Premiere: Redder Moon’s ‘Arborist’ is dance music for the end times

Redder Moon. // photo credit Mark Peterman

On Friday, October 13, Kansas City synth-rock trio Redder Moon releases their sophomore LP, She Was Certainly Bit By Something. Following on the heels of their debut EP, Land of the Blind, and follow-up LP, Hell is Other People, both released in 2021, this new nine song collection ably fits the bill of being “music for the end times.

However, despite being a little sadder and a little slower, you can still dance as the apocalypse draws nigh. Ahead of next week’s album release, we’re excited to premiere Redder Moon’s “Arborist,” which comes smack-dab in the middle of the album. Thanks to its addictive guitar guitar work and woozy beats, it’s the perfect track to mark the transition from summer to fall.

The band was started by Jeremiah James Gonzales of local darlings Elevator Division, and also features Jill McKeever on vocals and PDX transplant Brody Lowe on synths and drum programming. We spoke with Gonzales via email about the new album and how it came together.

The Pitch: How’d the three of you come to work together?

Well, technically 2015 but for real? 2020. Let me explain…I had been doing Redder Moon on and off by myself with touring drummer and other aux collaborators since 2015. I had managed to land a tour with an opening slot for one show with Neon Indian down in Texas using some previous projects I was involved with, name dropping as clout. It was a very fun and successful first tour and knew i was onto something. But when then others decided to pursue “adult things,” any momentum or excitement to continue sort of took a long nap. So I just kept doing the project here and there and posting things online mainly as a memory but I never really did much else.

Fast-forward to late late 2019: I wasn’t looking to do anything more with this project until I was asked to randomly play a local show. This is where I would meet our synth player Brody Lowe (performing as Loqsa) who had just transplanted to KC via Portland with his wife to be closer to her family. We found a lot in common over a couple beers after the show, like the fact that we were both born and raised in super tiny towns in rural Idaho. We took that as a sign and got each other’s info and began slowly messing around in my studio well into the 2020 pandemic.

Eventually we wound up playing one show at Lemonade Park as this lineup and it was right around this time I had bumped into Jill in an alley show at The Ship where I worked. I had already known her for some time and I thought she was pretty cool so when she asked if I was still doing music or if any material I wasn’t using to try and sing to, I responded with one of those “actually” pushing my glasses up my nose responses, and quickly emailed her all the stuff Brody and I had compiled over the last few months.

Well into late pandemic we began passing ideas back and forth via email (because we weren’t supposed to gather that close together) so in a frenzy we came up with over 20 song ideas over 3 months. Finally, we had something to do! And once I realized just how good and better the other two were making this band, I basically now just say the band truly formed when they joined in 2020, because that’s when the REALLY good stuff started to happen.

When you’re making this music via email, what are the challenges and advantages?

With this project, it works so much better. We are all fairly busy with other things and even now, after the pando, we still do it this way. It allows for a different type of creative flow. We can do it on our won time without having to feel like we need to get it all done in the span of a 2 hour practice once a week. Brody and I are both fairly good at composing songs even when they are just demo ideas and then we just add to each others basic things and repeat the process until it seems fully produced. My studio has acted like a sort of hub for this as I’m usually the one who winds up sending things away to mix and all of that behind the scenes stuff that no one really cares to do. Yet, somehow, we’ve found this process very advantageous to our flow.

What did David Gaume bring to the table and why did you want to work with him?

I’ve known Dave for a very long time. We actually played in a Psychedelic Furs tribute band with a bunch of other KC stalwart musicians way back before he moved to L.A., and Jill was once roommates with him. And the KC circle gets smaller and so on and so forth. I always knew he was really good at what he does so I called in the favor and he was stoked to get involved! He mixed/mastered and co-produced our debut EP Land of The Blind.

Honestly, the whole production team is just a who’s who of KC music, right?

Yes, I’ve been very lucky and blessed to call these folks who helped put this music out there my friends and colleagues. I’m looking at you Ross Brown, Duane Trower, Mike Nolte!!! Thank you so much for putting up with all of our back and forth nonsense over the last couple records. (heart emoji)

“Arborist” has a guitar line which feels very throwback to the New Romantics, but all of these songs are timeless. Where did you pull these influences from?

What a great compliment, thanks! I suppose we are sorta like the “futurists movement” or “the cult with no name” of the late ’70s early 80s as we have had a difficult time defining exactly what ARE our influences or how in the world we make it all work together? rather. If you ever have an afternoon to spare listening back on our first EP, Land of The Blind, and LP, Hell Is Other People, you’ll see what I mean when you get to She Was Certainly Bit By Something. 🙂 We all pull a little/lot out of that era given our place in our current timeline. Someone else said we would have easily been a forerunner in the 4AD movement which combined with your comment are really making me blush in my chair.

Any plans for taking this live?

We have managed to play a hand full of really fun live shows around Kansas City supporting some bigger touring acts and look forward to getting more opportunities to perform if it all seems to make sense!