Chattanooga Pulse

I am never more thrilled than when a band that comes out of Chattanooga sounds good. I am even more thrilled when a band from here continuously rocks our faces off and never loses the momentum with which they started. Moonlight Bride is one of these bands. They hit the circuit a couple of years ago. I remember being impressed by their seemingly ambitious sound. It turns out, it wasn’t that ambitious, but exactly what our scene needed at the time. The obscure mix of Radiohead and Arcade Fire, with a little bit of Dixie Dirt feel sprinkled into the beat batter, makes for a really jaw-dropping and tight band.

All of the members are fairly young, which also gives me hope that these headliners are only just beginning to pack venues. Justin Wilcox, the front man, does more than his fair share, as a good lead should. He expertly plays the keys, which he picked up when he was 17, and the guitar that he picked up when he was 14. The entire band ranges from 24 to 26 in age, which isn’t yet over the hill in rock-n-roll and offers a great deal of promise. The band’s name originated from Wes O’Dell’s short story. They came together and played their first show in October of 2007, so their upcoming CD release this month will be a two-year anniversary of sorts. The new album, entitled Myths, is the best thing they have done so far, according to the lead singer.

Hellcat: What can you tell us about the new album?

Justin Wilcox: This captures our live show better than anything else, plus, it’s our first recording with our guitar player, Justin Grasham. We have had trouble in the past filling that spot.

HC: So who did you use for the record?

JW: As Elyzum, with Stephen Nichols, and also Dave Mackey who helped record and produce the record.

HC: What’s your favorite song on the album?

JW: Wow. That’s a good question. Probably the last song that is instrumental, called “There You Are.” It has musical elements that I like.

HC: That’s interesting, considering it is an instrumental and you do vocals.

JW: (laughs) Yeah, well, I like it musically, and it is one of the newest so I am really happy to play it. I also like “Marlon”, the second-to-last song on the album. It is my favorite to play live right now, and it has vocals.

HC: OK, so what’s the deal with the vocal thing? I mean, you sing…I find that your sometimes high-pitched and haunting vocals draw a listener to the song before the music actually kicks in. So do you just have a hang-up?

JW: (laughs) No. I do sing, true. This is the first time I’ve actually been OK with my vocals. I don’t have any formal training or anything, and I used to cringe every time I heard my voice. It’s a learning process, and I think it was lacking on the EP, but is much better now.

HC: What are your influences? Or the band’s influences collectively?

JW: We are trying to move in the direction of Sonic Youth and early New Order, their post-punk stuff.

HC: Is this your first full-length?

JW: Yes, and three of the songs posted on MySpace are from it. The other is from the first demo we recorded.

HC: What about the EP stuff? Is that now vintage?

JW: Yeah, that’s all underground now.

HC: Ha. Awesome. So it will add to my street cool credit if I have it?

JW: (laughs) I guess it will, yeah.

HC: Good to know, I’ll need one of those. What difficulties have you come across being a band in Chattanooga?

JW: Mainly, just out-of-town shows. We struggle with that, just like most bands here do. If we were a band in a bigger city, we might have been exposed to more, because if you play a few good shows in Atlanta or Nashville you have someone looking at you immediately, as far as an agent or a manager, but we are a smaller town. It is an uphill battle, compared to a larger city.

HC: What do you have coming up?

JW: We have our CD release show at JJ’s Bohemia on October 9. We are then doing an 8 off 8 at the Mercy Lounge in Nashville on October 12.
HC: Who are you bringing to the CD release?

JW: Fire Zuave, which toured with Of Montreal, and then took us on the road for a few dates out of town. They are from Athens. We are having The Middlemen open for us.

HC: With the demise of Coral Castles, your band is going to have to step up as our consistent local indie draw. You realize that, right? It’s going to be a little bit of added responsibility.

JW: I hate that they are over. I really do. I’ve stepped in and played with them on some dates and it just sucks they are done. But yeah, we’re ready for a challenge.