and I think it came up amongst a long
list of nonsensical names that we compiled after a few drinks one night. I
guess we like the aesthetic of it. It sounds kind of cool as well, I think. Rolls
off the tongue, you know?"
How would you describe the sound of Moon Party?
Tom: "Lerge."
Lee: "Co-written with Hugh G Vibes himself."
You have played some of the iconic venues of Glasgow such as The Garage and Nice 'n' Sleazy. How does it feel playing these iconic venues that you dreamt about playing when you were younger?
Tom: "Great. I mean, none of
those gigs were particular high profile and we really just played to groups of
our pals, but we had some great nights and obviously having those scalps - ABC,
Garage and stuff - is cool."
The new single is called ‘Caught Up’. The song is reminiscent of some of The Killers’ recordings. Was this the direction you were trying to go in?
Tom: "Not particularly. We get
compared to them a lot which is cool of course but I think there's more to us
than that."
Lee: "They do tend to find
their way into a lot of our stuff as they are huge for both of us."
Tom: "The band that got me into writing music, really."
Lee: "But in the studio the
influences being banded about were M83, Phoenix, A Flock Of Seagulls, New Order
and other eighties stuff. We're both eighties daft."
What is the song about and what influenced it?
Tom: "It's half about the
love/hate relationship I have with the Glasgow nightlife, and half about girls.
Those two things go hand in hand I suppose. I'd say at least half of our songs
are at least half about girls."
Do you have any 'rituals' before you go on stage?
Tom: "You seen 'The Wolf Of
Wall Street' yet? Matthew McConaughey does this mad chest beat/hum-chant thing
which I think is genius, I think I'm going to adopt that. We've been told off
for playing football backstage a few times before."
Lee: "I like a good booze
and a quick piece and jam if there's any going."
Tom: "Maybe a wee biscuit."
Any live dates coming up?
Lee: "Nothing concrete, we're
working on putting together a new live set up and hope to be gigging again in
the summer."
Any new songs in the pipeline?
Tom: "Yeah tons, there's a
small chance we'll record again as soon as March but it's more likely to be
May. We're hoping to put out a few songs throughout the summer. We've been working
on some pretty interesting stuff recently so I'm looking forward to getting it
out there."
When can fans expect the next official release?
Lee: "Start of summer,
possibility of there being something earlier."
Who would be your dream collaboration?
Tom: "Arcade Fire. That band
is just a carnival of sound, a real celebration of music and its power and
spirit and to share in that for a few minutes would be unbelievable."
Lee: "For me, I'd love to work
with The Edge from U2 or New Order, they know how to consistently write a
rasper of a tune."
Who would be in your dream super group?
Tom: "John Bonham on drums,
Peter Hook on bass, Daft Punk on synths, Prince on lead guitar, Springsteen on
rhythm and those two sharing front man duties."
Lee: "Keith Moon on drums,
Peter Hook on bass, The Edge on guitar and Brandon Flowers leading the way."
PART 2 - THE QUICKFIRE ROUND
Favourite Beatle?
Tom: "McCartney."
Lee: "McCartney."
Favourite band?
Tom: "The Killers."
Lee: "Joy Division or New Order."
Favourite new band?
Tom: "The 1975."
Lee: "The 1975."
Favourite song?
Tom: "At the moment it's a
Hudson Mohawke remix of this song called 'Vista' by Jackson And His Computer
Band. It's too hard to pick an all-timer, I have close personal relationships
with at least fifty songs."
Lee: "It always changes and I
have so many. Right now it's 'Lovers In A Dangerous Time' by Bruce Cockburn. It
is just an absolute classic piece of songwriting."
Favourite album?
Tom: "Led Zeppelin IV."
Lee: "New Order - Brotherhood."
Vinyl, CD or download?
Tom: "Vinyl sounds the best and is probably the coolest to own but I download all the time."
When you press shuffle on your iPod, what is the first song that comes on?
Tom: "I dunno, my iPod is
currently somewhere in Montpellier. Last time I had it I had been listening to
One Night In Bangkok quite a lot, and I had recently downloaded that Elvis 75
compilation, so maybe something off that."
Lee: "Duran Duran's Rio."
Style icon?
Lee: "John Taylor from Duran Duran."
Tom: "Han Solo."
Favourite film?
Tom: "Drive. That movie's
actually a pretty big influence on the band, that whole neon night, retro
romantic vibe. Kind of a visual representation of a sentiment we use as a
reference point in our music."
Favourite TV show?
Tom: "Boardwalk Empire is fantastic TV."
Who would play you in a film of your life?
Tom: "The fat Maltese guy in
the speedos from that SoCo advert."
Lee: "Danny Dyer. Absolute
hooligan that I am..."
Favourite food?
Tom: "Ice cream, always."
Football team?
Tom: "Celtic man."
Lee: "Mon the Hoops."
Hope you enjoyed this feature on Moon Party! Check out our previous feature on The Ragamuffins!
Check out Moon Party here - https://www.facebook.com/moonpartyband
You can also like our facebook page to keep up to date with all future interviews at the following link - https://www.facebook.com/aldorabritainrecords
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