Enter the World of Lo Moon

Lo Moon front man Matt Lowell took some time with Mile High Feedback recently; he gave us some insight on conveying an environmental feeling through sound, a history on Loveless, their debut single, and what they are looking forward to most in the year to come.

By Veronica Lee

With a single song released, Lo Moon has embarked on an atmospheric orbital endeavor, they are eagerly hitting the road to introduce themselves to the nation. Not a lot can be found out about Lo Moon in a simple search apart from some basics; the band is based out of LA with one single released thus far, and are beginning a national tour with fellow musicians MUNA. Talking with Matt Lowell, come to find out that he is originally from NY and was writing music and creating what would now be the emotion and soul of the music. After a coastal relocation, LA is where the other contributors Crisanta Baker and Sam Stewart came together with Matt, which then finalized the formation of Lo Moon. “(The) band started out here. I had a bunch of songs, some were half written and some were fully written.” With those samplings, the band then completed the work in progress and started recording.

The first song to focus on within the long list of possibilities was Loveless, and though it is their only single to date, it wasn’t the simplest of the bunch. About 5 years it’s been in the works, actually. “Started as a demo, changed the arrangement, it’s been through a bunch of incarnations before it finally found the light of day,” Lowell tells. And after such and intensive labor of love, how does it feel to have it recorded and released? “It feels amazing to have it out in the world. That’s a great feeling, just to have it done.”

And for Loveless, it serves a much greater purpose that being just a done and completed song, it creates the foundation from which to build. A precursor of what is next to come. A lot can ride on the decision of what first single is to be released; that song has a lot of pressure to perform and draw in crowds and a lot can be judged from one simple sampling of a greater experience. Loveless can almost be considered starting at a deficit in that it is not the traditional song spun on the radio. “It’s not the typical song that you’d expect people to respond to,” and he’s right. An ambitious 7 minutes of ethereal, atmospheric delight with a pulse its own and a refusal to let go after it has drawn you in. Perhaps this is precisely what audiences are ready and waiting for, Lowell couldn’t be more thrilled.

“The feedback’s been amazing! You don’t even think about that when you’re in so deep and you’re just trying to make it great. We worked on it so hard so it’s so nice that people are responding to it.” Since the original release, they have put out a shorter and more concise version of the song. “I felt that it was smarter. For me and the band it’s just about reaching people so if that’s easier to digest, that’s totally fine. It still has the heart and the spirit of the song. As long as that’s there, it’s fine.”

Lo Moon just finished mixing the rest of the full-length album and are hoping for a fall 2017 release. And while Loveless is the starting point, it serves as more of a template for the album. Lowell explains, “The album will have more traditional song writing on it. I think it has its foot in a bunch of different worlds and influences but we used Loveless as a feeling, it’s atmospheric and oceanic and the rest of the record has that. But a lot of the record has more traditional song writing, verse/chorus, a little bit more straight forward.”

As for performing live, the band is looking forward to transporting audiences in to this universal experience in which they live and breathe in every day. “Trying to grip that feeling, that this is a whole world. And that’s it for us, creating a world that people want to live in. It has to go in the live show, it’s such a part of us.” Currently in the beginnings of their tour with Muna, Lo Moon is feeling that this is the right time and place to get out on the road. “This is literally the beginning and I think that’s what makes this tour so exciting. It’s the first time that anyone’s going to see us. And there’s one song out there, you’re going to learn a lot about the band from seeing the show. Everything is very fresh, we’re learning a lot too. Seems like it’s working.”  With a few major festivals already scheduled for spring and summer, right now couldn’t be a more exciting time for the band to be exploring the world they are creating. “Leading with the music” has been the approach Lo Moon has used to this point, and it definitely is working.

Lo Moon will be performing at Larimer Lounge on Feb 14, for more information and to buy tickets click here!