Your crowdfunding campaign was a success! How did you approach marketing and structuring the campaign, and what was your back-up plan? It was! I basically just followed examples of previous projects I found interesting and tried to be as creative as such a thing allows and show how passionate and excited we all are about the project. Naturally the awesome people in our lives (or people we don’t know) and local arts avenues wanted to see it happen and helped spread the word. Which was so overwhelming and wonderful to see. Back up plan - lemonade stall.
How does Part II of The Trilogy Of The Black Monsoon differ from Part 1? It’s the same structure of things - two new songs, an artwork based off the songs, a music video and a launch with a theatrical-based show, but the energy of the two new songs, Cloud Mother and Elephant Bones, is very different to the first part and that is what drives everything; one side from the wild jungle, one side from the sleep-talking clouds. The songs themselves are very layered, featuring violin and flute plus some added voices from local lads Jamie Canny (Koi Child), Tim Gordon (Apache) and Beau Jones (Apollo’s Son). For the theatre element we also have a whole new array of performers joining us on stage. So it’s a unique beast of its own with a little more colour, humour and moonlight meandering.
Tell us about the artists you’re collaborating with on this project. Too many amazing people to mention! For the visual art we’re collaborating with artist Kuba Kujawa, who lives on the other side of the world in Copenhagen. His paintings are immaculate and we feel very lucky to be working with such an incredible artist who has interpreted our music in such a unique way. For the video element our long term collaborator and friend, Luna Laure of Via Luna Pictures, is doing her usual amazing job at creating a video series. My mum, Jen Stevens, is also a massive part in the fabric arts of costume making. Our sound engineer, Andy Lawson of Debaser Studios, has played a huge creative role in bringing all the songs to life. And in the theatre realm we change it up every launch - for part one we worked with budding young actors Ben Gill, Skye Jackson and Shola Lee. This time we’ve got a whole new bag of magic tricks and people to show off.
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Moana has always struck me as multimedia art project rather than a band - the complementary arts and the music are inextricably linked. Do you think you have any fans solely based on your musical output, or is the whole package indivisible in your eyes? I think the overall vibe and ‘package’ is quite indivisible. But having said that, the music always comes first and the other elements naturally flow from it. I think even if you did listen solely to the music it’s still pretty obvious there’s a lot more going on than just sounds.
When do you begin work on the third part? Part three is well underway! We will be launching the whole EP in mid September. Part three is the most important of all the works as its the culmination of all parts into a final, cohesive project in the form of an EP, The Trilogy Of The Black Monsoon. The artworks and videos that have been separate up until now will be a three part series and it’ll be a bigger, crazier launch party than what’s been before.
What else is coming up for you? We have a whole lot of great gigs coming up and of course working towards launching the EP on September 19. After that, tour!
Anything else to add? Rainbow tears and existential fears thriving on a wintery morning.
Originally published in X-Press Magazine
