Stolen Moon is not a Despicable Me Reference, They’re Really a Psych-Rock Band Here to Shake Things Up
Calgary’s psych-rock trio Stolen Moon have gone through numerous transformations and changes throughout the years. Pushing boundaries on what people think of them as a band has helped reshape and reform what Stolen Moon is now.
Their recent release, Pleasure and Pain is their homage to their transformations as a band and what they want to be known for. From gaining the support of their peers, to the uncertainties of being a three piece band, Stolen Moon have navigated finding their high-energy sound that is here to make their mark on Calgary’s music scene.
Read our interview with the band below to hear more about their inspirations, a few of their favourite venues to play at (including one where a bar fight ensued, Roadhouse style), and a teaser of what you can expect for their Halloween costume next year.
REVERIE: Who is Stolen Moon?
Ashton: Jack is the longest-standing member in the band, even though he said it yesterday he doesn't consider all the things that it took to get the band to where it is now. The band has gone through a lot of members and transformations. He’s basically the founding member. I met him and some other people through Kijiji
Reverie: Kjiji?
Ashton: Yeah, Kjiji. Do you remember when Android phones would pixelate uploaded photos? It was one of the most pixelated pictures on this Kjiji post that said, “Looking for people to play a band, inspirations Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin,” you name them, all of these 70s, 80s classic rock bands. Then, I met them at this place called ‘Baskin Boy’ which is this garage rehearsal space and I was nervous as all hell. I had never auditioned for a band and it was terrifying. They were all really nice guys, but I felt out of my class. But, I was nice enough that they let me stay in the band. I was not that comfortable or talented, even though I’d been drumming for a long time. Then, slowly but surely we worked on some music together. It had taken them almost a year and a half or two years to play any shows. We worked more on songs but nothing was coming to fruition. Then slowly but surely people started to come and go. My wife, Emily had been friends with both Brett and his fiance since high school and she was like, “You need a bassist!” Cause the other one left.
Brett: Also, to put some more background on that, after me and him first met I barely knew how to play bass. We would jam in my parents' garage for the longest time and then he said, “My band’s looking for a bass player, you should come and audition.” And I use the term ‘audition’ very lightly because just like Ashton, I sat there in the room terrified.
Ashton: I saw the same thing in him and I was like, “If I nurture this, it can potentially become something.” So, that’s where we are today! From so many transformations and one record, we made with him…
Brett: Well, he’s not Voldemort! We had a singer and we parted ways. That’s pretty much the long story short.
Ashton: After we pretty much decided that the direction of our band needed to go somewhere else after we made our first record.
Brett: ‘Cause it was pretty heavy & more ‘Black Sabbath” than what our sound is now.
Ashton: So, after that, it was just a click factor. We started jamming a lot more and clicking a lot more and that’s where Stolen Moon is now!
Reverie: So, where did the name come Stolen Moon come from?
Ashton: The name came from a bunch of different names that we were trying to choose from at the time and as Jack always says, he compares it to something unattainable like Led Zeppelin. He loves that name. Something that is impossible but also catches your attention that let’s your brain have the “Hah!” moment.
Brett: We get a lot of comments about Despicable Me.
Ashton: It’s always Despicable Me, like the, “Stealing the moon!”
Reverie: I remember looking at the name and thinking to myself, “Is this a Despicable Me reference?” Because the only thing ingrained in my head about moon stealing is Despicable Me. From someone who didn’t know much about the band, I would’ve 100% assumed that.
Ashton: I think the funny thing is that I didn’t think about it much until someone brought it up to me. I don’t find myself frequenting that movie enough to be like, “That’s where the origin of that comes from!” But then people said it and I was like, “Right, well I guess they do that in the first movie.” Maybe we’ll escape it? I mean I’ve tried pitching dressing up as minions as a funny bit.
Reverie: That should be your Halloween costume!
Ashton: Yeah next Halloween we should do it. Recently we’ve begun wearing space suits!
Brett: But we are fully committing to the bit.
Reverie: I think bands with silly bits or running jokes develop the coolest fan base. Someone always brings up the bit. But with the Despicable Me reference, someone has to dress up as Gru at the show.
Ashton: We choose Jack to be Gru.
Reverie: Someone has to be Vector!
Ashton: You could be Vector. *looks at Brett* and I’m a minion.
Brett: Or, I could be Dr. Nefario.
Ashton: Oh wait, Vector’s the orange guy, right?
Brett: Yup! That’s him.
Reverie: You heard it here first, Stolen Moon loves Despicable Me!
Ashton: Yeah, you can use that for the headline.
Brett: Breaking news!
Ashton: And we are waiting for endorsements. Put us in the movie!
Reverie: How would you describe Stolen Moon’s sound?
Ashton: Innovative! No. *laughs* No, I would describe it as psych-rock at it’s core but in terms of other sub-rock genres and fusions.
Brett: Funk for sure.
Ashton: Funk, Indie, Alternative, even a little bit of folk and blues. Except country.
Brett: Maybe country one day.
Ashton: Maybe… I think for us and I always say it but I don’t think we really try to hold ourselves down and try to cater to stick to one idea. Considering it’s for us. Whatever we decide that we feel is fun, we get to decide what we do. But so far, it’s been other forms of rock. You know, maybe one day it could be samba, or one day it could be country. Latin music or Egyptian music like, we’ll try everything!
Reverie: It’s about seeing what works the best for all of you!
Ashton: Exactly, and Brett is all about funk. So, all of the songs we start to me are bass songs. I remember John Frusciante said this about Flea and I agree with him. I was like, “Every song we start with that starts with a bass feature, that’s driving my brain first. That’s what I’m picking up on first.” I think that’s where a lot of the songs off this record come from Brett, despite him only having two years of bass experience. It all came from his basses.
Reverie: Two years? You’re really good.
Brett: When I first started out, I started practicing two hours a day, every day. I was disciplined enough to do it and I wanted it so bad. Like, so bad.
Ashton: He already dissed his parents but he had a vendetta against the parents who said, “You can’t do this!”
Brett: Okay *laughs* so I think the way I phrased it the last time my parents were like, “Thanks for blaming us.” But my parents were like, “We’re not a musical family, get it in your head.” Like, they are incredibly supportive of the stuff I do now but I think the way they were so dismissive of it in the beginning made me think, “Fuck you guys.” And I don’t know, I think it’s anything for me. When someone tells me I can’t do something, I’ll do it out of spite. Like, watch me do it. And I’ll do it again!
Reverie: What bands or artists have influenced the way you are today? Individually or as a group.
Ashton: As a group, I think we really collect on like The Beatles and Led Zeppelin for sure.
Brett: I think I am the driving force behind all of The Beatles influence.
Ashton: Brett started it for sure but it didn’t pique our brains until we all realized that we all loved these songs together. You know a lot of people enjoy them but for us they are a good inspiration.
Brett: For some background, I am a Beatles nut. Like I also love Vulfpeck. Joe Dart was the reason why I picked up the bass.
Ashton: We had a show recently and I saw Brett put on these Pit Viper glasses and I thought, “Woah, he looks like Joe Dart.” But individually, I love The Strokes, I love garage rock and the alternative stuff from the 2000s and 2010s. Phoenix, Foals, Arctic Monkeys, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bloc Party, all that stuff.
Brett: That’s how he and I bonded. Like Arctic Monkeys, yeah but I used to always say, “Oh The Strokes, they're fucking trash. They suck.” Then I heard Reptilia and now it’s like, “Oh, these guys do this song?” Like The Strokes go hard.
Ashton: A friend of mine’s dad works at a radio station and he said, “I’m never playing The Strokes ever on the station, they’re trash. They are trasher than trash.” Like, everyone has their opinions. I can’t fight you on it but I love them. I love that era of music.
Brett: Some of my inspirations would be Vulfpeck, The Clash especially when they came out of the punk stuff and went into more reggae stuff. Some of those basslines are so good. They capture simple yet effective. Getting both sides from The Clash and Vulfpeck and trying to find the middle between those two. But The Beatles, Paul McCartney. God, if if I saw Paul McCartney I would cry. Like, uncontrollably. I’m a big fan. For Jack, he’s a big Led Zeppelin fan. Jimi Hendrix, Jimi especially. He loves Pink Floyd as well. He says it’s all of the stereotypical guitarists but he’s been able to make it his own.
Reverie: So, ‘Pleasure and Pain’ isn’t your first release?
Ashton: It’s the second, it’s like the soft launch to what we want Stolen Moon to be known for.
Reverie: Well, congratulations on the soft launch. Now, who beat you up on the album cover?
Brett: Me. I did. I beat myself up.
Ashton: Had a blackout moment.
Reverie: I looked at the album cover and I said, “someone literally stole the moon.”
Brett: Man, Gru beat the absolute shit out of us. Gru and Dr. Nefario beat us up. No, but Jack’s girlfriend is incredible at makeup but we kept the makeup on for the rest of the day and in the night we had a show at Verns. Everyone was like, “Guys are you okay?” Like yeah, it’s makeup don’t worry about it. We’re committed though. We still made it on time even though we got beat up.
Reverie: How did you come up with the title ‘Pleasure and Pain?
Ashton: Jack loves concepts. I think the idea of the two words being so contrasting and juxtapose one another yet so related was a good bounce-off for us on the idea that every song that we make can relate to these two ideas and themes. That’s why for the most part it was free game to make anything we wanted. Without any expectation. I think when we wrote ‘Pleasure and Pain’ that was one of our first grand ‘clicks’ with each other that made it feel like we were in something new. We had finally stepped into something new.
Brett: Yeah, that was the first time when I thought, “Okay, this is pretty good. This is good. This is something we gotta chase.” I’ll never forget me and Jack writing it.
Ashton: He sent me the demo in my car and I listened and knew that the song was for me. It was for our souls.
Brett: It was something that came together. A lot of our music like when we writet is just effortless. It’s always like, “Hey guys, I have an idea.” Then put it onto the table and we all go into it and it becomes, “Oh wait, this is a song now.” We’ll record it, polish it up,
Ashton: It’s a click factor so far and it’s staying like that. We enjoy what we do together as friends.
Reverie: What influences the songwriting process? Are there any specific themes you focus on?
Brett: I usually just throw shit at the wall and pray something sticks.
Ashton: Pretty much the same for me. My ideas come from improvisation. I’m just saying things then I pick out words or phrases that I enjoy. Then I begin applying those to make a story of some sorts. While also trying to make it sound catchy? I suppose. That’s how I write a song, but it also takes me a long time to write a song. It’s super helpful with these guys being there because I never come in with a drum beat. I always need some other foundation like bass or melody or guitar.
Brett: In terms of writing lyrics for me, ‘Hold Me Down,” when I was driving home from work it was just a field. Nothing in it except I could see one little train passing through and seeing the smoke. Then I began wondering, “What is the conductor thinking about right now?” Then I realized that would’ve been a cool lyric. I got out my phone while I was driving and typed it down and knew I could get some sort of inspiration from it.
Reverie: How did you want to re-introduce Stolen Moon on this release?
Brett: I think when we parted ways with our old singer, we were really unsure of ourselves.
Ashton: We were so unsure on if we could be a three piece. I didn’t know if I could sing and drum at the same time.
Brett: I think also a lot of our peers who came to watch us and would tell us, “Yeah, it’s good!” But now, they see us this time and now it’s, “You guys found it. You’re in your groove.” Having other people in other bands giving us the confidence booster that we needed. Also, I think redemption was a huge part of it as well.
Ashton: We really wanted to feel acknowledged. We really wanted to be in the spotlight of some sort. Our style is something of worth and we care about that a lot.
REVERIE: So, the entire album is also DIY if I’m not mistaken?
Ashton: DIY recordings with our peer in another punk band who does recordings. He’s done it for his own projects for a long time and only recently did he open up a recording studio in his garage, Dime-Up Records. He helped us out with a really fantastic budget and we aren’t rich in any sorts. This was all money that we saved in the past year or so from playing shows.
Brett: What really sold us with Jesse (Dime-up & Member of Dismania) is cause we originally went there to record ‘ Pleasure and Pain’ and that was it. Then, he said, “let me do this song, and if you guys like it I’ll do your album for you.” Then, when he sent the final cut of ‘Pleasure and Pain,” we were all in awe. With Jesse too, he’s an incredible producer and he’ll tell you straight up if something isn’t working. He won’t sugarcoat it and you need that. You need someone who’s straight up. Makes it all more streamlined.
Ashton: We really wanted to have an unbiased opinion, which is why I was so against us doing it by ourselves because we need someone who can streamline this process for us so it doesn’t take us months to record.
Brett: And Jesse has the ear for fine tuning. When we listen to our older stuff we can all agree that it just sounds like ass.
Ashton: It just felt like a first album and a first try on something fully DIY with our first attempt. Then we realized we need help and we needed to find a way for it to sound good. We’re happy with how Jesse helped us and what he helped us realize.
Reverie: What’s your favorite venue to play in Calgary?
Brett: I am so glad your asking favourite. Because we have maybe two dozen we dont like.
Ashton: My favourite is Congress Coffeehouse. It’s a smaller place. It’s a smaller community place. The guy who runs it is just a fantastic guy. It’s so comfy and intimate.
Reverie: Let’s do top three favourite venues.
Brett: Border Crossing was wild. We almost got into a bar fight at our last show. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the movie roadhouse but that’s exactly what it was like. Biker bar, pool sharks. To sum up that story was that What’s The Plan? Made a song called ‘Fuck The UCP’ which did not go well with the crowd at all. A guy was thowing a beer can, then two handed pushed Jack. But it got separated, nobody got hurt. If we’re doing top three though, for me it would be Border Crossing, Congress and Rec Room. Rec Room was pretty fun.
Ashton: My top three would be Congress, Rec Room and soon to be Dickens. Our album release show is at Dickens!
Reverie: Last question! What advice would you give to aspiring musicians in the local scene who are just starting out?
Brett: From coming where I started, from being what- 22? PIcking up bass and teaching myself and just having people say that I couldn’t do it. Use the spite and use it to your advantage. Nothing’s impossible and if you want something work at it. Have a regiment and just keep working at it because it’s just a matter of how hard you want it. But if you want it, do it.
Ashton: Jumping off from that, for me as I’ve gotten older and especially trial and error every single person. There was a long time where I’d invite people to jam for a day, who cares. We might create something, we might not but who cares. And I said this yesterday on CJSW, you have to trial and error every possible idea you have. Whether it’s good or bad, take your shot. Don’t be afraid to take a risk because something will eventually pay off. Eventually you can feel it when it comes randomly. You’ll feel that it’s working and that you should stick to it. It takes a long time but eventually something will stick.
Brett: Like, who would’ve though that Peephole and Cheetah Queen were songs we made in my parents garage wouldn’t be in fruition. Now, they are both beautiful songs.
Reverie: I know I said last question but I lied. What’s next for Stolen Moon. Tours?
Ashton: God, maybe a small tour? Playing somewhere east would be nice. You know Toronto and we were thinking about going to Vancouver for a show but we don’t know many venues For the most part I think we want to get out more towards playing even in small towns around Alberta or outside of main B.C.
Brett: But what about the EP?
Ashton: Oh! We have an idea for an EP. For a western EP concept album and we wanna get it out for Stampede. We wanna try and make one.
Brett: I gotta get into the country boy groove.
Ashton: Yup, he’s our country boy.
Brett: I’m a city boy, but everyone thinks because of me being blue collar and having the mullet that’s what they first assume but they don’t know that this is a bisexual mullet. It is not a I hate women and gays mullet. Like, there was one time where we were at a show and a friend of a friend saw me on stage and said, “I do not like the look of this guy.” It’s usually because what I wear on stage is western apparel and try to fit the part but I am the complete opposite.
Reverie: Blue collar by day, bass player by night.
Brett: Exactly.
Ashton: And that’s what we have lined up so far! Hopefully a new EP and a new genre. It’s trying something that makes us uncomfortable because we don’t know how to do it makes it all more thrilling.
Brett: Yeah, we’re just gonna continue to challenge ourselves. That’s the way to get stuff done. I don’t know about you but riding the wave of the album release, we got a lot of confidence from that to get shit done.