Premiere: MoonShroom Take a Trip on ‘Waves of Love’
MoonShroom. // photo credit Marla Keown
The first single off of psychedelic Americana outfit MoonShroom’s debut full-length, Take a Trip, is entitled “Party on the Moon,” and it immediately sets the tone for what you can expect from the band, in that it’s lively, vibrant, and–thanks to recording live in the studio–feels like you’re right there with MoonShroom as they groove.
Anchored by partners Jake Keegan (vox/dobro) and Lily B Moonflower (vox/acoustic guitar), alongside Zach Bozeman (upright bass) and Colby Allen Walter (mandolin/electric guitar/vox), MoonShroom knows how to take bluegrass, folk, country, psych rock, and more than a little funk and turn it into a party.
Ahead of the band’s album release party this Friday, June 27, at the Granada as part of the Kaw River Roots Festival, we hopped on the phone with Jake Keegan to discuss Take a Trip and their final single before the album drops this Friday. Entitled “Waves of Love,” it’s a sweetly twangy love song we’re excited to premiere it below.
The Pitch: You really took your time getting to a full length, but it seems as though you really created Take a Trip with the intention of making sure every song was the best version it could be.
Jake Keegan: With this album, the intention behind it was like, “We want to take our time and not rush it for once,” because, up until this point, I’ve recorded a couple albums that are definitely more in DIY home studios and the name of the game was always, “Let’s record this thing as quickly and cheaply as we can.” That was always the way my projects have gone just due to money constraints, and with this one we were like, “Let’s do it right.”
We recorded with Joel Nanos at Element Recording, which is by far the most legit studio I think any of us have ever really recorded in. It was one of those things where, like you said, the intention and the name of the game was, “These songs are gonna live forever on this album.” We’ve all lived through the classic trope of the musicians who put all this time and effort into recording an album, only to not be satisfied with the final product, and then, you’re haunted by it every single time you hear it.
That’s not really what we wanna do with these songs, you know? We learned the lesson when we tried doing the rushed, cheap, fast route. Let’s try just really stretching out in the studio and taking our time. We initially booked a five day session, and that’s five consecutive days of eight hours. Then we came back like, “Oh shit, we still need more time,” so we added on another day and then we’re like, “We still need a little bit more time to get this tracking done.” It ended up being eight days in the studio.
Your first single is the last song on the album and it’s the big rocker. The one that we’re premiering, “Waves of Love,” comes like at the halfway point of the album, and it feels like the entirety of this record starts out quiet and introspective and then, over the course of all these songs, it builds, feeling like a live set, where you’re building the mood as you go along. How does “Waves of Love” fit into that mood you’re trying to create?
I would say “Waves of Love” is like a breath, you know? It’s a chance for everyone to catch their breath, ’cause we do have fast songs, we have party songs. We intentionally set the track listing to be a subtle build. I feel like, whether it’s a live show or it’s recording, a big part of this band was me and Lily combining both of our songs, ’cause before we started MoonShroom, we had separate bands and we’d play in each other’s bands, but we wouldn’t both be singing.
It’d be like, “This is your time to shine, this is your show, I’ll back you up,” and vice versa. With this project it was like, “Let’s both do our thing and have it more balanced,” which our fans all seem to really like. I feel like a lot of people know me as a bluegrass guy. A lot of people know Lily as a country singer-songwriter from our past projects. A big part of this and what I’m so happy about with MoonShroom is–it’s got a little bit more wiggle room than that. People can’t exactly pin it down. They’re like, “I thought you were a bluegrass band from what I saw online,” or, “I assumed this would be totally different than it is,” because we like the freedom to hop around genre.
MoonShroom. // photo credit Ty Helbach
Coming from a perspective where my band used to be this rough and tumble, shoot from the hip bluegrass band that’s all like, “How much can you keep people’s feet stomping with this?” I was like, “Man, I have these different types of songs flowing through me.” Lily has these different types of songs flowing through her. Our bandmates, Colby and Zach, have various influences that they incorporate into the songs to uplift them and enhance them in their specific ways, as well as other people who were featured on the recording.
We wanted like the freedom to be like, “We’re just gonna make good music and good songs. When someone thinks this is gonna be a country Americana bluegrass record, let’s hit ’em with something that’s bluesy and soulful and has elements of surf rock. We’ve been hitting them with some fast songs. Let’s give ’em like a nice slow, love song.” I think with this album, even though we were just doing what we thought was cool, by the time we listened to it at the end, we’re like, “Huh. This actually casts a wide net, and there’s a little bit of something in there for everybody.”
A major point of “Waves of Love” was that we wanted to hit [the audience] with a love song, as well. Before we hit everyone with the high energy, let’s hit ’em with a love song and tie them into our world. A funny thing about this album release tour and recording the album that was such a big deal is that Lily and I got married three weeks ago.
We’ve been playing together for six and a half, going on seven years, although we’ve only been doing Moon Stream for going on three years, but like, we just got married. In lieu of a honeymoon, we’re doing so much this year and pouring all of our resources–and then some–into this album.
The idea behind that is we’re like, “Hey, we just got married. Let’s make a music video that is a ridiculous recreation of it and put some love out there for the summertime,” because we really are so appreciative.
You’re celebrating the release of this album at Kaw River Roots. You all have played it quite a few times. What’s so special about that festival, beyond the fact that it is your hometown fest?
I’ve always really appreciated Kaw River Roots, ’cause I’ve played all sorts of festivals. I’ve played about every festival that I could in Kansas City. I’ve done Bluegrass in the Bottoms every year that Mammoth was putting on and that was great. I think we did Boulevardia with Lily’s band and I’ve done that with Grass Fed, and that’s great. I’ve done the KC Folk Festival, the first year they did it at Folk Alliance.
We’ve done more festivals than I can count regionally and nationally throughout all the projects, and it’s palpable when you’re playing an event and it’s being put on by people that are genuinely fans of the music, and I feel like Kaw River Roots is like that. You can sense something behind it where you’re like, this is someone’s genuine passion being poured into this.
MoonShroom’s release party for Take a Trip happens this Friday, June 27, at the Granada as part of the Kaw River Roots Festival. Admission is free, and the bill also includes John Depew Trio, Pretend Friend, Sophia Clark, and Betsy O & The Hollaback Boys. Details on that show here.
