Interview: The Rebellion Tapes – Suzi Moon

Some people have music in their blood. It’s an itch they can only truly scratch on stage. You see them progress as they learn their craft and then with a few, and it is just a few, you see them become everything they wanted to be and everything you hoped they would be. Music is personal so no matter how many fans a musician gains some never really do get to do exactly what their heart desires. Suzi Moon rocked in Civet, rolled in Turbulent Hearts and now under her own name has put all the pieces together to become something really special – herself. A new and exciting chapter is being written so naturally Gary Trueman had to have a chat with Suzi about her recent tour, playing Rebellion Festival and what to expect from her new album due out in September.

We’re talking just after you’ve just finished your final set of your tour, here at Rebellion Festival. Where did you start out and how was the tour?

“It feels like it was so long ago. We started the tour in Munich at a club called Bürgerhaus Glockenbachwerkstatt, which I’ve played before. It’s nice to go back to places that you’ve performed at before. They made me feel very comfortable there. We actually only did a total of 12 shows. We were on the road way longer than we needed to be. But because of Covid and bands dropping off change is happening with a lot of the clubs. Some clubs are not confident about booking a band like mine that’s only been around for a year. This was really laying the foundation for next summer when we’re going to come back and do closer to two months, and just hit every place we can. It does feel good to end at Rebellion because it’s like a family reunion.”

You must have had a lot of anticipation before the tour started. How did that pan out at the finish? Was there a big sigh of relief to have got it under your belt and over, or sadness that it’s done?

“Every time you finish a tour it’s a relief. Like shit! We did it again. And there’s so much preparation that goes into a tour beforehand. Once you start playing shows it goes pretty smoothly. But booking flights, the itinerary stuff and the lodging, sorting all of that stuff out ahead of time, that’s when I get the most stressed. My mum will text me and ask if I’m having fun. I have fun for 45 minutes on stage. Everything else is a bit stressful because you’re with a big group and you don’t have a lot of personal space. We’re all like caged tigers.”

So being on stage is a release from all the pressures of everything you do to be on that stage?

“Absolutely.  That’s it. It’s a lot of work to play a tour. You need to make sure merch is sorted. Tour posters, and also I’m a social media manager for the band and a liaison between the tour booking agency and my record label. And then leading my band as well. It’s my job to be their fearless leader. It’s my job to stay cool when things get a little bit hairy. It’s a lot of pressure. All of that goes away the second I go on stage. That’s where I belong.”

You mentioned your new band. Would you like to introduce them to our readers?

“I’m the luckiest girl in the world to be playing with these amazing guys. Drew Champion is our lead guitar player. Patti Bo is our bass player. Right now we’re playing with a guy called Neil Ganesha on drums. He actually all the songs for this band a week before the tour started. He’s a fill in drummer essentially because our drummer back in the US took some time off from music. We were all prepared for that and supportive of him doing that. But then the guy who was going to come on this European tour with us bailed a week before the tour. I started calling people and asking around for anyone who might be willing to drop everything and go on tour with a band they’ve never played with before. Neil responded, and I checked out his drumming and knew this guy would totally work with us. As soon as I saw his drumming I was like this guy rocks. We all clicked right away, which does not always happen. We bonded as friends really quickly. Maybe the universe had this planned out the whole time and that the other guy was never meant to be on tour with us and Neil was, and now he’s a part of the family. Our US drummer will actually be out of commission for another few months so it looks like Neil will be with us for a little while.”

Staying with the tour. You’ve just wrapped up things with Rebellion and also played Tache club in Blackpool the night before.

“It was an honour to play Tache because that’s where all the best pre and post Rebellion parties happen. In 2019 I saw an amazing Japanese band there called Vibrate Two Fingers play at Tache and they blew me away. That room just has so much energy. So I felt very lucky to kinda brush off the nerves of Rebellion over at Tache. We had a great response and we had a ton of people there having a good time. It was an intense show.  Some shows are just like that. I think punk rock deserves a great show and it’s our job to deliver a full package. Something visually appealing but the music is so important as well, so we have to play really tight. We have to sound good. You have to read the room too. We played at 10.50 pm in Tache after lots of people had been drinking all day and are feeling rowdy. And at 2.45pm when the sun is out on the Pavilion stage when people are just grooving. I don’t expect those guys to be flying off the walls that early in the day. If they’re just there and enjoying the music and enjoying the show, then I’m still thankful that they chose our set to watch. I had a good time despite some technical difficulties.”

Technical difficulty number one was dealt with by smashing it. That poor guitar. Had it about had it by the time it met it’s end?

“That guitar was such a piece of shit! That was a back up guitar that my buddy Tommy from Minatore had help me find about four years ago for a Turbulent Hearts tour. We just wanted a shit guitar as a back up. We didn’t want to put any money into it. Tommy painted it and made it look cool. I toured with that guitar but it was never a good guitar. Today it was the end of the tour and I’m pretty rough with my instruments in general. My boyfriend shakes his head because of how I treat my guitars but they’re like cars, they’re meant to be driven. You’re gonna get a ding here and there. To me they’re not these pristine items that need to be babied. With that second guitar, Tommy had only just rewired it and brought it back from the dead from the last time I destroyed it. He wasn’t sure it was going to play very well. I just thought it seemed like as good a time as any to put the guitar out to pasture. It’s done its job and lived its life, and what better place to share that and express it than on the Pavilion stage? I haven’t seen a lot of girls smash guitars. It felt good.”

It went in one go too, and split longways.

“It did. Y’know it was a little intimidating to do it because I’ve never done it before. I don’t want to seem disrespectful to instruments or people who can’t afford instruments because I can see how people might look at that. Trust me though, that guitar, it wanted to die. It had no life in it. I think we did it a service by putting it out of its misery. It will never harm an audience ever again.”

We need to talk about the new LP ‘Dum & In Luv’ too. Tell us about that.

“I’m very lucky to be on Pirates Press Records who have very supportive of all my wild ideas.  The time was right to do an LP. It was definitely part of my plans to release two EPs first because I am a new artist as Suzi Moon. I just wanted to ease people into it. People are still discovering me so I wasn’t going to do an LP right off the bat. That’s a lot to swallow but just trickling out videos, music and touring, letting the name get around, that way when the LP comes out in September people will be more prepared for it. I said to the guys, this is the record I have been working on my entire life ever since I was a 13 year old kid. I always knew I would do a solo project but I had to get there naturally and organically. It’s the best feeling in the world to release a full length album with my name on it, with the songs I wrote.”

There’s a distinctive difference in sound between Turbulent Hearts and Suzi Moon. Suzi Moon is more melodic and more rock and roll. Is that something you’d agree with?

“I do agree with that. I think that comes with also having an additional guitar player. Drew Champion does the lead guitar bits. I go to the Joe Strummer school of guitar playing which is like keep it fucking simple. I need a guitar for structure. Drew though is a guitar guy. He sits there and practices and he plays and he’s so good at bringing that stuff to life. It takes a lot of weight off of my shoulders so I can focus on the song structure, and the melodies and all the other little bits. In Turbulent Hearts I didn’t have much room to go anywhere because it was just the three of us. With a four piece you’ve got an extra room you can go into. He has all these amazing texture parts and texture leads and stuff my brain doesn’t really think up. Just having that has changed the sound up. And I guess I’m in a new place where I don’t give a fuck whether anyone likes it or not. In Turbulent Hearts I felt I kinda had to fit into this punk rock box. But what I’ve discovered following my gut with Suzi Moon is that all that classic punk rock stuff from 77 and such, all those bands grew up on 50s and 60s pop. There’s this thread that goes through it, and it’s just timeless melodies and catchy classic choruses. It just works. It’s not overly complicated. I’m just trying to tell a story in an easy to understand way. And every song is different. On this new record I’ve got a ballad on there that I’ve been playing live, and I’ve seen people tear up. But they’re punk rockers. Punk rock doesn’t mean you can’t have a song with heart and soul in it.”

So where do you go from here? You did mention you’re going to come back.

“So when we get back from this tour the record will come out on September 23rd which I’m really excited about. Then we’re doing a full US tour with The Dead Boys and The Briefs. We’re taking the winter off to write and do pre-production on the next batch of songs, because I just don’t know how to slow down. Then there’s something in the works for February 2023 which would be a UK specific thing, with a legendary band. But I can’t say any more for now. God forbid I jinx it! After that we’re doing another full US tour with Agent Orange in April/May 2023. We’re already planning Europe and UK for summer of next year.”

You were in Civet and the Turbulent Hearts before going out under your own name. So if Civet era Suzi listened to Suzi Moon now which song would she like the most out of your current crop of new songs? Which song would be most relevant to you a few years ago?

“Well back in Civet I was Suzi Homewrecker and I was very young. I say this often, 16 year old me would be very proud of 33 year old me. I didn’t actually know that all of this could happen but it’s what I always wanted. I really trust the process of life. Being a career musician is a long distance race, it’s not a sprint. I’m glad I’ve taken all of these steps and I’ve gained so much experience and been lucky to meet people all around the world. It’s just grown and grown and my heart is full of gratitude for every moment. I think teenage Suzi or Suzi of the Civet era, she would love a song called California that’s coming up on the LP. It’s my love letter to the state I grew up in. It’s very much classic me. There’s a line in the song that’s a kind of homage to a pop punk band I listened to as a teenager so it’s a full circle thing for me. Being that kid growing up in LA, to where I am now. I’m kind of a citizen of the world, all over the place all of the time. I’ll always go back to California. That’s my home.”

Suzi Moon – Facebook

Interview and photos by Gary Trueman