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Moon Kids mainman David Barr tells Groundsounds about life with Scotland’s latest buzz band. The Moon Kids – also featuring drummer Rory Buchanan, bass player Taylor Wright and guitarist Magnus Collie – formed late in 2012.
Since then they’ve been building a fanatical following thanks to a cavalcade of memorable songs, chiming guitar melodies and dark undercurrents, check out our exclusive interview below.
For those just discovering The Moon Kids, how did you guys form the group and start making music?
It was the songs that really brought us together. We were all in different bands and when those began to disintegrate, we started hanging out together. At first it was just me and Rory. He played drums in a band that recorded an album with Stone Roses/Radiohead producer John Leckie and then promptly split up. Rory knew I was writing songs and he liked the ideas I had. On my part, it was great to work with a drummer who’d been touring from the moment he’d left school. Then Taylor heard what we were doing and loved it. He was in another band at the time but when they split, since we needed a bass player, he came onboard. We stayed like that for a while, then – about three weeks before our first gig – Magnus joined.
Can you tell us a little bit about the creative and writing process for your track “Rollercoaster People”?
Usually I write the songs on an acoustic guitar and spend a bit of time developing the structure and lyrics. But Rollercoaster People came about in a different way. It was very early days, probably the second time Rory and I got together. We were getting ready to pack up our gear when Rory began playing the distinctive beat that starts the song. I was messing around on guitar over the top and went to a strange chord change and it completely changed the vibe. It sounded really cool and a lot like us. I asked him to speed the beat up and I literally played the whole chord progression to Rollercoaster People over the top. I didn’t have any words so I was just chanting “sha la la”, which is a pretty generic line for a singer to use when you’re improvising. It’s used in a lot of songs and usually sits on top of a pretty uplifting major chord. But in Rollercoaster People, that “sha la la” is sitting on top of these strange minor chords and it sounds so bittersweet, I loved that. It’s a cliché but that song really did just write itself. It came together so quickly. It’s still my favourite song to play live. We always open our set with it because that was the song that we first played together. It was the beginning of The Moon Kids …
What do you guys enjoy most about Scotland? What is one thing visitors should see or do?
I love the passion of Scottish people. A lot of musicians who visit say that Scottish crowds are the best in the world. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I do know that in Scotland we aren’t scared to let loose and live a little. I think anyone coming to Scotland should visit one of our music festivals. T In The Park is held just a few miles away from where we live and it was incredible to be part of that this summer. The crowd were really amazing for us – it was really spine-tingling stuff. Later the same night, Will Smith turned up with Calvin Harris because he’d heard so much about that famous T In The Park crowd reaction and wanted to experience it. Is Will Smith a Moon Kids fan? I don’t know. But he should be.
What has it been like working on your self-titled debut EP?
Working on The Moon Kids EP was an amazing experience. I’ll always have really special memories of forming the band and putting these songs together. The atmosphere while we were doing it was really exciting and it was a real learning experience. We recorded it with Michael Brennan Jnr who has worked a lot with Super Furry Animals, Snow Patrol and Primal Scream. The EP was actually recorded as a three-piece before Magnus joined the group so the sound has evolved since these tracks were recorded. But what you hear on the EP is a real introduction to our world. We describe what we do as “fairground pop” – it’s all about the bright lights, the flashing neon and the dark undercurrent of slight seediness and danger that underpins it all. It’s like looking into a girl’s eyes for the first time. You’re not quite sure what’s going to happen. It could be good, it could be bad. Either way, it’s going to be an adventure.
Can you tell us about working on your track “Luna Park” and bringing it to fruition? What was the inspiration for this song?
Luna Park was a song I wrote in my bedroom before I was even in a band. Instead of writing songs with the thought of playing them in front of people, I had a strange concept in my head about writing a soundtrack to a movie. I had been very inspired by the ‘70s cult movie The Warriors and that got me fascinated with the imagery of Coney Island. That was the starting point. I had a rough idea for a story about a young guy moving away from his surroundings to work on a fairground. I thought it would be great to write an album of songs based on his journey and experiences, songs about all the weird and wonderful characters he’d meet on that journey. So Luna Park stems from that. It’s really a song about moving away from quite grey, mundane surroundings to a place filled with bright lights, adventure and excitement. Luna Park seemed a million miles away from my bedroom on a rainy Sunday afternoon in Scotland. The actual lyrics in the chorus are adapted from a book I was reading called Dreamland by Kevin Baker. When we first took it into the studio, I remember how excited we all were, including our producer Michael. He’s got a great ear for a strong melody and he knew we were onto something. Someone said it reminded him of something Roddy Frame might write. For a young Scottish songwriter to hear that… well, that was something really special.
What was it like on the day of the video shoot for “Luna Park?”
We shot it at a fun-fair in a little seaside town called Burntisland. It’s typical of a Scottish town that used to have a lot of thriving industry and now that’s all gone, there’s something a little melancholy about the place. There was a strange vibe on the day itself. A few things had happened the previous night, which left the atmosphere quite tense. It was raining too so our idea of capturing a summer’s day at a fairground didn’t look like working out. But as we pulled up, the clouds began to lift and it ended up being a really warm, sunny day and we really enjoyed ourselves. The mood of the day actually reflected the song in a lot of ways, going from quite sad and downbeat to bright and hopeful in the blink of an eye.
You guys will be performing at The Wickerman Festival soon, how are you preparing?
We’re really looking forward to The Wickerman Festival. The region of Scotland where it’s held was used as the location for the cult British film The Wicker Man – and at the end of the festival each year they burn a 30ft high effigy, a wicker man, just like the one you see at the climax of the movie. A lot of bands we love, like Echo & The Bunnymen and Dexy’s Midnight Runners, have played there. For The Moon Kids, it’s a real
honour to be playing two of Scotland’s biggest festivals (T In The Park and Wickerman) in the same month. We’ve worked very hard this year and the live set is feeling great right now – we’ve done a few shows recently where the atmosphere has been out of this world – so we’re really looking forward to playing there.
What do you guys enjoy most about performing live? What goes through your mind when you are on stage?
The best thing about playing live is that feeling when your performance captures and captivates the audience. The connection between the band and the crowd is the most important thing about what we do. The songs are built to communicate with people – whether you’re listening to them in your bedroom or hearing them on the radio – but, for me, when we’re on stage, that’s when they really come alive.
What are you guys currently working on, what’s next for The Moon Kids?
We’ve got a couple of things in the works that we can’t quite reveal just yet – watch this space – but there will be a new single out soon.
