America Owns the Moon began at the Lexington house in Fountain Square Indianapolis in 2000 AD. Christian Taylor wrote a whole bunch of songs and they recorded them for fun before they decided to be a band. They practiced for about a year before their first show, determined to be the tightest rock & roll band in town. When they started playing shows they already had a set list of over 20 songs. They were the band from down the street. They played everywhere in Indianapolis all the time. Probably too much. They've opened for Guided By Voices which was an awesome disaster breaking strings on the very first song. They played like this for nearly 5 years straight. Some shows were fabulous disasters and others were magical.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Answered by Bass Player - Ben Messer:
Hello America Owns the Moon. What strengths do you have that you believe make you a great musician?
Well, there are four of us so that would be great musician(s). I don't think we are "great" musicians. Competent for sure, but great - not so much. We like punk rock and never really cared to be great. Just good enough to make good sounding noise.
Who inspired you to make music?
At the time of the Tiger EP and when we started playing music together, we were all pretty much into the same stuff: The Pixies, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, The Oblivians, Misfits among others.
Your latest release is 'Tiger'. Can you share with us the background of its creation and did any unusual things happen during its creation?
Well, this release was intended to be demos for a full length record, but we really liked the way it turned out so we decided to release it. I wouldn't say anything unusual happened but the way we recorded it was somewhat unusual. It was recorded and mixed live to stereo by Jim Kuczkowski. Here's what he says about it:
"More than a demo/less than an album. What you get here is excerpts from the band's pre-production recordings. A real album can be a real chore. Ya might wanna start simple cause that definitive shit's a bitch. So step back engineer/producer (me) and band/producers - Listen: They're songs. This is straight to stereo. Just let the band play and sing the songs like they always do. Imagine that: no tracking, no remixing, no over-dubs, nuthin. Just the mighty raw - complete with mistakes, buzz, bleed between microphones, on-the-fly mixing and a little magic.
The band recorded about 20-odd songs this way. All of them contenders (or not) for a full length album. But the snobs will say this is the best stuff right here. And maybe you'll agree."
- Jim Kuczkowski
Can you shortly describe each of the tracks that are on the album?
The Hard Way: This was one of our early songs and one of our first bangers.
Ping Pong: This one got its title from the verse riff which sounded like ping ponging guitars and the name stuck even though those actual words are never said in the song. And yeah, I guess you could say we were kind of influence by Nirvana on this one.
DEGA: This one got its title because the notes of the verse riff are D, E, G, A. We're obviously very witty with our sing titles.
Otherwise: Yeah, we also like a little old school reggae. I guess this was sort our attempt at incorporating it into our songs.
Freak Out: This one was inspired by a lot of the clubs we were playing when we started out. "This place is a real drag" We would usually close the show with this one.
Everything Is: I would say this one comes closest to Elvis Costello and the Attractions being an influence. We would bump My Aim Is True a lot.
Jaime: It's about a girl. She was our friend. Still is.
Horny Mess: Also about a girl. Different girl. A horny mess was pretty much the vibe for all of us in those days.
Baby Yeah: The only one not written by Christian Taylor. This is a Danny Ray Russell Jr. jam. We tried to do four part harmonies and almost nailed it. Almost.
How do you stay up-to-date with the latest musical trends?
I don't think we really do stay up to date, There's so much good music out there that's been around a long time that's new to us that we usually end up going backwards in time rather than staying current.
What makes you different from others?
We are four different people than any four other people. We never really tried to be different or fit in. We were just trying to make music we'd want to hear.
What’s an average day like for you?
Wake up hungover. Drink Pedialyte. Then coffee and cigarettes. Bathroom stuff. Slave away for the man. Bubble bath. Watch our stories. Repeat.
Please discuss how you interact with and respond to fans.
Like we would with people who are not our fans. Like regular people.
What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Please don't. You should learn from our mistakes. Only disappointment lies ahead.
What are your plans for the future?
Johnny Rotten says there is no future and I believe him.
Thanks for asking us questions.