A Chat with Future Moons (28.05.20)
Hailing from Southern California, Future Moons is a dream pop duo featuring Kota Wade on vocals and Tommy Oleksyn on guitar. The unique mixture of haunting female vocals, swelling melodies and spacey guitars make Future Moons difficult to forget. We sat down and spoke with Kota Wade (KW) about their new EP Seasons and much more!
OSR: A dull question, but how did Future Moons come together?
KW: In 2011, Tommy and I were both in our own respective bands playing shows around LA. We ended up on a couple of bills together, started dating, and then soon after started creating music together forming a new band, Bad Wolf. After almost eight years of Bad Wolf, we decided to go out on our own and become Future Moons and start fresh with a sound that’s just ours.
OSR: What about your band name? How did that come about?
KW: Tommy and I are both really inspired by outer space and made lists of all the cool words we could think of that had to do with things like space, time, mythology, and it proved to be really hard to put something together that we liked. Future Moons ended up having a really nice ring to it, fit our sound and vibe, and was somehow available as a name. We locked it in before we could change our mind!
OSR: What’s your favourite part of being an independent artist?
KW: It’s definitely hard to be independent, but it’s also really rewarding. Getting to be in total control in every aspect is freeing!
OSR: Can you tell us about your most recent release Seasons?
KW: Seasons is a collection of songs and interludes we created based on the four seasons using nature and love as our inspiration!
OSR: Which was more difficult when producing Seasons?
KW: This project actually came together pretty quickly and easily, but we’re such perfectionists that recording always takes the longest!
OSR: What is your creative process?
KW: It usually starts with me having some lyrics or vocals and then I’ll usually lay down piano. I’ll start working on a demo version and then Tommy comes in and adds guitar lines and instrumentation to bring it all together. Then, we keep fine-tuning it through production until it’s just right!
OSR: Which track is your most favourite from the EP and why?
KW: My favourite is probably ‘Golden’. I just connected to it from the very beginning and felt happy every time we worked on it. Tommy’s favourite is ‘Rain’. He wrote both the guitar and piano parts and says it’s his favourite creation.
OSR: What about your least favourite?
KW: I’d have to say ‘Petals’. Only for the fact that it was the most difficult for us to produce! We went through a lot of drafts and it took the longest for us to finish, but it felt good to learn lots of new stuff as we went and we’re super proud of it either way!
OSR: If you could perform with any other musician, who would it be and why?
KW: I think for me it would be Lights. She’s always been one of my favourites and is probably the artist I’ve seen live the most; she never disappoints! Tommy has idolised the live show production of Minus the Bear and would love to join them on stage!
OSR: Do you ever sing in the shower? If yes, what songs?
KW: For me, I more so will write songs in the shower and mumble them enough times to remember them when I get out!
OSR: If you didn’t have a music career what would you be doing?
KW: Definitely something else creative! I currently do photography along with music, so I’d love to keep creating in one way or another! Tommy’s an electrical engineer currently, along with music!
OSR: What can we expect from Future Moons in 2020?
KW: We’re excited to do some live stream shows until the world is safe again! Hopefully, more music videos and a ton of production on upcoming material!
Thanks to Future Moons for chatting with us! You can find more about them on Facebook, Twitter, Spotify and Instagram.
