This New York City trio’s heavy pop-rock is textured and vibrant, a new take on an old sound. Pop hooks sit side by side with awe-inspiring guitar solos as Moonfall merge the best of both worlds into their own catchy and dynamic creation. Layers of instrumentals interlock to form an intricate mesh of sound which draws listeners relentlessly in. From there, earnest vocals and creative lyrics refuse to let go, and it becomes clear that Moonfall have a passion, sincerity, and talent that renders their music absolutely captivating.
Favorites: “Devon,” “Elsewhere In The Distance,” “Floodgates”
Similar to: Picturesque, Tigress, New Volume
Interview:
Who are the members of the band and what instruments do they play?
Matthew Howl – Vocals and guitar
Mei Moor – Bass
Andrew Chow – Drums.
How did you guys meet?
Mei: Me and Matt have known each other for a long time and have always had similar ideas about music. We found Andrew online, he responded to an ad we posted and we hit it off right away.
Andrew: We all live together now.
Matthew: Living is important.
Mei: Death rules us all.
Andrew: Ain’t no death gonna rule me.
Matthew: You should have the same respect for death that you have for life.
Is your lyric-writing process collaborative, or is there one main writer?
Mei: Me and Matt both write lyrics, but we do it separately. Though Matt is the main lyricist and writes most of our songs.
Your album covers, lyrics, and song titles are very imaginative and a bit otherworldly. What image do you want the band to give off?
Matthew: We take a lot of inspiration from nature and places we’ve been, trying to capture those atmospheres into the stories we write about. They can be very specific but also very vague. Sometimes it can seem a little otherworldly, but really we just write about what we see in the world. It often happens that when you insert yourself into someone else’s story you find out a lot about yourself. It’s easy to think of music as an escape, but it’s also a really good way to discover things about you and your surroundings and gain a different perspective. I think our image is something very broad, as we can be pretty versatile. Some songs can be really fun and others melancholic, we like exploring all the parts of the spectrum. As long as music makes you feel something, whatever that may be, for us that means it’s served its purpose.
On the topic of song titles, “Apophis,” from your first EP, is a figure from Egyptian mythology. What’s the idea behind this song?
Andrew: Honestly, I really like Yugioh. When I was a kid one of my favorite cards was “Embodiment of Apophis” and I always thought it was a cool name.
The song uses a harmonic minor scale, which sounds very Egyptian to me and it reminded me of that.
Matthew: We looked into it and read about Apophis, we really liked the image of Chaos that he brought to mind and tried to emulate that feeling in the composition of the song. It sort of feels like a natural disaster, or the tensely quiet moment before something really big hits, and everything slows down to a stop before chaos ensues.
Your music is a mix of pop and rock; are you influenced by mostly pop-rock bands, or do you take separate ideas from pop bands and rock bands?
Mei: We take inspiration from everywhere, not necessarily just pop and rock. Every genre can be inspiring. We listen to everything from the lightest music to the heaviest. Movie scores, EDM, and even jazz.
Matthew: If something is good we’ll listen to it, I don’t think boundaries are good for music in most cases. It’s more about the individual musicians than the genre.
Where did the band name Moonfall come from?
Matthew: We were brainstorming band names and had a hard time finding something we all liked. We wanted something that had to do with nature and had the right atmosphere to it. Ultimately, Mei suggested “Moonfall”. When I was a kid I wrote a story about the moon falling, and when she came up with the name I immediately knew it was the right one. We thought it was very impactful and agreed unanimously.
If your music was the soundtrack to a TV show, what do you think it would be?
Mei: An Anime!
Andrew: I don’t really watch TV.
Matthew: It hasn’t been filmed yet.
What would your dream tour lineup be?
Andrew: We’d love to tour with the GazettE, we all love them. Anything with Muse, One Ok Rock, Twenty One Pilots and Fall Out Boy would be amazing as well.
Matthew: I’d like to tour with Coldplay.
What’s your favorite guilty pleasure song?
Matthew: What is that?
Mei and Andrew: No shame.
What are your plans for the near future?
Matthew: We have new music coming very soon, and we’re also heading out on tour with Echo Black in October. Things are going to get really interesting, so make sure to keep your eyes open.
The Offbeat 