The more “high-fidelity” type you are, the more you are gonna love this interview with great upcoming indiepop/folk project from Athens. Greece, Moonshine Effect.
Futhermore, the more you love music, the more you are gonna play Moonshine Effect’s debut ‘Our Eyes Should Meet’ on the CD player, and soon on the turntable. So, here “they” are!
So Johnny, would you like to introduce Moonshine Effect project to Last Day Deaf readers? How did it all come to life? Any previous experience before Moonshine effect?
Moonshine Effect was formed in 2015, in Athens Greece. The album ‘Our Eyes Should Meet‘ is the result of a collective effort that started in the summer of 2015 and completed in the winter of 2017.
The music and lyrics of all songs were written by Johnny Dell’ Orso except for songs 2 and 3 that were written by Kostas Lamda and Johnny Dell’ Orso.
We have been learning and making music since our childhood. I first joined a band at 17 and since then other bands, a few gigs and some demo releases followed, but this is our first complete and official release.
Your debut album ‘Our Eyes Should Meet‘ is a fine mixture of indie, acoustic, folk and lo-fi. Would you like to tell us if this is a concept album, or its just a selection of great tracks put together for the album?
Our aim was this to be a concept album. We were charmed by the idea of making an album that starts and ends like a story or a fairytale.
Innocence, childish playfulness, nostalgia are the first three words that come to my mind while listening to your debut! I wonder if this laidback “feel” was deliberate in a way? I mean one might wonder, but “aren’t they angry with anything?” Please discuss….
For sure, lots of things make us angry and this is the reason we make music; in order to make ourselves happy, communicate with people and escape from all these situations we don’t like. We agree that the above mentioned emotions you refer to, exist in the album along with many more. All these are reflections of our thoughts, hopes and dreams during the period we were making the album.
Shall we be lucky enough to enjoy you live anywhere around the following months?
This is something which already exists in our minds and it’s quite probable to perform live the following months. In any case we will keep you informed.
Apart from you Johnny, who is the mastermind behind the album, would you like to talk about the collaborations for the final “product”?
The musicians that took part in the recording of the album are:
Pinto de Lima: Bass guitar
Nikos Darilas: Percussion
Theodoros Dremetsikas: Keyboards
Kostas Lamda: Keyboards
Johnny Dell’ Orso: Guitars
Jacqueline Chermille: Vocals
Kostas Lamda is a great friend and a great musician. We co-wrote 2 songs of the album and he also helped with the edit, mix and artwork of the album. His guidance and assistance were inevitable and without his help this album wouldn’t have been made. Nikos Darilas composed some great percussion parts for tracks 4 and 6 and Pinto de Lima composed the bass line for track 4. He also works hard with the promotion of the album. Theodoros Dremetsikas helped with the arrangements and composed the hammond parts for track 7.
All of them are wonderful and cooperated in a lovely way so I want to give them a big hug.
Are The Velvet Underground one of the main influences for the ‘Our Eyes Should Meet‘?
Yeah, we love The Velvet Underground and the album is influenced by them and other 60’s artists like Donovan, Neil Young, Nick Drake and many others.
Other influences come from 80`s and 90`s new wave/ indie pop bands like The Go-Betweens, Yo La Tengo, Mazzy Star, Stereolab, Belle And Sebastian, Marissa Nadler and many others .
Which 3 tracks would you pick out if you had to and why?
I really can’t pick out any song because I love them all too much and each one has its own purpose of existence through its lyrics and melodies. Additionally, they are all a part of a concept album.
You dedicate the album to “the ones that didn’t make it and to all the wandering stars”. Would you like to be more specific about this? Why not to those who have succeeded?
Success has nothing to do with this. The dedication is for those romantic souls who are too fragile to fit and live in this cruel world and so they prefer to look at the stars, dream and live in their own world that nobody can change. And at this point, it is a good opportunity for me to refer to a wonderful song whose lyrics perfectly suits. This is ‘Across The Universe‘ from The Beatles. It says somewhere “nothing’s gonna change my world”. And also there is a David Bowie’s cover, where this great phrase is more emphasized and proves the real strength of its meaning, in my opinion.
Since you’ve been exposed to thousands of releases, working in an Athenian record shop, I would like to ask you if this works in a positive way regarding music creation? Or in any way?
Listening all day to music surely helps creativity. You get the inspiration you need to write music and to express your feelings.
What holds the future for Moonshine Effect?
Right now, we are too busy with the distribution and the promotion of the CD album. In September we will release our album on vinyl and I would like to keep the feeling that both formats will be available at most record shops around Greece. We also try for international distribution.
Last but not least: Which 3 albums, 3 movies & 3 books would you point out as the ones without whom ‘Our Eyes Should Meet‘ would not have come to life?
Albums: Neil Young – ‘Harvest Moon‘, Mazzy Star – ‘She Hangs Brightly‘, Belle And Sebastian – ‘Tigermilk‘
Movies: “The Party” – Blake Edwards, “Betty Blue” – Jean-Jacques Beineix, “Rumble Fish” – F.F. Coppola
Books: “On The Road” – Jack Kerouac, “Replay” – Ken Grimwood, “Le Petit Nicolas A Des Ennuis” – René Goscinny / Jean-Jacques Sempé.
Photo credits: Lisandros Lisandropoulos
Christos Doukakis