Suzi Moon has a lot going on for herself. Her first EP, "Call The Shots" sold well and was critically acclaimed. She can count Iggy Pop as one of her fans. Now her upcoming EP, "Animal" has her and her band on the road. Just one listen and you'll be over the moon with Suzi Moon.
Q - Suzi, I found there's not a whole lot of biographical information out there on you. Is that a deliberate action on your part to create an aura of mystery?
A - Well you know, if we learned anything from David Bowie, it's that a little mystery goes a long way. But it's not intentional. I feel there are a lot of interviews, articles and podcasts that I've been a part of. I feel like I'm constantly telling my story.
Q - I don't want you then to keep repeating yourself. Let's see if we can ask some questions you haven't been asked before.
A - Okay. Throw it at me. It's more interesting for me too. But I have no problem giving you the spiel.
Q - The low down.
A - Yeah. (laughs)
Q - Some of the press regard you as a Punk singer. I don't see it what way. You can really sing and your band can really play their instruments. And your songs are melodic and have a rather catchy tune to them. To me, you are a Rock act. What do you think of my analysis.
A - I think you're spot on there. We definitely are a Rock group. Our influences vary. It's not just Punk Rock. It's also a spirit. The Punk Rock spirit is definitely there in a part of what we do, but it's not the only thing we do.
Q - Again, your songs are good.
A - I've been writing songs since I was really little. So that means a lot to me that you pick up on the melodic stuff and taking it out of the box that Punk rockers sometimes get stuck in.
Q - Did you and your group play the L.A. club circuit?
A - Oh, yeah. I'm the only member of the band that's actually from L.A. I grew up there. It's my hometown and I've played every club in L.A. multiple times. Okay, not every club, but it feels like it sometimes. My band mates are all based on the East Coast. I moved out here (New York) in late 2020 to team up with them. So, I guess I got enough of the Viper Room and the Whisky A Go Go and all that stuff. You can only play the same clubs so many times before you're just not challenged anymore. The inspiration had kind of evaporated for me. I'd written my songs about California and palm trees and all that stuff. It was no longer inspiring me in any way.
Q - How long has this group been together?
A - I've been playing music since I was about 16, professionally. The Suzi Moon solo band has been performing as a four piece since about July of 2021. I had released an EP in May of 2021 that was recorded with different musicians, aside from Drew, our guitar player. That record had been done before I found my live band, the EP, "Call The Shots". I've been in other projects before this and I always knew I wanted to go in this direction, but as far as us playing together as a band, it's been less than a year.
Q - You say that Iggy Pop was an influence on you. Growing up, what other acts did you see?
A - I love Iggy. Always and forever, but I didn't get to see Iggy until 2017 for the first time. Some of the earliest bands that I saw live were The Distillers, also the U.S. Bombs, Duane Peters And The U.S. Bombs are another band that I saw live a lot. As soon as I started playing guitar, my sister and her band, they were playing shows. I'm 32 now (2022). So, at the time when I started playing music, my favorite band was Good Charlotte. I didn't get an opportunity to see The Cramps. Those bands weren't young and happening. There was a lot of Pop Punk on the radio, that Warp Tour kind of scene was what I grew up around as a teenager. I liked that stuff mixed in with Elvis Costello and Black Flag. My family is a Beatles family. My record collection is full of The Beatles. That all came from my Mom's record collection. So there was AC/DC playing in the house. There as Nirvana playing in the house. Tom Petty. So, I think all of those various influences made me appreciate a great song. That was what was important to me.
Q - What's the name of your sister's band?
A - My sister is no longer in a band. Part of my history and how I got to where I am today is that I played in a band with my sister for over ten years. Ww were signed to Hellcat Records, which is a subsidiary of Epitaph Records. We toured for ten years. We went to Japan and Europe multiple times. Canada. We played (the) Warp Tour. We played the Palladium in Hollywood with Dropkick Murphys. We released an album in Japan all before I was 22 years old. That band is called Civet. That band is no longer in existence. I was the youngest member of the group, being my sister is the baby sister. She's the one who showed me the ropes and got me into Punk Rock. My sister is five years older than me. When she was 15 she started a band. She would wear vintage prom dresses and rhinestones to high school and drove a '89 T-Bird with suicide doors that was painted pink. Ww were part of this Long Beach, Punk scene. She put the guitar in my hands for the first time and we got signed pretty quickly after that. Things moved very fast for me. I graduated high school early so I could go on my first tour when I was 16. So, that was a long time ago. It's pretty surprising that you weren't able to find more information on me because I think there is a lot ore out there.
Q - Maybe I just didn't look in the right places.
A - How did you spell my name?
Q - Suzi Moon.
A - Okay. Interesting. Well, maybe that's a good thing. (laughs)
Q - Is Pirates Press Records your own label?
A - Oh, no. I'm not that good. Pirates Press Records is actually a label that I dreamt of being on for many years. They've been in the business at least as long as I've been playing music. Before they became a record label and still to this day they're a vinyl pressing plant and that's how they got their start. They actually pressed vinyl themselves. So, you'll see records on different labels that'll have the Pirates Press logo on them because they started out as a vinyl manufacturing company. They have all these amazing color configurations and incredible product and they are well respected in the industry as one of the top vinyl manufactures. I've been a fan of theirs for fifteen years. When they expanded to become a record label due to the great relationships they were building with these great bands, I had a mutual friend who knew somebody at the label and we got in touch and I was asked to go ahead and work with them, which was absolutely a dream come true because they're very much a label that's in the artist's interest. The artists interests are at heart. I've been in situations with other record companies where things weren't quite as forthcoming and open. You might get trapped in a situation that's not the best as an artist. Pirates Press Records, they want you to do well. They're very DIY spirited. They know how much work goes into a release and recording and promotion and publicity and touring. They offer a lot of encouragement for you to do things your way and hopefully make a buck on it if you can.
Q - Are they also involved in distribution?
A - Yes. They've got some incredible bands on their roster.
Q - And here I've been told that record companies are all but dead and you're very satisfied with the job they're doing for you.
A - It's all I cold ask for. It's more than I could ask for really. I've tried very hard to match them in the amount of work and make it easy on them, as easy as possible to supply them with good quality artwork, good quality videos, good quality recording and my network and my contacts try and push the whole thing forward. If Pirates Press Records is doing well and I'm doing well, everybody wins. So, I don't expect them to make things happen for me that I couldn't at least attempt to do for myself, but they offer me something I can't do, which is put my record in a beautiful package and get it to more people. I think as a team we really compliment each other because they're one of the hardest working, honest group of people in the industry I've come across. I want to do right by them and to really make it worth their time and their effort they put in towards me.
Q - And now you're getting ready to hit the road.
A - Yeah. We're basically doing a full U.S. tour that'll be about two months, give or take. I'm excited. I did a lot of touring with Civet when I was younger, but this is going to be the longest tour I've done since that project in my early twenties. So, that was about ten years ago since I've been on tour this long. I just love performing.
Q - It has to be tough going on the road these days with the price of gas. By the time you get through paying for that, I just have to wonder how much money you'll make.
A - Yeah. That's definitely not lost on me. We crunch our numbers and allow a 10% fudge zone for shit like this. We're just taking a small van. We don't have all that extra stuff. We're a pretty small operation in a four piece band. We live very frugally on the road. It's not glamorous. It's not hotel suites. It's cheap Airbnbs and a $40 motel room. I need to pay back the people that have put product in my hand and I need to pay my band mates. As long as we kind of break even or come away with new fans, it's Rock 'n' Roll. I wish it was about the money. (laughs) That would be nice, but it's never been a very financially lucrative endeavor for me. I do it for the art, to get the songs out. That's my gift in life. I have to get these songs out that are given to me from some outside source, out in space or whatever. That's something that I have to do. So, you just go to take the good opportunities when you can. Sometimes you eat a lot of shit, but you've still got to do it.
NOTE:
On August 11, 2022, Vive Le Rock premiered a new SUZI MOON video for the track "Family Memories", which is the second single off her debut album “Dumb & In Luv!" The LP is available on
Pirates Press Records' webstore.
After releasing the title track to the album a few weeks earlier, coupled with a European tour and multiple festival appearances including Rebellion Fest, Xtreme Fest, and more, fans have been clamoring to hear more from Moon's upcoming full-length. The song was inspired by Moon's grandmother who used to protect her little brother from her alcoholic father. The tune morphed into one about her family growing up. "You shouldn’t hold onto painful memories of the past, but you absolutely should hold tight onto those who helped you through it," adds Moon.
Moon's first two EPs "Call The Shots" and "Animal", saw her music appear on Sirius XM, Iggy Pop's BBC Radio program, over 30 terrestrial radio stations, in magazines around the world, and much more, "Dumb & In Luv" is Moon's debut LP that firmly cements her, as Vive Le Rock aptly coined her, "The new queen of Punk Rock."
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