MONDAY MORNING MUSICAL MAYHEM - featuring Suzi Moon
Updated: Apr 27, 2021
New interviews from people in the music scene every Monday, every week, every month!
Welcome to Monday Morning Musical Mayhem: an online series that focuses on musicians, bands, artists, and whoever else in the musical industry that reaches out to us! The goal is help spread the word about people doing rad stuff in the music world! Are you doing rad stuff? Email us at brutalrealitydigest@gmail.com to be featured! xoxoxo
Hey gang! Can you believe it's been a week already? Here we are back at it again! Embrace the mayhem! It's here to stay! This week, we share some laughs with Suzi Moon! Formerly of all female punk rock band Civet, she has now gone solo and is dropping an EP on Pirate's Press Records! Stick around and here what Suzi has to say about horror movies, punk rock, and more!
BRUTAL REALITY DIGEST: Introduce yourself, your band, and weapon of choice.
SUZI MOON: Hi, I am Suzi Moon of, um, Suzi Moon! My weapon of choice is a Fender Stratocaster, pale pink with a black pickguard, gold hardware, and Seymour Duncan pickups! I play my baby outta a 1968 Fender Silverface Bassman… Loud!
BRD: Your new video is an homage to a horror movie called "Repulsion." so obviously you're a fan of the genre. In your opinion, what is the most overrated horror movie of all time?
SM: I am a HUGE horror fan & have been since I was a kid. I have my favorites: Rosemary’s Baby, Blood & Black Lace, Poltergeist, Hellraiser, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Children of the Corn… But a movie that never really did it for me was Jason or any of the sequels. I am all for the classic horror movie sex scene but they kinda overdo it here and the fact that he never dies is just like, yeah ok, whatever. Michael from Halloween gets a pass on never dying because he’s just so cool and in a class all his own.
BRD: Keeping with this horror theme... remember when it was fashionable to have movies like Freddy vs Jason? Which horror villains would you like to see go head to head in a movie like that?
SM: Jeez Jason wouldja just die already!? Ok, I would love to see the family from Us versus The Firefly Family from House of 1000 Corpses - now that would be epic!
BRD: Can you tell us about the first band you ever played in?
SM: The first band I played in was an all-girl “femme fatale punk rock” band called Civet. It was awesome, it was my older sister Liza Graves’ band & I was just a kid at the time. We played all over the world and got to do so much fun stuff together. It was a really rad, unique experience I got to share with my sister.
BRD: Who were some of your heroes in the music scene when you were a kid?
SM: In my immediate scene I looked up to Duane Peters & Corey Parks. We played with Die Hunns a lot and they were really instrumental in shaping my idea of what a badass performer was. You gotta remember I was 15,16,17 at the time, and these guys were veterans. They owned every stage they played. Another one is Texas Terri. We played with Terri a lot, too. I used to have red hair and she would always joke that I was her mini-me. She’s one hell of a frontwoman and I still channel her energy onstage to this day!
BRD: Who's a guilty pleasure band for you? (Don't worry, we won't judge.)
SM: No shame in my “love for Good Charlotte” game! I was 11 when the first GC album came out and it totally changed my life. Those guys can sing, they write insane melodies, and I have seen them play live more than any other band, ever (not counting bands I’ve toured with!).
BRD: What is your favourite movie soundtrack?
SM: Hands down the Josie & The Pussycats soundtrack! Holy shit that is another record that hit me at a very young age when I was just soaking everything up. The songwriters they enlisted for that album are insane. It’s catchy pop punk amazingness. I have it on vinyl now and still listen to it all the time.
BRD: "Special Place in Hell" has a very surf-punk inspired solo. Is that a genre you enjoy and if so, who are some of your favourite bands playing that style?
SM: I love surf punk! Dead Kennedys, The Cramps, US Bombs, Ramones, I love those bands. Growing up in Long Beach, CA I was exposed to a lot of bands that maybe weren't full on surf punk, but extracted elements of it and I think that’s really cool, taking inspiration and making it your own, ya know.
BRD: Since you spent some time on Hellcat Records, we gotta ask - what is the best Rancid song?
SM: Shit, that is a really fucked up question. There can’t be just one! I have to give you two - Salvation & Tropical London. Those are up there for me. But really, a top 10 list would be more fair.
BRD: What would you like to accomplish in the last 2/3 of 2021?
SM: I have a lot of goals and never really stop making new ones, so it’s really just about getting through my to-do list each week. Smaller accomplishments help build the big picture. Right now I am excited to release my EP “Call The Shots” on 5/21 with Pirates Press Records, and then getting to playing shows as soon as it is safe. We have a few things booked for later in the year that I am really really looking forward to. I also have a full length album that is getting wrapped up now, so mixing, mastering, taking photos/getting the art nailed down, etc. It never ends. At least, I hope it never ends because I am the luckiest girl in the world getting to make and release music and be a part of this amazing rock n’ roll community!