Half Moon Run on Transformation, Opening for Mumford and Sons, and Moving to Australia
We’ve been raving about Half Moon Run for weeks now - and their final single before the album has not disappointed us. “Favourite Boy” is as layered and multi-faceted as all of their latest singles, but also brings a bit of psych-rock into the mix, which feels very fresh.
We were lucky enough to ask the boys some questions about their latest releases, the upcoming album, and what they like about Australia.
Can you give us a little insight as to what your writing process is like?
Often, I will bring in a fragment of a song to the band and let it flower from there. Other times, we start from silence and someone will begin a sound, perhaps an ambient sound or a few chords, and we’ll just bleed in together. Sometimes it takes an afternoon to finish a song. Some songs’ seeds were planted years ago and they’ve still never been harvested.
So in this album, you touch on the idea of a feeling of boredom and listlessness, what are your go-to activities or time-wasters for when this feeling strikes?
Currently, I am trying to embrace discomfort and listlessness rather than attempt to fill my time with meaningless or time-wasting activities. It’s not going well, but I’m trying.
How do you think your sound has progressed and changed since the last album?
We attempted to be more present/up-front sonically without being aggressive. We didn’t shy away from longer, more complicated arrangements.
You’ve recently released a new single “Flesh and Blood” and it was met with such great reception by fans, I’ve seen a lot of fans on the official video commenting that your music helps them through some tough times. How does that make you feel, knowing that your music holds such power?
It makes this pursuit of ours very meaningful. It is deeply special to know that some people use our music in this way as I have myself with other artists.
So you’re about to embark on a world tour, is there a particular song on this album that you’re especially excited about playing live?
We haven’t played it live properly yet, but one tune on the new record, The New Truth, comes to mind. It’s deep and rich – it almost feels therapeutic to play.
What is one of your favourite stand-out tour moments as a band?
When we opened for Mumford & Sons in Europe in 2013, we played for 15-20,000 people a night. Sometimes they did an encore at the end of their set. It was a very intense high for several weeks!
Your sound has transformed with each album that we’ve seen, do you know what direction you’d like to tackle for your next release and is new music on the horizon?
There is definitely some new music already in the works! I want to try recording more informally. I want to capture the emotion of the music first and worry about the sonic fidelity later.
What are some must-have songs in your on-the-road playlist?
There is a piece by John Luther Adams called Become Ocean. I must say, driving through a beautiful landscape listening to that is transcendent. Other than that I’m listening to Jon Hopkins’ Immunity.
You did some extensive touring around Australia in the past... What did you like best about our country? What were you not such a big fan of? Do you have any news about maybe coming back to Australia soon?
I’ve never made so many friends in such a short period! That and the food, coffee, climate... I loved it so much in fact since my first visit I have considered relocating to Australia permanently! However when I am in Australia, I do carry a near-constant hyper-vigilance for poisonous creepy-crawlies, sharks, jellyfish and/or other troublesome creatures. Still worth it. I hope to return as soon as our schedule permits. Maybe a festival run?!
