Moon Safari

[ariich]

By the way, ariich, which song was in your roulette? I'm curious to know which song hooked you. For me it was Methuselah's Children when Veronica sent it in track of the day.

It was Yasgur's Farm, which he sent in the "Happy" round.

[Tobias / Moon Safari]

Heard a rumour down at the nightclub... that there was a Moon Safari thread stirring here, so I thought I'd check it out and maybe answer a question or two if anyone is wondering what's up with the band 

[rogerdil]

How do you guys construct vocal harmonies? I mean, does it take a lot of practice or is it something that comes easy for you?

[Tobias / Moon Safari]

How do you guys construct vocal harmonies? I mean, does it take a lot of practice or is it something that comes easy for you?

Hey rogerdil!

When we first formed Moon Safari, it soon became clear that unlike alot of bands, we had five guys (now six) that could all carry a tune and do it pretty well. But singing 5 part harmony is another story entirely.

So, during our long travels across Sweden to get to the international airport (we live 800 km away from it), we spent the time practicing vocal harmonies led by our master Simon Åkesson. Now we're pretty good and getting better. In a live setting there's always the issue of hearing, and since we don't have our own sound engineer nor in-ear hearing some performances are better than others. But I think every band have a bad note here and there, and seeing as we're not even semi-professional musicians in that sense, I think we pull it off pretty nicely

[Tobias / Moon Safari]

And oh, maybe you wondered how we actually WRITE them? That's Simons gig altogether. He's the master of the harmony as far as I'm concerned, and I'm yet to find someone with a better ear than him.

[rogerdil]

That's great info Tobias.  I was wondering both things, I guess, how they're written, but also how you execute it so well; it's interesting that you're 800km from the international airport.  I guess you travel by bus?

Unless someone else has another question, if I can ask one more question -- what made MS decide to release a double CD so early in your career?  It seems like a ballsy move, but I suppose you had a backlog of material and/or confidence in the tunes to pull it off?  (Almost a comment disguised as a question, sorry about that).

[Tobias / Moon Safari]

That's great info Tobias.  I was wondering both things, I guess, how they're written, but also how you execute it so well; it's interesting that you're 800km from the international airport.  I guess you travel by bus?

Unless someone else has another question, if I can ask one more question -- what made MS decide to release a double CD so early in your career?  It seems like a ballsy move, but I suppose you had a backlog of material and/or confidence in the tunes to pull it off?  (Almost a comment disguised as a question, sorry about that).

The distance (damn you, elongated Sweden!) has been a problem for us since the start.
A gig in, say, Germany would cost us maybe 1000 bucks just to get to the international airport by a rental, and then atleast as much for the flights. If we had lived further south we could've been rich!! 
No, but seriously. Since we've grown in popularity, our 8 hour drives have been replaced with 1 hour flights to the international airport so that's like the best thing with people discovering our music

Regarding the double album: For Johan and Petter, the only two members that have been really into prog actually, making a double disc was kind of a big deal since it was a prog thing to do, or something like that. And since we had confidence in our material and knew we could've released a triple if we wanted to, it seemed like the right thing to do. And hey, it worked!

[rogerdil]

It certainly did.  Good to hear you have a more manageable travel situation.  (Which brings up the obligatory, "are you coming to the East Coast of the U.S. soon?" question too,  ) That's interesting to hear about the differing musical tastes of the band.  Who do you enjoy musically/who have been your influences both as an individual as a band?  Who do you enjoy listening to that are contemporaries of yours, Swedish or otherwise? 

[Tobias / Moon Safari]

It certainly did.  Good to hear you have a more manageable travel situation.  (Which brings up the obligatory, "are you coming to the East Coast of the U.S. soon?" question too,  ) That's interesting to hear about the differing musical tastes of the band.  Who do you enjoy musically/who have been your influences both as an individual as a band?  Who do you enjoy listening to that are contemporaries of yours, Swedish or otherwise?

We're always trying to get to the US. If we could choose, we'd move over there
But during the off years when we've played RoSfest the year before, it's hard to make it work financially. But we're thinking of maybe doing one of those donation kinda things where fans on the east coast or wherever can give what they feel like. That might get us atleast halfway to a couple of US gigs

And where we come from musically is really really diverse. If there's one common ground, it's probably The Beatles. Everyone in the band except me has grown up listening to them. And then our tastes diverge. I've been through a punk phase, a metal phase, a prog phase and so on. Simon is really into vocal groups, of course. Pontus is a metal guitarist at heart.
Me, Johan and Petter also listen to a lot of contemporary music. Alot of both new and old soul. There are alot of young, swedish artists with a nice soul vibe that we've listened to lately.
And I enjoy alot of hiphop as well, mostly because I like the groove. So, we're really diverse but I think that's only positive.

Progwise Mike Portnoy was the guy that opened my eyes to odd-time signatures, but as I grew older I grew tired of his playing style. I would say my favourite prog bands are more NEO. Marillion and IQ, that sort of stuff.

[rogerdil]

Yeah, it must be a pain in the neck to do gigs in the U.S., especially non-festival ones, which is unfortunate for people like me who avoided Rosfest because, quite frankly, there are only two or three bands one is dying to hear in a two-day span.

I can see the Beatles influence.  Also vocal harmonies inevitably draw comparison to the Beach Boys and even the Carpenters, which I assume Simon is into (?).  What Swedish artists are you into specifically? I'm a big fan of Stina Nordenstam (and similar Nordic artists Hanne Hukkelberg and Anja Garbarek) and Mats/Morgan -- and of course there's this forum's predeliction for Opeth, Pain of Salvation and The Flower Kings, among others.  Funny about Portnoy -- people on this forum seem to have mixed feelings for the guy, although more positive than negative, so your sentiment is well-supported here.

It's good to hear that you like neo too, IQ is cool (Satellite and Pendragon being my favorite neos).

Anyway, sorry more MS fans aren't around. There's usually more traffic around here from 9-12 p.m. GMT. 

[Tobias / Moon Safari]

Yeah, it must be a pain in the neck to do gigs in the U.S., especially non-festival ones, which is unfortunate for people like me who avoided Rosfest because, quite frankly, there are only two or three bands one is dying to hear in a two-day span.

I can see the Beatles influence.  Also vocal harmonies inevitably draw comparison to the Beach Boys and even the Carpenters, which I assume Simon is into (?).  What Swedish artists are you into specifically? I'm a big fan of Stina Nordenstam (and similar Nordic artists Hanne Hukkelberg and Anja Garbarek) and Mats/Morgan -- and of course there's this forum's predeliction for Opeth, Pain of Salvation and The Flower Kings, among others.  Funny about Portnoy -- people on this forum seem to have mixed feelings for the guy, although more positive than negative, so your sentiment is well-supported here.

It's good to hear that you like neo too, IQ is cool (Satellite and Pendragon being my favorite neos).

Anyway, sorry more MS fans aren't around. There's usually more traffic around here from 9-12 p.m. GMT.

Hey man, no problem. I'm a bit of a forum lurker so I'm sure I'll drop in sometime when there's a bit more action

Don't think Simon has listened to those bands. He's more straight form the source, what influenced those bands. Vocal groups like The Hi-Lo's, The Four Freshmen, The Pied Pipers. We're talking 40's-50's groups. Plus a bit more modern Take Six.
So that's where our harmonies come from, but I see why people think it's from The Beach Boys since they probably have the same influence

Well, I really like the singer/songwriter Tomas Andersson-Wij. And then we have artists like Veronica Maggio, Oskar Linnros and Håkan Hellström which are the three biggest pop names in the country right now I think. Pain of Salvation are of course old favorites and I saw them live for the first time this summer.

[Jaq]

Oh wow, a chance to say all the gushing fanboy things I've been saying in this thread to a member of the band. 

But yes, if you go back and read this thread, everything I said about Moon Safari isn't in the least exaggerated. Since finding out about the band, MS has risen to very close to the top of my band lists. You guys are easily the band I've played the most in the past few months, and Blomljud does rank with some of the best prog albums of all time on my lists. Interesting to hear about your influences and how those amazing vocal harmonies come to be, too.

Add me to the list of people who would do about anything to get Moon Safari to the east coast of the US. I will see you guys live someday.

[rogerdil]

[Hey man, no problem. I'm a bit of a forum lurker so I'm sure I'll drop in sometime when there's a bit more action

Don't think Simon has listened to those bands. He's more straight form the source, what influenced those bands. Vocal groups like The Hi-Lo's, The Four Freshmen, The Pied Pipers. We're talking 40's-50's groups. Plus a bit more modern Take Six.
So that's where our harmonies come from, but I see why people think it's from The Beach Boys since they probably have the same influence

Well, I really like the singer/songwriter Tomas Andersson-Wij. And then we have artists like Veronica Maggio, Oskar Linnros and Håkan Hellström which are the three biggest pop names in the country right now I think. Pain of Salvation are of course old favorites and I saw them live for the first time this summer.

Yeah, that would be great. I know fans here would love to ask you questions.

Okay, that makes sense about Simon.  For instance, some people say that such and such band (i.e., latter-day Pendragon) mimics Porcupine Tree when in fact they both have common influences from Pink Floyd. 

I checked out Tomas Andersson-Wij briefly, will have to look into him some more.  It's been good talking to you.   

[Tobias / Moon Safari]

Oh wow, a chance to say all the gushing fanboy things I've been saying in this thread to a member of the band. 

But yes, if you go back and read this thread, everything I said about Moon Safari isn't in the least exaggerated. Since finding out about the band, MS has risen to very close to the top of my band lists. You guys are easily the band I've played the most in the past few months, and Blomljud does rank with some of the best prog albums of all time on my lists. Interesting to hear about your influences and how those amazing vocal harmonies come to be, too.

Add me to the list of people who would do about anything to get Moon Safari to the east coast of the US. I will see you guys live someday.

Hey man, thanks alot for your support and for spreading our music. It really means alot to us at this stage of our careers
As I said before, getting to the US is kind of a b***h, what with the VISA requirements and whatnot. But I'm very sure we'll come back atleast a couple of times more. Our good friend Eric Grossarth has a band in NYC and we've talked about doing a tour of the East coast along with them. We'll see if those plans are ever realised.

Right now the guys are preparing to write some tunes for the fourth album. And we're sending out live albums like crazy. Plus, the collaboration with Steve Nardelli and The Syn is coming along great. Those tunes will really appeal to anyone who likes Moon Safari.

[Tobias / Moon Safari]

Yeah, that would be great. I know fans here would love to ask you questions.

Okay, that makes sense about Simon.  For instance, some people say that such and such band (i.e., latter-day Pendragon) mimics Porcupine Tree when in fact they both have common influences from Pink Floyd. 

I checked out Tomas Andersson-Wij briefly, will have to look into him some more.  It's been good talking to you.

No way, PT are influenced by Pink Floyd?! I think I actually listened to a couple of their earlier releases, thinking it was forgotten Floyd material  

There are also a couple of female artists who are really good. The singer Laleh for example. And the band First Aid Kit has started making some noice. Try them out as well!

Good talking to you too. Now I'm gonna prepare dinner here at work, and pretend that I'm actually doing something useful for once

[rogerdil]

No way, PT are influenced by Pink Floyd?! I think I actually listened to a couple of their earlier releases, thinking it was forgotten Floyd material  

There are also a couple of female artists who are really good. The singer Laleh for example. And the band First Aid Kit has started making some noice. Try them out as well!

Good talking to you too. Now I'm gonna prepare dinner here at work, and pretend that I'm actually doing something useful for once

Haha, shhh, lots of sensitive PT fans on this board.    I'll definitely check out those artists, love the female vox.  Know the feeling about work too.  Take it easy.

[wasp2020]

I'm fanboying so hard right now.

And I did start listening to the Hi-Lo's because of Simon's ...I could listen to My Romance and Tenderly forever.

But right now, time for Other Half of the Sky.

[2Timer]

That's great info Tobias.  I was wondering both things, I guess, how they're written, but also how you execute it so well; it's interesting that you're 800km from the international airport.  I guess you travel by bus?

Unless someone else has another question, if I can ask one more question -- what made MS decide to release a double CD so early in your career?  It seems like a ballsy move, but I suppose you had a backlog of material and/or confidence in the tunes to pull it off?  (Almost a comment disguised as a question, sorry about that).

Regarding the double album: For Johan and Petter, the only two members that have been really into prog actually, making a double disc was kind of a big deal since it was a prog thing to do, or something like that. And since we had confidence in our material and knew we could've released a triple if we wanted to, it seemed like the right thing to do. And hey, it worked!

And might I add, if Blomljud hadn't been an double cd, the recurring themes in Constant Bloom, Methuselah's Children, Bluebells, Moonwalk, and Other Half of the Sky couldn't have come to fruition. To me, that's what makes the whole album so magical to listen to.

[2Timer]

I started listening to Moon Safari 2 years ago, and I haven't been able to stop. My first song was Constant Bloom, posted on this very board somewhere. It was like a dizzying kaleidoscope of melody lines that gave my ears an orgasm. Then I listened to Ghost of Flowers Past. Then all of Blomljud.

Moon Safari feels like music that was made personally for me. It gets everything right according to all my tastes and preferences, the porridge that's just right. It reminded me of when I first listened to Queen, or Images and Words...it's just so bright, so melodic, yet so complex. The melodies are strong enough to lift a mountain. They're not afraid at all to go overboard with the most tastiest sweetest melodies and progressions there are, as long as it works. I feel a lot of bands always try and either downplay their melodic aspect, probably so as not to sound too "cheesy", or it won't fit the genre... or maybe they just can't write it. The harmonies are rich and layered and like a big comfy bed. You don't get vocal harmonies like these just anywhere, you really have to dig around. The actual writing and song arrangements and structures are brilliant, how they reuse themes in the right ways at the right times (Other Half of the Sky, so clever), and they are also great at writing odd-time sections that sound totally natural.  They're also talented at their instruments. I'd kill to talk to them, Simon about his piano playing and vocal arranging and singing, and Pontus about his guitar playing (such a great ear for the right solos).

The production is unusually outstanding, crisp enough to hear all the different things going on in total clarity. The singing is my favourite, soaring strong clear tenors, Simon is up there with my favourites now, but Petter is good as well. I mean, a lot of prog singing is great, but it's a nice change from Roine Stolt/Neal Morse/the dozen super-british neoprog vocalists. I love the lyrics as well, introspective, love, fantasy, hope, but reality, escapism, cynicism, and negativity here and there as well. Moon Safari is not some bubblegum pop put to prog. Lover's End of course does this the most.

So yeah, I think you can tell by this glorifying post how much I love them. LE is definitely more "power pop", I guess, much more modern even in it's production, chimier, more high end. It reminds me of christmas at times, winter, or a cold wet night in the city streets. Blomljud is a folksy masterpiece of prog, top 3 for me,  like summer and spring, better than both Doorway (great album) and LE. I can't wait for whatever else they have in store, apparently most of the material for the next one is msostly written. I know they're doing a collaboration album with Syd as well on the side, hope that turns out okay.

2Timer likes this post.
My thoughts exactly, and by that I mean I started listening to them 2 years ago as well. I second everything you said in your post.
And I thought it was just me that was reminded of Christmas in parts of LE, especially in Crossed the Rubicon's instrumental section.

[Tobias / Moon Safari]

And might I add, if Blomljud hadn't been an double cd, the recurring themes in Constant Bloom, Methuselah's Children, Bluebells, Moonwalk, and Other Half of the Sky couldn't have come to fruition. To me, that's what makes the whole album so magical to listen to.

Yes, well. The songs and themes were written with a double album in mind, so that was sort of a must for it to work

[2Timer]

I've written some good songs, butI can't even begin to imagine what must be like to be part of an organization that wrote that legendary of an album.

[ich bin besser]

Hey Tobias, great to see you in here, too!! 

[Tobias / Moon Safari]

Hey Tobias, great to see you in here, too!! 

Hey Jürgen! We've got some exciting news for you guys soon

[ariich]

Welcome to the forum Tobias, really great to have you here!

[Tobias / Moon Safari]

Welcome to the forum Tobias, really great to have you here!

Thanks man, good to be here

Just a heads up. Our good friend Rick has a webradio show and today he's playing a couple of songs from our live album. Here's the link: https://www.rickterscalerockradio.com/thisweek.cfm

[Mladen]

I'll have to check these guys out, what I read seems promising. 

[Tobias / Moon Safari]

Hey Tobias, great to see you in here, too!! 

Hey Jürgen! We've got some exciting news for you guys soon

And here are the news:

Moon Safari is proud to announce a miniature tour in september. On the 20th, we will play at our beloved venue the Spirit of 66 in Verviers, Belgium, where we've had some great gigs in the past.

On the 21st, we're moving on to Helmond and the Lakei in Holland, where Wim and his companions will greet us once again for a great evening.

And on the 22nd we are playing the Progressive Promotion Festival in Rüsselsheim, Germany.

To prepare for this tour, we recommend you to buy our newly released live album "The Gettysburg Address" at your local webshop. See you guys on the road in september!

[2Timer]

There are lots of threads in the DT forums asking which songs you would use to make a DT compilation cd for friends. I wondered what everyone would put on a Moon Safari disc. I'm getting ready to put one together to show my physical therapy trainer. Here's what I think it will be...

Constant Bloom
Methuselah's Children
In the Countryside
Bluebells
The Ghost of Flowers Past
Lady of the Woodlands
A Kid Called Panic
New York City Summergirl
Crossed the Rubicon

I'd like to see everyone's lists, including yours, Tobias! I think it would be interesting to see what you would put together.

[Tobias / Moon Safari]

Ok, here's my list. Maybe I'll have a different perspective since I'm also judging the songs based on how fun they are to play

Going from A doorway to Lover's end:

A sun of your own
Constant bloom
Methuselahs children
Bluebells
Ghost of flowers past
Yasgur's farm
Other half of the sky
Lover's end pt 1
A kid called panic
Southern belle
Heartland
Crossed the rubicon

[ariich]

Moon Safari is proud to announce a miniature tour in september. On the 20th, we will play at our beloved venue the Spirit of 66 in Verviers, Belgium, where we've had some great gigs in the past.

On the 21st, we're moving on to Helmond and the Lakei in Holland, where Wim and his companions will greet us once again for a great evening.

And on the 22nd we are playing the Progressive Promotion Festival in Rüsselsheim, Germany.

To prepare for this tour, we recommend you to buy our newly released live album "The Gettysburg Address" at your local webshop. See you guys on the road in september!

Any chance of you guys playing in London any time in the near future?

[2Timer]

Tobias, I wholeheartedly agree with your list, but...well, you only have 80 minutes to work with 
If I could fit more songs on a cd, A Sun of Your Own, We Spin the World and Other Half of the Sky definitely would have to be on there.

[Jaq]

My problem with the list is I'd want to get Other Half of the Sky on there, and that forces me to leave out a LOT of songs I like. 

So my solution to this is, if you're trying to get someone into Moon Safari-give 'em Blomljud and tell them "trust me." 

But if forced to stick to one CD:

A Sun Of Your Own
Constant Bloom
Methuselah's Children
Bluebells
The Ghost of Flowers Past
Lover's End Pt. 1
A Kid Called Panic
Crossed The Rubicon

[Tobias / Moon Safari]

Tobias, I wholeheartedly agree with your list, but...well, you only have 80 minutes to work with 
If I could fit more songs on a cd, A Sun of Your Own, We Spin the World and Other Half of the Sky definitely would have to be on there.

I made mine a double. Doh

ariich. We're looking into some gigs in the UK right now actually. But right now we have a bit of a problem financing the gigs. More expensive to fly to the UK than to Holland etc.

[darkshade]

I LOOOOOVE Blomljud, and I'd love to own a physical copy of it. Does anyone know a good place to order a hard copy? Amazon and a couple other sites only offer mp3 downloads.

[darkshade]

No one knows?