Moon Visionaries

An interview with the latest Steve Lamacq hotly tipped band. Moon Visionaries are comprised of four very enthusiastic guys who come from the four corners of the world. Their very dancy indie rock has already been noticed by a few industry players though they are just at the very beginning.

I met up with Greg Dearing and Marco Proietti who – according to their manager – are the heart and soul of Moon Visionaries. As it was a very British sunny summer afternoon, I thought it would be a nice idea to interview them outside. Unfortunately I must have been in a lethargic state of mind as all I could think of was the tiny church park opposite Spitafields market… Not completely sure I made a successful first impression!

Catching up with the band at this early stage of their career presents a great opportunity to see how they are facing longevity in the currently changing climate.

Greg and Marco met in March 2009 and recorded a few songs. Shortly after, Marco had to go back to Australia, which at that point could have meant the end of the project, but they managed to keep on exchanging ideas and working on new songs during the eight months he was away. So it is just very recently that they started getting something going again in the UK.

Things seem to have picked up rapidly in the last few months. They understood the need for someone outside of the band to alleviate a lot of what they were trying to do, thereby enabling them to focus on their music. This is when Greg asked music photographer and old time friend Carsten Windhorst to become their manager.

Less than a month ago they were invited to play for Steve Lamacq’s ‘Going Deaf For A Living’ evening after he’d interviewed them on his radio show and played their main track ‘Mr. Hollywood’ (which there is also a video for). Their plans were to mainly start gigging around October; that all changed with this invitation. Moon Visionaries recall that they felt under pressure, as it was only their second concert; the crowd’s reaction as well as Mr Lamacq’s was very positive. Shortly after, NME hailed them as their Breakthrough band of the day. Things were rolling! Now, it’s all about keeping this initial interest alive.

Questioning them about the main advice they would give aspiring artists, they strongly emphasised the fact of waiting until the musical chemistry was right. “Don’t settle if it doesn’t flow”.

And without wanting to do any blatant self-promotion, Marco was explaining that a friend had purchased The Unsigned Guide, which they actively started using. And from which they got a fair amount of positive answers. “Something started to happen and we got very excited. It was our bible,” mentions Marco before Greg points out: “We don’t want to big up the guide but it really did help us out. It gives you the keys to an apartment complex”.

Embracing many of the tools the internet has to offer musicians, they are using one that in my opinion is one of the best online platforms for musicians to date: Bandcamp. So at the moment you can download a few of their demos on the site for free!

Greg was adamant that for them giving tracks away for free is fundamental, not a full album, but you should record a few very good quality demos for people to get hooked.

Looking at their short and long-term goals, they are very confident about the importance of a record label. However, they are not putting all their hopes into the idea of getting signed and are willing to try self-releasing. Marco added: “We’re not going to be snobs. We’ll take as much help as we can get. People forget that you can still sign and keep your integrity”.

We also spent a lot of time talking about music in general and the band’s influences which are numerous and vast. The Beatles honestly came out as their main influence; they were talking about the art of writing short songs and the production skills behind the albums. Greg, who is originally from the US, also quoted Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso. Marco on the other hand mentioned the likes of Serge Gainsbourg, John Barry and Ennio Morricone. They also mentioned a couple of London based bands, not as influences, but as bands that are definitely worth checking out: Real Fur and The Laurel Collective.

I was lucky to see them live last week at the Monto Water Rats in King’s Cross. All I can say is that if you get the chance, seriously go and see them! A very energetic and vibrant set, yet chilled at the same time, it’ll get you dancing all evening.

They came across as a very mature band grasping the hardships of their career path; they understood the road may be long and that help in any form would be needed along the way. I enjoyed the fact that Greg mentioned that if you were serious about doing this, you needed to approach it as a business, just as you would working for a company in the city. They were also genuinely thankful and appreciative of the support they have received from Steve Lamacq and NME, though Marco was quick to mention in a joking way that though all this helped amazingly, he wasn’t just going to quit his day job yet!

I wish these guys all the best and am confident we will all be hearing great things from them very soon.
- The Unsigned Guide

When legendary Radio 1 & 6 Music DJ Steve Lamacq gets in touch and personally invites you to play his Going Deaf For A Living club night, you don't have to think twice about RSVP'ing. The band played an inspiring five song set. What started with an interview on Lamacq's 6 Music radio show in June has since created a buzz that has spread from countless music blogs to the mainstream press.

So who are the band causing all this commotion? A south London four-piece who can speak a total of five different languages between them. These may well come in handy as future tours are bound to take them to foreign shores. Luckily this lingual intelligence also transfers to their music, as an array of influences style their sound. Mr Hollywood begins with an echoed drumming pattern similar to that of Oasis and their iconic Columbia, before an artful bass riff enters the fray, sparking memories of Joy Division or in a modern context Reptillia by The Strokes. What is always essential for the completion of any stellar line-up is a vocalist with a gripping voice. Here we find an icey yet effortlessly smooth frontman with a similar tonality to Nathan Willett of Cold War Kids.

The band are performing a free gig in London's World's End in Finsbury Park on 30 September which will certainly only add to the ever growing enthusiasm surrounding this ensemble. be sure to check out their material on soundcloud too as well as their other tour dates below. - Q Magazine

Moon Visionaries describe themselves as writing, ‘indie-pop-walking-down-the-street-rock kind of songs’. This kind of sans-bullshit attitude is precisely what makes us smile about them. It's the kind of unashamed, feel-good, glossy groove-pop that scores of 'defiantly lo-fi' bands probably wish they could muster, rather than having to hide their lack of choruses in lathering fuzz. - NME

Moon Visionaries – ‘In The Green Room’

It's the kind of unashamed, feel-good, glossy groove-pop that scores of 'defiantly lo-fi' bands probably wish they could muster, rather than having to hide their lack of choruses in lathering fuzz.

Listen to the track and find out more about the band on their NME Breakthrough page. - NME