The Moons are an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
indie rock band formed in Northampton 2008 by singer/guitarist/songwriter Andy Crofts.
The Moons have released four studio albums; "Pocket Melodies" (2020) on Colorama Records, "Mindwaves" (2014) and "Fables of History" (2012) on Schnitzel Records Ltd and the debut "Life On Earth" on
Acid Jazz Records in 2010.
History
Early days (2006-2007)
At the end of 2006, Croft's former band
The On Offs broke up. Shortly after this Crofts and Ben Gordelier worked together for the first time, recording bass and drums for former On Offs frontman and friend
Danny Connors
Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to the male name Daniel. It may refer to:
People
* Danny Altmann, British immunologist
*Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer
*Danny Baker (born 1957), English journali ...
on one of his projects. As a solo artist, Crofts had built up a collection of demos during The On Offs period, and in 2007 he made a Myspace page (under band name 'The Moons') and uploaded a few songs to gain feedback. Within days Lois Wilson of ''
Mojo
Mojo may refer to:
*Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* MOJO HD, an American television network
* ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film
* '' ...
'' magazine had praised Croft's song "Intermission Rag" a (
Joe Meek esq instrumental) in ''Mojo'' magazine. Crofts decided to form The Moons soon after inviting various musicians such as
The On Offs drummer Luke Goddard and friends to play when needed.
The Lunar Sessions (2008 - 2009)
The first recorded demo was ''The Lunar Sessions'', on which Crofts played all instruments except drums, which were played by Danny Connors. Crofts released the song "Don't Go Changin" on his own label, Colorama Records, on a limited white 7" vinyl. Live performances were done with the help of friends, but Crofts soon assembled a regular line-up with
Ben Gordelier (drums), Adam Leeds (bass) and
Chris Ketley
Chris Ketley (born 29 January 1985) is a British, London-based multi-instrumentalist, musical director, arranger, composer and producer.
He is most well known for being a pop session musician playing guitar and piano for multi-platinum selling ...
(guitar). Good friend Chris went on to play for
The Rakes
The Rakes were an English post-punk band formed in London in 2003. Their first album ''Capture/Release'' released in 2005, received a nine out of ten review in the ''NME'' and was rated 13th best album of the year in the same paper. The band ci ...
and then
Ellie Goulding
Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and Artists and ...
.
Chris and Adam eventually moved on from the band, and James Bagshaw and Tom Warmsley had joined the band on guitar and keys, completing the new line-up.
''Life On Earth'' (2010)
The Moons recorded their debut album ''Life On Earth'' (released on
Acid Jazz Records, March 2010) in
Paul Weller's studio. The album featured new versions of the Lunar Session tracks and the official first single release was "Torn Between Two". A slow psych groover and fuzz galore. Paul Weller played piano on the track "Wondering" and lead guitar on "Last Night On Earth". The first track, "Don't Go Changing", was recorded at
Dulcitone Studios with
Lee Russell. The Moons toured extensively playing headline shows and supporting many acts including
Ocean Colour Scene and
The Rifles
The Rifles is an infantry regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of four Regular battalions and three Reserve battalions, plus a number of companies in other Army Reserve battalions. Each battalion of The Rifles was formerly ...
. Four tracks from Life On Earth were released as singles and the album made it into the top 30. Though the album received great praise and earned many fans, Crofts felt the album could have been musically better and less rushed.
In between shows and tours, The Moons played live Radio shows for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
with
Janice Long and
Mark Lamarr
Mark Lamarr (born Mark Jones, 7 January 1967) is an English comedian, writer, radio DJ, and television presenter. He was a team captain on '' Shooting Stars'' from 1995 to 1997, and hosted ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' from 1996 to 2005.
Early li ...
and played In-Store shows at Oxford Street
HMV
Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom.
The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...
and Carnaby Street. A highlight of the year was their support slot for
Ocean Colour Scene at the
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
in October. The Moons spent the rest of the year demo-ing song towards their second album with
Edwyn Collins and Seb Lewsley at Westheath Yard studios, London.
2011
While taking time out to record their second album with Edwyn Collins, The Moons returned to the live circuit in 2011 with new album material at The Gibson Lounge London, part of the MERC Live gig series in conjunction with Gibson Guitars and ''Clash Magazine''.
The Moons were featured as part of the
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
JD Set. Chosen by
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. One of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist I ...
'
Mani
Mani may refer to:
Geography
* Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia
* Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad
* Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece
* Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshi ...
to pay tribute to The Smiths, The Moons performed cover versions of
The Smiths songs along
Kid British
Kid British, often styled as KiD BRiTiSH, were an English 6-piece music group, hailing from Manchester, United Kingdom. The band was composed of Adio Marchant (vocals), Simeon McLean (vocals), Sean Mbaya (vocals/guitar/keyboard), Dominick Allen ...
,
Little Barrie
Little Barrie is an English rock group consisting of Barrie Cadogan (vocals, guitar) and Lewis Wharton (bass, vocals). Virgil Howe contributed drums and vocals from 2007 until his death in 2017. Their sound has drawn from a mixture of influenc ...
and
Tom Clarke of
The Enemy. The band performed "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" at Manchester's Band On The Wall venue on 12 May 2011. In October they supported
Beady Eye on their European Tour.
2012
2012 started as a quiet year for Crofts. Though he had been writing demos and recording songs, he had no shows lined up for The Moons. Instead he took The Moons into the studio to complete the mixing of the second album "Fables Of History" where he met new keyboard player Tom Van Heel who was working in the studio.
The album was mixed and produced over two weeks by known producer
Jan 'Stan' Kybert who in the past had worked with
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.”
The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
,
Massive Attack,
The Rifles
The Rifles is an infantry regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of four Regular battalions and three Reserve battalions, plus a number of companies in other Army Reserve battalions. Each battalion of The Rifles was formerly ...
and Paul Weller's 2012 No1 album ''
Sonik Kicks
''Sonik Kicks'' is the eleventh studio album from Paul Weller, an English singer-songwriter and former member of The Jam; it was released on 19 March 2012. The album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart beating David Guetta's ''Nothing But ...
''.
The album was mastered by
Howie Weinberg in LA and soon returned to Crofts.
Crofts and band signed a new record deal with East London label
Schnitzel Records Ltd., Insisting that the deal had to be done correctly, Crofts refused to sign the deal unless it was signed on a new/full moon 21 February.
The deal was signed with
Schnitzel Records Ltd. and plans for the album and singles were immediately in place. The first single to come from the new album was "Double Vision Love" and "English Summer" on limited 7" vinyl and download. The B side "English Summer" was a simple observational song by Crofts and captured the essence of a typical day in Britain. Also in May The Moons supported
Beady Eye on their only headline show of the year at
Warrington Parr Hall as warm up
the Stone Roses
The Stone Roses were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. One of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist I ...
support.
In May
Jack Wills
Jack Wills is a British clothing brand founded in Salcombe, Devon, in 1999.
History
Peter Williams and Robert Shaw founded the brand in 1999. Williams was 23 when the first store opened at 22 Fore Street, Salcombe, and it was created with ...
clothing company used The Moons song "English Summer" (taken from the Double Vision Love single B side) for their 2012 Summer Holiday fashion campaign. The song has already become the summer anthem for many fans of The Moons. The second album ''Fables of History'' was released on 24 September 2012 with a limited white vinyl and two album covers.
The second single to come from the album was the grande "Jennifer (Sits Alone)". "A beautiful song for outsiders" says Crofts. The single became part 2 of the collectors vinyls
accompanied with a music video in an old London library featuring Jennie Watson.
The band went through another transition after James and Tom left The Moons to form the band
Temples
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
. Crofts recruited friends
Ben Curtis former bass player of
The Sand Band
The Sand Band are a British alternative folk band from Liverpool consisting of guitarist / songwriter David McDonnell and bass guitarist Ben Curtis.
After working in a music shop together in 2002 and playing together for a number of years, David ...
from Liverpool and local guitarist Chris Watson to complete The Moons line-up. The final single to come from the album late in 2012 was the song Something Soon.
The song featured
Paul Weller and completed the trilogy of collectors singles. A music video was made also featuring Weller and became a hot favourite to Moons fans and the indie scene. All of The Moons videos were made by director Joe Connor who had already worked with many bands such as
The Courteeners
Courteeners are an English band formed in Middleton in 2006 by Liam Fray (lead guitar/vocals), Michael Campbell (drums/backing vocals), Daniel "Conan" Moores (rhythm guitar) and Mark Cuppello (bass); the latter was replaced by the band's produc ...
,
Band of Skulls and
Paul Weller. Joe's work for The Moons undoubtedly give the band the perfect transition to screen. The Moons loyalty to Joe Connor has remained and the band continue to work with him.
Discography
Albums
* ''Life On Earth'' (March 2010)
* ''Fables Of History'' (September 2012)
* ''Mindwaves'' (July 2014)
* ''Pocket Melodies'' (October 2020)
Singles
External links
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moons, The
English indie rock groups
Musical groups established in 2007
Acid Jazz Records artists