#MissWriter interviews Moonlight Parade, three friends reunited by chance decided to form a band and make beautiful music together. Read all about them here…

We are Ben Todd, singer and main songwriter, Steve Murphy on Guitars and Al Borg on Bass and production / mixing duties.

Your name Moonlight Parade is quite interesting, can you tell us how you came up with it?

We were originally going to go with \’Marine Parade\’ which is a coastal road near where we live, but there are loads of Marine Parades around the world, so we went with Moonlight. It turns out its also a festival in Jersey where Ben originally comes from.

Your EP Paint The Sun seemed to take you to a new level in terms of popularity – did this come as a surprise and how does it feel?

We hoped it would reach a wider audience because we felt it was a step up in the quality of writing, playing and production. You never know how people will take to your songs, but we were really pleased with the reaction.

For those that haven’t heard the the story already, tell us how your album artwork has got you into some famous circles?

Al did Paul Weller’s new album art recently. Paul had seen some of the prints Al had designed on his website (thestereotypist.com) and one thing led to another. It was a real honour!

Looking back on your time together, is there anything you regret?

That we didn’t get together sooner! 

Tell me about your song song writing process, how does it usually happen?

Either Ben comes with a song fully formed, or instrumental ideas are jammed at home and rough demos sent around to develop. We’ve been working remotely through covid so luckily we can still record parts and send them to Al to mix and produce and build up tracks.

Your Manchester gig has been rescheduled for 25th September (I’ll be there!!! )and you’re being joined by The Mariners and Revivalry, do you have any more plans for 2021?

Our main plans this year are rehearsing and getting tight live. We have two good friends joining us to pad out the sound so it should sound big! We also have plenty of new music that we will be releasing throughout the year.

We can\’t wait to get to Manchester and meet the other bands and all the people coming from far and wide. Its going to be a bit of a celebration.

What is your fantasy festival line up?

We’d open the show for this lot – On the bill would be The Smiths, The Clash, The Stone Roses, Sly & The Family Stone, The Chemical Brothers, David Bowie and finish with the Beatles

There seems to be a a growing band of people supporting the independent music scene – what can we do to support you?

Word of mouth is the best thing people can do. If you like a song, share it on your social network and tell people about bands they should be checking out. We really appreciate everyone who goes out their way to listen share and promote our music, you’re a lovely bunch!

See you in September in Manchester! 

You can check out Moonlight Parade here:

Latest single: Amsterdam was out in March

Website: Moonlight Parade Band

Manchester Gig Tickets: Moonlight Parade, The Mariners & Revivalry Tickets | Aatma Manchester | Sat 25th September 2021 Lineup (skiddle.com)

Merch: Shop | Moonlight Parade

Spotify: Moonlight Parade | Spotify

YouTube: Moonlight Parade – YouTube

Instagram: Moonlight Parade Band (@moonlight_parade_band) • Instagram

Facebook: Moonlight Parade – Home | Facebook

Twitter: @band_parade

#MissWriter