In an absolutely wild combination of doom and progressive, spacey grunge undertone and vast heavy rock Father Moon displays an outstanding array of power and experimental envelope pushing that just feels massive.
The band is ramping up to release a full album that builds and creates not only the atmosphere that surrounds you, but something that is able to wrap itself around you and let you get engulfed in it and all the best ways possible. These are like stories and this album is like the book that tells them. Like chapters the songs unfold and create these different textures for you to float along with and get caught up in. Complete with scattered noise and touches of drone the record boasts quite a space Rock undertone that gives this whole project sort of an epic feel honestly. You get good heaviness from it but you also get to think. You get to become part of what this record is and it's almost future post-apocalyptic soiree really becomes addictive. The album sets itself apart by bringing out the unique approach that the band offers while sticking to their concept period and this certainly is a concept record or album if you will period it has that feel and that intensity and confluence. Now, I'm sure plenty would label this as kind of a doom Rock record which it absolutely has that element pounding through however, there's so much more to it that you can't just simply say that.
The riffs do you have that classic almost Sabbath tonality and feel to them which of course is where doom-rock pretty much originates from in general period but there's this other Giant vastness of just empowering and flowing kind of musicianship and songwriting involved here that it takes a lot more than cool riffs to be able to make come to fruition.
The upcoming album release is simply called FM and when you listen to it you'll get a better understanding of why. And with the release of this almost opus of an album, we wanted to have a sit-down with Father Moon to find out where on Earth (or otherwise) this may have come from. Here's what happened.
Buzz Slayers: let's start with the FM album!n This record was massive and vast with progressive and heavy feels! Great style! What made this album happen?
Well the short answer is, the pandemic made it happen. But in reality we were planning on making a full length album eventually, after we finished our second EP. But then when the pandemic happened we had no shows and not much else to do, so it was the perfect time to pull the trigger on a full length. So we ended up working on the full length and some of our second EP at the same time.
Buzz Slayers: Is this a concept album? It kind of feels like one but we could be wrong!
It’s not technically a concept album, more like a themed album similar to “Songs for the Deaf” by Queens of the Stone Age. We were already planning to call the album FM (Father Moon aka FM… get it?), so our bassist Smash Thompson came up with the idea of using number stations as samples on the album to give it the feel of an FM transmission. Number stations are these weird creepy radio broadcasts that intelligence agencies use to relay secret messages.
Smash looked into using actual number stations on the album but unfortunately the rights to them are owned by the Conet project so we would have to pay to use them. So instead what did we do? We made our own! Yes, all of the number station soundalikes you hear on the album were created in the studio by Smash and Olek and voiced by some friends and family members that spoke other languages. They also might contain secret codes if anyone can figure out how to decipher them….who knows ;)
Look up the Conet project if you want to hear some real number stations. We recommend the Swedish Rhapsody, it's a good one to start with and the inspiration for our track “Rotary Matrix”.
Buzz Slayers: How do you guys record your stuff? Do you have a studio built yourselves?
Our guitarist Olek has built a small home studio in his basement suite in order to record all the music for Father Moon. He has recorded all of our music, and you can see the progression in his skills as each release comes out. This record, since it was a covid record, was recorded in parts, built on guitar scratches, with drums laid down after, and then new takes and other parts recorded again overtop of the drums. The freedom of having your own studio can be both a blessing and a curse, but opens up the possibility for experimentation and using the studio as an instrument.
Buzz Slayers: How long did it take you to make this whole album?
The record took about 2 years to make on and off, with all the parts recorded and done by the end of March 2021. The rest of the time was used for mixing and experimentation, with a lot of work using automation to make certain sections pop, or finding the right balance. Records can be completed in a week and but some, especially sonically ambitious albums like FM, can take a long time to come into focus. The time shows, and each song feels packed with ideas, so finding space for all of our musical opinions, ideas, and tangents was paramount for the record to work as a whole.
Buzz Slayers: Are you fully happy with the outcome?
Olek always says a record is never done, you just accept defeat. I think that applies to all of us. We are all deeply proud of the record as a work of art, and as a perfect snapshot in time for the band. There are always tweaks and changes, new mixes that could have been done, but letting go and having the album see the light of day means more than having the “perfect” record. FM is perfect in its own way, and I know we are all happy with the outcome. We fell out of love with the record for a while, but when the masters came back we felt so proud of what we had accomplished and I think that speaks volumes.
Buzz Slayers: Do you guys feel like this was a big accomplishment for you?
We do. It's our debut Full length and we poured our heart and soul into it. Because we had no deadline and we weren’t spending money on studio time it meant we could be absolute perfectionists. Now, we’re not saying the album is perfect but it is well crafted. All the songs have a lot more layers and backing vocals then they would have had if we didn’t sit with the recordings for a bit and imagine those extra elements. Most of these songs were crafted in the studio as well, very few of them were ever performed live. So all of this music will be brand new to our fans and it to us will always encapsulate that time in our lives.
Buzz Slayers: Will there be any music videos from this record?
Yes! The lead single “Iron God” has a music video. It was created and shot by our bassist Smash Thompson who was going to SAIT for Television Production at the time…2021 to be exact. This music video was technically his thesis project and we are all super happy with how it turned out. It features 4 different screens or panels if you will, playing at the same time. Each panel is shot from the same angle of the same room but features a different band member and a different theme. So you could essentially watch the music video 4 different times and watch a different panel every time. There is also some cool backwards stuff in it which was hard to do but looks really cool!
Buzz Slayers: Are you guys doing any sort of touring next?
No, unfortunately our lead singer William Grant decided to leave the project back in 2021 leaving us unable to perform this material. That is why this album was left in limbo for a while as the remaining members of Father Moon had to decide what to do with it. Now in 2023 the remaining members have forged a new sound for the band and even went back in the studio to create another full length album. Knowing that we could follow up FM with another album made us comfortable enough to go ahead and release this album. The new and improved Father Moon is set to perform at the Electric Highway festival in March of 2023 and we will be performing our new material.
Buzz Slayers: What kind of actual inspirations did you feed from when creating the FM album?
The inspirations came from all over musically and lyrically. You can hear influences from Queens of the stone age “Songs for the Deaf” in how we have put the album together, and continue to draw deep musical influences from Black Sabbath and Candlemass. The Dark Souls video games brought lyrical themes to the record, and you can hear influences like Hall of the mountain king by Savatage in or single Iron God. We leaned into the aesthetics of Number stations for our passing tracks and the album begins with Confession that draws on drone metal in the likes of Sun O))). Killing Joke’s song “Exorcism” undoubtedly had a role in how we wrote Empire and the pandemic weaned its way into our consciousness throughout the album, from references to televangelism to pop culture figures like Cardi B. Kamasi Washington's “Street Fighter Mas” can be heard on the Bassline on our track Judgment, and Shoegaze pioneers My Bloody Valentine influenced the pivotal textures for much of the guitar work in songs like Judgment, Empire, and The Passenger.
Buzz Slayers: What would you like to express to your fans before we head out?
We have tons of material still to release! So look out! We have another full length album ready to drop that represents our new sound and we can’t wait for that to come out too! Obviously, enjoy FM and give it a careful listen, there's lots hidden in there if you pay attention. But don’t think we can’t top it!
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