A Chat with Allison and Moon (15.03.19)
We all know about the concept of ‘puppy love’, right? Well, Allison and Moon actually recorded a song about it! Taking a moment out of her busy schedule, Allison from the Boston power-pop trio answered some of our questions. Talking about their new single, what languages she’d like to learn, and where the ‘Moon’ comes in, here is our conversation:
OSR: Alright, so I know one of you is Allison, but where does the Moon part come in?
A: *laughs* Actually, we joke on stage that Mike and Courtney are both the moon and everything revolves around me. However, the name is left over from my solo project, and it is a very bad pun, like ‘Sun and Moon’ – Alli-SON and Moon. It’s pretty bad, but it is what it is!
OSR: You recently released your single ‘Puppy Love’, and I’ll admit I’m a fan! What was the inspiration for the song?
A: Gosh, thank you! The song was written after my now-girlfriend asked me if I thought dogs could fall in love. The lyrics are pretty descriptive of exactly what happened, and I was falling in love with her at the time, so I put the idea of Puppy Love together with that tension, and I think they blended pretty well!
OSR: When it comes to writing music are you more lyrics and then melody, or melody and then lyrics?
A: Eek! To be honest, lyrics are the hardest for me, especially when I’m in an okay place with my mental health and relationships. I can usually come up with music and melodies, and then I get stumped on what I’m actually trying to say. That said when I set out to write a song, both parts tend to come out at the same time.
OSR: Allison and Moon have already released two EPs and a single in the past year. Most bands take a while between singles. Didn’t you find recording so many tracks so quickly a task, or are you really that awesome in the recording studio?
A: We’re just awesome! *laughs*
No, really, it was a lot. That said, the first EP was just me in the studio with a studio bassist and drummer, so that was a bit easier, and I only needed to coordinate myself. Actually, so was the acoustic EP. I did that in a day with just a guitar and my voice! I really wanted to push those out pretty quickly because we had had the songs for a while and we’ve been playing them live, so I wanted people to be able to sing along.
When it came time to write altogether, we wanted to put out ‘Puppy Love’ to define who we are as a band, and not just me. We wanted to do that sooner than later! When it comes down to it, I love being in the studio, so it felt nice to be in there a lot.
OSR: Is the final version of ‘Puppy Love’ what you imagined it would be upon conception?
A: It’s better than I could’ve imagined! I had an idea, and the idea was good, but Mike and Courtney really added their flair and made it us. It felt incredible to collaborate. Bringing it into the studio brought it to another level because Chris Curran, our producer, really has an ear for making songs special.
OSR: Now, don’t read anything into this, but I was wondering what you think. Do you think it is possible for bands to have great chemistry in the recording studio but be completely hopeless onstage?
A: What are you saying!? *laughs*
Just kidding. Yeah, I think that is possible. Some minds are better suited for studio work than performing, and that’s just how it is!
OSR: Some articles have classified you as power-pop, others as pop-punk. Where would you place yourself in musical genres, if you were forced to do so?
A: If I was forced to, probably power-pop-punk. Why not mesh them all? I’m not really sure though. I usually just refer to us as an emo band because all I want to do is bring back the sounds I listened to from 2006-2010! Growing up with emo and pop-punk music was amazing. I think we are moving more toward pop-punk now, but I would say the majority of our tunes just blend a bunch of rock genres.
OSR: You’re playing the Boston New Music Showcase on April 5th with Poor Yorick and Miele. Do you think these new music showcases are important for emerging artists, and why?
A: Definitely! I think it’s a cool way to promote local artists and get people out that may not explore too much. There are a lot of cool bands out there that needs spaces to show off!
OSR: If you could put together a gig of local artists, who would you choose for the set list?
A: This is too hard a question. To be honest, all I want to do is be good enough to play with my roommate’s band, Future Teens, because they are out of this world good.
OSR: What is the last experience that made you a stronger person?
A: I don’t know if I can pick one thing. I do my best to grow daily and be the best person I can be.
OSR: If you could learn any language fluently, what would it be?
A: I can speak Spanish enough to get by if I was dropped in a Spanish-speaking country, but I don’t speak it nearly as well as I’d like. I’d love to be fluent there. Second, I’d pick Finnish. Even though it’s not really a global language, I have family there and it would be cool to learn.
OSR: If you had to describe your band mates using only a single word for each person, what would that be?
A: My word for Mike is giggle, and my word for Courtney would be sly.
OSR: What are your plans for the rest of 2019?
A: Hopefully, I’ll get some sleep at some point.
OSR: Thanks so much for chatting with me, and I can’t wait to see you when you hit Europe!
A: Jeez Louise! Thank you! We hope to get there!
For more from Allison and Moon, check out their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also stream their music using Spotify.
