Thursday night is concert night at the Art Bar as we celebrate the release of the 31st issue of Jasper Magazine. In the next few days we'll be profiling the bands that will be celebrating with us via our regular series by Ony Ratsimbaharison, Ony's Bands, starting with Moon Moths.
The Jasper release party will also give us a time to recognize some important people in the arts community who are getting stuff done these days - our JAY finalists and our 2016 2nd Act film Festival filmmakers.
We're also pretty excited about the stories in this issue including a cover story on Nicole Kallenberg Heere whose work we love for both its exquisite technique and its irreverent subject matter. (Wait til you see the cover of the mag!)
Our centerfold is pretty impressive, too, as we profile one of America's top artist, Joe Byrne, who lives right here in Columbia, SC.
And in our new expanded format of 96 pages we are able to bring you more music reviews, book reviews, and stories about local artists (did you know that Keith Mearns, who is the horticulturist at Historic Columbia used to be a professional ballet dancer?)
We've even got short fiction as Michael Spawn shares his short story, "Stoned Puppies Forever."
We'll be offering you more teasers over the next few days as Ony profiles our guest bands and we get you ready for another fun night at Art Bar - Columbia's longtime home for the wondering artist.
Now, the Moon Moths, by Ony.
Self-proclaimed as “psychedelic orchestral hip-hop,” The Moon Moths is a new-ish band that is heavily involved in Columbia’s newly revitalized scene of young artists. You can find them and their friends playing unconventional shows set up by the Scenario Collective, a local artist collective that aims to enrich our arts and music scene. Overall, they wish to spread a message of love, peace, and self-fulfillment, according to Rupert Hudson, the band’s vocalist.
The Moon Moths features a rotating cast of members but was started by Hudson, AKA Prince Rupert, after he got asked to play at a Battle of the Bands but had no band to play his music with. After missing this opportunity to play, Hudson got together with some other members of Scenario, which he is involved with, and started playing. Hudson lists over ten active members of the band in the following interview, but each performance’s lineup is dependent on who’s available to play.
You can catch their extensive lineup at Jasper’s Fall 2016 release party on September 29, with other performances by Autocorrect, King Vulture, and Tyler Digital (playing a DJ set). Who are all the members of the band?
Prince Rupert - Vocalist
Sixx - Vocalist
Moon Child - Guitar/Vocals
Love Potion #9 - Violin
Poof The Blue Bat - Tap Dancing/Vocals
Fresh Heaven - Guitar/Vocals
King Goof - Bass
The Seduction - Keys
Mister B - Drums
The Visible Choir Boy - Trumpet
Daddy Ice – Ukelele
So is there a set group of people in the band or does it vary sometimes? The band varies sometimes depending on our shows, as since we have so many members it's difficult to have everyone at each show! But we try to have all the members each time.
What is your songwriting process like? Originally, I would write the entire song on the piano and the band would flesh it out, but recently we have been getting together and writing songs as a full band, which creates a more rewarding environment for the whole band.
Who/what are some of your musical influences? All of us have differing tastes that align in certain places but my own influences are specifically Chance The Rapper, Arcade Fire, and Kanye West.
Do you have any other shows or releases coming up? We do! We are playing Scenario's Embryoasis show on October 1st at Tapps and the Subversive Art Festival (SAFE) at Tapps on October 8th. We will be releasing music late this year or early next year.
What are some of your previous releases? Are they available online? We have just released on track, Meep Meep, on our soundcloud. https://soundcloud.com/themoonmoths/meep-meep
What are your goals for the band/its future? We are going to be recording this year and I would love to get that out so that we can book a tour. Playing SXSW next year would be brilliant and a definite goal. --OR