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L.A. based band Mansions on the Moon have definitely created a stir across the music scene! Featuring a soulful blend of alternative, electro, and hip-hop, the guys just released their new EP Full Moon. GroundSounds recently had the opportunity to chop it with drummer Lane Shaw, to talk about their recent release and more, check out the exclusive interview below.
For those who are just discovering your music, can you tell us a little bit about the band and how you guys came together?
Christian Mingle. No but seriously…Ben and I were in a band before this project called Pnuma Trio. During some off time in that group, Ben reconnected with our lead singer, Ted, who he had known since childhood. Ted had just finished up college at University of Montana and he had a bunch of great songs that he had written. Ben and him began making music together and before you know it, the MOTM sound was created. After a couple of demos, the guys hit me up and asked me if I wanted to hop on. I was definitely intrigued by the sound and joined we joined forces immediately. We were in Boulder at the time. We packed everything in a U-haul and drove back across the country where we spent a few months at the Neptunes studio. That was epic. Then we came to LA to create. Here we searched for another solider on a little database known as Craiglist. This is when we found Baby Jeff. Epic is the only word that can come to mind when trying to describe that moment. The rest is history.
How did you guys come up with the name Mansions on the Moon?
While in VA Beach, we lived in a really cool beach house. We had parties frequently. One one particular evening, Ted and I stepped out to the deck for a smoke. We were pondering upon different names for a couple days and were looking for any sign to lead us to a good name. We looked up at the moon which felt like we could touch, and some crazy shit was going on. For some reason, Man on the Moon came into our heads and then Ted just said “Mansions on the Moon”. It clicked. That was it.
Your EP Full Moon was just released; can you tell us a little bit about this project and bringing it to fruition?
The EP wasn’t in our long term plans. We have been working on an album for a while now and things kept getting in the way. Ted called Jeff up and proposed the idea of an EP to get out there immediately. We put it together in a couple of weeks with 4 new songs and one that we just previously released. We got to work with some close friends and it was just… easy. We had to put something out and it just felt awesome.
How do you guys typically create your music? Do you start with an idea, concept, guitar riff, lyrics?
Many ways. We each bring ideas to the table on almost every time at the moment. A lot of lyrical stuff comes from Ted. He’s a great songwriter and has an archive of really cool songs. Sometimes, we will take one of his acappellas and write around it or place it on a preexisting instrumental. There are probably over 10 more scenarios. It just depends and it’s fun that we all listen and respect each others ideas. We are fans of each other as producers.
Can you tell us about the writing process and inspiration behind your track ‘Radio’?
People around us were really pushing us to make a “mainstream” track. Ted wrote “Radio” as a response to those demands. It was refreshing to hear him talk about that situation through song. It was an honor to work with the legendary Neal Pogue at Mophonics studios in Venice as well. There were good vibes all around in that writing and recording process.
Do you guys have any life advice that you could share with us?
Believe in what you do. Surround yourself with people that care as much as you do. Don’t give up and you will be all good.
What do you feel while you guys are performing music?
For me, that’s my favorite part of all this. Bringing the songs that you get to create in a studio (which is also really cool) to life in front of people is a rewarding experience. I also like being put on the spot, so it’s a fun challenge and exercise when the time comes. I think we all like that.
Who would you guys like to collaborate with in the future?
Feist, Quincy Jones, Steely Dan, Michael McDonald
What’s next? What are you guys currently working on?
More music. We were thinking album, but we were just talking about it today and we might just release another EP real soon. Like I said, the “creative” switch is on. You’ll hear from us soon.
