Behind the Music: Interview with Sun, Moon and Talia

‘At our most recent gig, the audience were completely silent during our performance. We felt so connected with them.’

Describe your music style:
Dreamscapes. Enchanting like The Sirens in Greek mythology, minus the evil motive part!

Where are you from?
MAX: I’m from Australia originally.

TALIA: I’m from Manchester in the UK, but have roots in Italy.

Which instruments do you play?
TALIA: On our tracks I play Electric and acoustic guitar, keys and vocals.

MAX: I play the keys and bass guitar parts. 

Where is your go-to place for writing new tracks?
TALIA: I like to immerse myself in nature; the beach, a national park etc. I can come back and write after I’ve gathered inspiration from feelings that I experienced and things I’ve seen whilst I was there.

MAX: I’m more or less a cliché bedroom producer, although I always end up writing stuff when I’m on holiday just on my laptop. I think making music with a mouse gets you creating new things you wouldn’t have come up with on a keyboard.

Do you have any releases and/or performances coming up soon?
Aside from our latest release, a cover of Siv Jakobsen’s “How We Used To Love,” we are aiming to release one song every month. We’re also just about to announce a set at the Whiskey Jar in the Northern Quarter and have plans to perform at festivals across the North West this year. 

Do you prefer performing live or recording in a studio?
TALIA: I enjoy the experience of creating a song in a studio, it’s where all the magic happens! It’s also the place where I feel in harmony with myself. However, performing live is something special and I understand why people may prefer this. With the last few gigs we’ve done, our audience were completely silent during our performance, it was so beautiful; we felt so connected with them.

MAX: Live definitely! It’s awesome to be able to share our music with friends and just random people who happen to be there.

When and why did you become involved in music?
TALIA: I am in awe of film scores; the first one I heard was from the film Fantasia as my older sister and I watched it when we were kids. Since that moment I’ve always wanted to be involved in creating music, that tie to music just grew with me and it’s morphed into Sun, Moon & Talia.

MAX: I can’t really give you a why as it’s just always been a part of my life. My dad’s a musician so I’ve been around music and played some sort of instrument for as long as I can remember. I started making cheesy electronic tunes on Garageband when I was 17, just for fun, and I’d make little EP’s for friends and family; it’s kind of gone from there.

What has music enabled you to do?
TALIA: It’s been so special to simply just create these first couple of songs and finally put them out there – I’ve waited so long to do this! We’ve had a great response and met some lovely, supportive people. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next few years. I hope that Sun, Moon & Talia will open doors to collaboration with some of our favourite artists and producers.

MAX: The main thing is that it’s allowed me to connect with other people and artists. Basically, I kept my electronic music to myself for about 10 years. At some point I decided it would be cool to play with other people and start doing gigs. So, I just posted an ad online one day and eventually met Talia. Collaborating with other people just adds another layer of enjoyment to making music and pushes you as a musician.

What was the first concert/gig that you were involved in?
TALIA: It was compulsory to be part of the choir at my school, so maybe when I was 7 or 8… To counteract our embarrassment as I got into my teenage years my friends and I started a rock band.

MAX: I played bass in a metal band in high school, which I still find hard to believe.

What is the most recent performance you did? We played at The Art of Tea on the 4th of January 2018

Who was the first musician/band you saw live?
TALIA: I saw Bastille; I fan girled them massively as a teenager.

MAX: Apart from getting dragged along to all my dad’s gigs, I saw an Australian band called Silverchair when I was about 10. They were quite a big band in Australia at the time and I somehow got a signed copy of their album, which I ended up throwing in the bin for some reason.

Who are your inspirations?
TALIA: Ah I have too many! To name only a few; Bon Iver, Peter Green, Howard Shore & Thomas Bergersen. In addition, I look to other forms of inspiration such as the books of Haruki Murakami along with the Fiction Desk anthologies. I’ve recently finished reading Hera Lindsay Birds collection of poems, she will be inspiring some new lyrical ideas. 

MAX: I generally turn to electronic artists to get new ideas for production, people like Four Tet, Shlohmo, and Nicolas Jaar to name a few. Their tunes are always full of interesting sounds and samples. I’m also listening to loads of techno/deep house now which I’ve noticed is starting to make its way into our tunes through more analogue sounds.

What is the point of music?
TALIA: Personally, varying genres of music inspire different waves of emotions within me and I listen to music when I feel I need something; a distraction, to feel epic or sometimes just to sleep. 

Any other creative talents and if so do they influence your music in any way?
TALIA: I’m studying Fashion at University; I’d like to create stage outfits for myself for future gigs. Perhaps not as eccentric as Lady Gaga, but more of a Stevie Nicks meets Eiko Ishioka vibe. I always like it when bands have an artistically strong brand image.

Follow Sun, Moon and Talia on: Twitter
Listen to Sun, Moon and Talia on: Spotify
Find out more about Sun, Moon and Talia’s music at: Artist Review: Sun, Moon and Talia.