They’re
a self-described ‘neo soul band straight
from the outer rim’.
Their
sound is an exciting nebula of various intergalactic instrumental layers from
spacey synths to cosmic clarinets – in fact, they’re one of the few modern
bands to use bass clarinet so prominently. Songs take a jazzy and proggy
approach to structure, occasionally orbiting back around to a familiar melody
but often drifting off to explore new chord arrangements and grooves. Vocalist
Hattie Simon meanwhile delivers silky singing over the top, bringing the
extra-terrestrial sound back to earth with a human touch (that’s probably
enough space references for now).
The
band’s new album Haven’t You Heard showcases
their diversity. From groove-laden punchy opener ‘Don’t You Think You Wanna’ to
slow cinematic closer ‘Reprise’, the record explores various moods and paces. The
talent on display is top notch, but rather simply using their prowess to show
off, they use it to craft rich melodies and sparkling atmosphere.
Max
from Star The Moonlight was kind enough to invite me across the galaxy for an
interview. Read below as I discuss the gritty stuff including pizza, sci-fi
movies and favourite planets.
If
Star The Moonlight was a pizza what toppings would it have?
You know, I hate to
say it but I think we might be pineapple. It really makes a
strong gustatory statement and because of that, some people love it and some
people hate it, but no one is neutral. Art, I mean a pizza
topping like that is more fun to me than one on which everyone is neutral.
Generic
interview question - what are all your musical backgrounds and how did you all
meet?
Andrew and I went to
the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and ended up moving to New York
City together. We’ve been roommates
for a while. He introduced me to
Phil and James. Believe it or not,
Andrew actually met James because they both responded to a Craigslist add put
out by our now dear friend Matt Anderson who was putting together his band at
the time. (His music is amazing
btw, go check it out). Hattie and I were introduced by another (well really
he’s THE other) NYC bass clarinetist and dear friend Jasper Dutz. He actually gave me my
first bass clarinet back in 2009.
Your
new album Haven’t You Heard is incredible. I feel like I’ve
just gone on an adventure across the cosmos. What was it like to compose and
produce?
Wow, man, first of
all, thank you so much. That’s a HUGE
compliment. I feel like I was so
innocent when I wrote all of this music.
These songs (aside from the reprise which is the most recently written
composition by far) came from such a singular point of view and were all
vehicles for processing and understanding pretty specific issues that I was
dealing with when I wrote them. Because of this,
hearing them back now sometimes feels like they were written by someone
else.
Anyhow, producing them
was amazing, such a fun experience. I learned so much, the
band absolutely nailed the songs in recording, and our mix engineer Fernando
Lodeiro made everything we played sound absolutely massive.
Clarinets don’t get
the love they deserve. Who are some of your favourite clarinetists? What are
some good clarinet bangers that people ought to give a listen to.
Well that’s definitely
true in the case of bass clarinet. It’s such a got such a unique and beautiful
sound that I think is edgy and nostalgic at the same time.
For good recordings of
bass clarinet check out some classical and jazz music. Tchaikovsky (The
Nutcracker), Stravinsky (the Rite of Spring) and Shostakovich (Symphony #8 and
many others) wrote some beautiful shit for bass clarinet and would occasionally
write lead-ish melodies for it. And for stuff in the
Jazz lexicon I would recommend Herbie Hancock’s thrust. Bennie Maupin played
some beautiful bass clarinet all over that album. That said, the
absolute greatest bass clarinetist of all time IMO and my absolute favorite is
Eric Dolphy, but his music is a little more difficult to digest. Listening to
recordings of him is THE reason I play that instrument.
I
loved your epic music video for ‘Good Fight’. What was it like filming it? Did
you enjoy falling into the water from space?
Thank you, huge shout
out to the director Julia Barrett-Mitchell who came up with the amazing story
and to the director of photography and editor James Rosser Berry who made each
shot look so beautiful! Filming it was a lot
of work but also a lot of fun. Woodworking is a hobby
of mine and I actually built the spaceship set myself on the sidewalk outside
my queens apt. It took about two solid weeks. Falling into the water
was fun! I’m really just jumping off the edge of the rock island visible in the
final shot. Also that island was
absolutely caked in bird shit. We all had to shower
immediately after getting those shots.
What
are your favourite and least favourite sci-fi movies?
Oh man, great
question. Without a doubt, my
favorite film of all time is Stanley Kubrick’s, “2001, a Space Odyssey.” I love the music and
the absolute gorgeousness of it all. I’m also a huge fan of
the original Star Wars trilogy, mostly for the art direction. The world those ILM
prop makers created was so convincing and they physically made pretty much
everything that appears on screen. That takes some real
skill.
Least favorite would
have to be Star Wars episode 7 and 8. They reeked of a big
money grab, and they felt derivative and did little to expand the Star Wars
world for me.
What’s
your favourite and least favourite planet in the solar system?
My favorite planet is
Jupiter. It is gorgeous and has
some really interesting moons. Saturn is a close
second for the same reasons. Least favorite is
Mars, not much happens there….
I still hope that we
send a crewed mission to Mars soon though but for goodness sake, let’s bring
them back. Those who wish to
colonize Mars in the near future would likely, I fear, experience a profoundly
exotic form of isolation.
What
musical artists are you all listening to right now? Any underrated artists that
you think people ought to know about?
I think in general our
tastes are pretty eclectic. We’re all big fans of Moonchild, Vulfpeck,
Tierra Whack, Smino, Dirty Projectors, Madvillain, Margeret Glaspy, Young
Fathers, and the list could go on and on. As far as underrated
artists go, Michael Mayo, Matthew Anderson, Harry Terrell, No Swoon, Sirintip,
and saxophonist and composer Matt Chalk are all amazing.
Imagine
you’re stranded on a desert planet and you have one album that you can bring
with you and listen to – which album is it?
That’s a classic
question that we’ve all thought about before. Phil’s would be D’angelo’s
“Voodoo,” Andrew’s would be the
Beau Arts trio playing Ravel’s piano trio in A minor, James’ would be Joao
Gilberto’s “Live in Tokyo,” Hattie’s would be Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key
of Life,” and mine would be “Madvillainy.” Would you have guessed
they’d all be so different?
What
does the future hold for Star The Moonlight?
We’ll have to see,
maybe a UK tour ;). I’m currently working
on the music for our next album so hopefully that will be out in the next
couple of years. Also we’d love to open
for Hiatus Kaiyote. Who really knows, so
much is possible. I could get hit by a
meteorite as you read this sentence.
Follow Star The Moonlight at https://www.facebook.com/starthemoonlight/