The Big Moon: “We could only come from London.”

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“We should really have practised this kind of thing by now.”

There’s something effortlessly wonderful about The Big Moon. Whether it’s the fact their music is a delectable blend of Pixies-esque garage pop, that they appeared out of nowhere with a bang or their infectious love for being in a band and all that it entails, they’re pretty fucking special. And we definitely want to be in their gang.

“When you start being in a band it’s very much ‘Ahh cool - people like this. Ahh wow - people are coming along to see us! And then this other cool thing happened, and then this!” It’s a pattern that the Mooners are sure to experience more and more of, after bursting onto the scene early last year with a true ‘Eureka Moment’ and following that with a number of acclaimed releases, it’s the seeds of a blossoming garden that’s been confirmed with latest single ‘Cupid’. They’re definitely not just another guitar band.

Coming together in London after lead singer and lyricist Juliette “Jules” Jackson put up an advert for similarly-minded musicians, it’s resulted in one of the most exciting and instantly relatable bands of recent times, morphing a down-to-earth grittiness that’s both polished and packed full of sweet harmonious hits.

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“We could only come from London - it’s hard for bands if you’re from anywhere else in the UK, which a lot of interesting bands are, as everyone goes through the city and naturally it seems to be the big show everyone talks about, even though maybe it shouldn’t be.” Bassist Celia Archer looks back on their formation as a real moment of fate, and one that saw everyone connect in perfect harmony with the music that influences them.

“When I started playing I could kind of tell what music we all like - but I don’t think we consciously look to sound a certain way. Knowing what she likes, the songs makes sense, but it’s never derivative. We all like totally different music, so there’s a huge range to the venn diagram of our music taste, it all feeds into how it comes out on stage”

It’s perfectly encapsulated in ‘The Road’, their debut and only EP so far, packed full of menacing charm, swagger, sweet pop hooks-a-plenty and a real statement of intent as to who The Big Moon really are. Naturally it has set the internet alive with comparisons galore.

[sc name="pull" text="We could only come from London." ]

“We have a lot of random comparisons which I don’t often agree with,” adds lead guitarist Soph Nathan. “We get compared to a lot of female bands which we don’t really sound like, so we’re never really worried about it as people will say what they’re going to say. If it makes people come and listen to us, then that’s great! I always struggle when people want to ask, and I end up saying ‘Well, come and see what you think!’ Like, do tell me!”

And come they have. Early 2016 saw the band head out on their very first UK Headline tour, a momentous landmark that wasn’t lost on Celia. “It was so scary, like it’s throwing your own party and you’re thinking PLEASE, IS ANYONE GOING TO COME!? but playing places likes Newcastle and Glasgow, where we know absolutely nobody - having genuine strangers turn up and want to see you - it’s mental.”

For Soph, the realisation hit at the very last moment. “I only realised just before that first show as we were about to go on, that all these people were here because they mainly wanted to see us. It’s really nice to go to these different places and see that there’s actually people there who enjoy our music.”

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Not for the first time, The Big Moon have taken on the biggest stages, with huge recent support slots for bands such as The Vaccines and The Maccabees, the latter really striking a chord with the Londoners. “You play with bands like The Maccabees, who’ve been going now for like ten years, and you’re in these incredible venues with people yelling along to songs that have been out for such a period of time, with huge emotional moments. You can’t help but want that.”

In a twist of fate, The Big Moon now find themselves family with the Elephant And Castle heroes, having recently signed to Fiction Records who’ve been “incredibly supportive” with their mission to the stars. “It gives us that support to do the kind of stuff that we haven’t been able to do up to now, there’s so much stuff you have to do aside from turning up to play a gig, it spreads the load about a bit,” notes Soph, while Celia sees the influential label as that reassurance which can take them to the next level.

“It’s good to ask these people what they think of certain things - not because we’re suddenly going to just jump and do what everyone says, but it’s when someone says something and you’ve had that feeling in your gut for ages - and if they’re saying it and they’re someone we respect and admire then it tells us to listen to that feeling in our gut more!”

[sc name="pull" text="Having strangers turn up and want to see you - it’s mental." ]

It’s all building towards their highly anticipated debut album, which they’d ideally like to have out by this time next year. “We want to have it out and touring it - hopefully getting over to America too, really want to go there,” enthuses Celia. To satisfy our taste-buds before then is a string of summer festival appearances and another UK tour in the pipeline for later in the year, including a huge night at London’s Scala.

“If in ten years people still want to come and see us and want to sing along, that would be unbelievable,” notes Celia. “As long as they’re having a good time and we are too.”

“We won’t be having our own individual tour buses,” clarifies Soph.

“That’d be horrible.”

Bad news for tour bus operators is welcome news to us. The Big Moon are on a planet of their own. [sc name="stopper" ]

Taken from the July issue of Dork - order a copy now.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]