Interview with Half Moon Run

Foto: Half Moon Run - Copyright: Ganaël Dumontier
Half Moon Run
© Ganaël Dumontier

July 5, 2012 | Canadian trio Half Moon Run have been getting some serious buzz since the release of their debut album "Dark Eyes", a beautiful and complex mix of eleven songs. We had the opportunity to ask Connor Molander our Soundcheck questions and got to know a little bit about the band's musical creative process, their aspirations and what inspires them.


Note: © myFanbase 2012 - The interview is exclusive to myFanbase and may not be published on other websites or the like. You may share the first 2 questions or up to 160 characters if you link back to this site. Translations other than English and German may be posted with full credit including the writer's name and link to this site.

1. How would you describe your music in one sentence?

Our best effort at creating something that satisfies our own musical standards.

2. Was there something like a light bulb moment when you were young, maybe a concert, a certain song or a record that made you dream about a career as a musician?

For as long as I can remember, my ultimate dream was to be a musician. These days sustaining a career as a musician is very difficult, so you don't always allow yourself to dream that big, but certainly we all had it in our minds that if a musical career became a possibility, we would drop everything and pursue it.

3. Are there any artists that might have influenced you or inspired you some time?

We've all been through countless childhood musical infatuations, and those influences tend to bleed into the music almost subconsciously. Nowadays we get inspired when we hear music that challenges our state of progress. It's almost a feeling of jealousy that drives us to work harder, and push our limits even further. It was probably Sepalcure that made us feel that way most recently.

4. How do you develop your songs? What part comes first, music or lyrics?

The songs usually start with some little hook, or maybe two parts that fit together in a nice way. We negotiate the song form together and try fitting new parts in until eventually the song takes shape and feels complete. Lyrics almost always come last. Sometimes the process takes a day or two, sometimes it takes several weeks.

5. What song is most important to you? Why and how did it develop?

For a song to achieve completion, it has to give us a certain feeling of excitement while we're writing it. All the songs on the album did that for us at some point, and since then they have continued to evolve over time and mean different things to different people as they grow. Each song changes and makes us feel different ways as we change personally and as a band.

6. In what aspects did your music change compared to when you started to make music?

When we started working together as a three-piece, we had a much more folk-oriented set. Since then the sound has become much more expansive as we discover new ways to use our limbs.

7. What has been the best experience so far as a musician?

Our recent European tour was amazing. It was such a privileged way to experience Europe, and people received us really well. We can't wait to return.

8. What can you tell us about your current projects?

Foto: Half Moon Run - Copyright: Half Moon Run
Half Moon Run
© Half Moon Run

Our tour schedule is pretty packed for the next six months or so, but we're writing for the second album as much as we can and thinking about it constantly. We figured out our recording process during the making of the first album, and now we're all very excited to get back into the studio and produce a really stellar follow-up.

9. And what are you aspiring to in the future, what do you want to achieve?

A lengthy and prolific career of honest, high-quality music.

10. With whom would you like to go on tour?

We recently played with Patrick Watson in Toronto and I think it was a great fit. It would be great to play more shows with him.

11. What record would we find in your CD-player right now?

Lucky Shiner by Gold Panda.

12. What do you think, as artists, about platforms like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace?

Foto: Half Moon Run - Copyright: Tim Georgeson
Half Moon Run
© Tim Georgeson

They can be amazing ways to connect with people. A lot of the time social media platforms get diluted with indirect self-promotion tactics and other thoughtless garb, but when it's honest and direct it can be very meaningful and effective.

13. myFanbase is a website that is devoted to American television shows. Do you have a favorite show?

"The Sopranos" is my favourite. It's rare to come across a TV show of such uncompromisingly high quality on all fronts.

Maria Gruber - myFanbase

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