Trigger Warning: Foul language and swearing

Last week I got the opportunity to meet a staple band of the Seattle hard rock scene, Moon Fever. The band – consisting of frontman Triston Bracht, guitarist Mitch Micoley, bassist Dave Orton, and drummer Troy Wageman – was a real treat to interview. I interviewed them before the show supporting Des Rocs at the O2 Academy in Islington, London, and spoke to them individually after the show.

 

Being a smaller band quite far from the UK, I opened up the interview asking them to describe their sound and formation.

 

Bracht: ‘Queens of the Stone Age for sure.’

 

Orton: ‘Yeah, Queens of the Stone Age, there’s a German band Paps we really like a lot…’ 

 

Bracht: ‘…Paps have been killing it…’

 

Orton: ‘…we’ve been listening to Fang lately…

 

Micoley: ‘…HIMALAYAS we’ve also been listening to…’

 

Orton: ‘…HIMALAYAS are tight, love them.’

 

Bracht went on to describe Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors, as a personal inspiration. ‘I’ve always been a huge fan of Morrison, that’s probably one of my pinnacle idols. But as far as live performance goes, we definitely take a little bit from Dillinger – we try to kick you in the teeth in a polite way.’ 

 

Micoley: ‘What was it someone said the other day – they compared us to Queens of the Stone Age and Faith No More, which was a huge compliment.’ 

 

Orton: Who is it people compare you (Bracht) to all the time?’

 

Bracht: Oh, it’s f***ing Adam Gontier (Three Days Grace) which I’ve never personally been a fan of, but I’ll take it: he’s a good looking guy, his voice sounds good enough.’ 

 

When I asked about the band’s formation, Micoley jumped in: ‘Well, when we met, I was in a different band and I went to Seattle on tour and straight up fell in love with the place. I was like ‘I’m going to move here, figure it out.’’ 

 

Bracht: ‘Which is weird because Seattle is just the most depressing, rainy – I mean it’s just like the weather here, you know what I mean…’

 

Micoley: ‘…I love it!’

 

Bracht: ‘…It’s just rainy – I guess you could argue that that makes for the best music too. They say there’s a lot of similarities between the Seattle Scene and the Manchester Movement; we both have depressing weather patterns so it makes for the best music.’

 

there’s a lot of similarities between the Seattle Scene and the Manchester Movement; we both have depressing weather patterns so it makes for the best music

 

Moving on to their live music, I asked the band if this support tour was their first time performing outside the USA, which provoked a round of responses:

 

Bracht: ‘Yes! F***ing love it.’

 

Micoley: ‘Yes it is!’

 

Orton: ‘It’s f***ing rad dude.’

 

Wageman: ‘But I mean like when you’re on tour, the schedule is so tight, you’re just always busy.’

 

Bracht: ‘That’s the other thing, yeah, our schedule is very tight which does suck because people are like ‘Oh you’re going to tour in Europe, you get to see everything’ and it’s like yes and no. We’re not vacationing – like we are working at the end of the day. If we could have Brian, our bus driver – who we f***ing love – stop at every f***ing place I’m sure we would, but we just can’t man; we’ve got to keep the bus rolling. So we’re kind of stuck in that f***er all the time.’ 

 

Wageman: ‘But we have managed to enjoy our downtime when we get it.’

 

Bracht: ‘Yeah, totally! Like we were talking before the recording; we went to a small, quaint little village near Oxford the other day and we had the best time. Because for us – you have to understand – coming from America, the only thing we can relate any of this s*** to is Harry Potter. And let me tell you brother, it felt like I was in Diagon Alley, holy s***. I was looking for the f***ing wand shop I swear to god. But it was the best, the people in the town were so nice to us: we just sat back, had a couple pints, and acted like locals for a day.’

 

I responded that the locals almost assuredly knew they weren’t local, which brought a fresh bout of laughter. 

 

Bracht: ‘Oh I’m sure damn well they knew we weren’t local, I bet you can smell American’s from a mile away!’ 

 

Orton: ‘Something I noticed right off the bat was that if you get a specific pint, the glass matches that beer every time…’

 

Wageman: ‘I love that!’

 

Orton: ‘…But every time! That does not happen in the US. And it’s a full pint, a US pint is like 50/50.’

 

I went on to briefly explain the wonderful intricacies of British drinking culture, and Orton replied: ‘Yeah it’s unbelievable, you can tell people really care about their beer here, and their food too. We were having ale pies, fish and chips, all the classics.’

 

This was definitely the first time I’d heard someone visiting the UK impressed with British cuisine, but we moved on.

 

we’re not vacationing – like we are working at the end of the day

 

Bracht: ‘But yeah, if we’re not here at the venues, this is the time we’d be going out and checking stuff out but you’re taking up our f***ing time!’ 

 

Wageman: ‘Yeah!’

 

Bracht: ‘Nah, we’re just kidding man, we’ve got to give you a hard time.’ 

 

I replied that I was just about to wrap up the interview regardless which incited a bunch of jeers from the other band members:

 

Bracht: ‘Oh now I really feel like a d***!’ 

 

Once we moved past that amusing segment, I closed out the interview by asking them about their upcoming tracks, and if we could expect some longer form content in the form of an EP or album in the near future. 

 

Micoley: ‘Yeah, you can definitely expect a full-length from us, we are definitely going to drop a few singles before that – but we should definitely have an album for you to check out by the end of the year.’

 

Bracht: ‘Or not!’

 

Micoley: ‘Yeah maybe not, who knows!’

 

Bracht: ‘That’s the thing man, you’re never going to know because we want to keep you guessing, keep you wanting more.’

 

Micoley: ‘We’ll keep you guessing because we’re guessing too!’

 

Bracht: ‘Yeah man, but hopefully a full album by the end of the year for sure, and you’re going to see a couple more singles before then. We’re right there man, we’re a couple singles away from having a full length record so hopefully we should have something for you then.’

 

they exceeded all the punch and rawness that I’d expect from a hard rock band and dialled it to 11

 

I did speak to the band briefly after the show ended, mostly congratulating them on their sound and energy in their live performance. I didn’t know what to expect from them live; but they exceeded all the punch and rawness that I’d expect from a hard rock band and dialled it to 11. Beyond being incredibly talented musicians, Moon Fever were some of the nicest, funniest people I’d met; they were entertaining to interview, and it was clear they pride themselves on their authenticity. I wish I had longer to interview them, as there were plenty of other questions I wanted to know, but time was not on our side that day. Nevertheless, I will be eagerly awaiting their full release at the end of this year, and would encourage anyone looking for new music to check out Moon Fever’s existing work. 

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