Sly Fang On the Making Of ‘Live from Dead Moon’
What was the creative process like for this particular EP?
For this EP we wanted to capture our live show energy and film it with a couple of our friends. We’re a big fan of the YouTube channels that do a “live show to no one” type content like Levitation Sessions or KEXP. We had booked a studio to record some new originals, and used some spare time in the afternoon to film some of our favorite songs from our live set. We thought some of the songs had developed into something cool and different live and we wanted to capture that.
Were there any moments in the recording process where you knew you had something special?
The last song “Get Punched” was a jam we had been toying around with in practice with a fairly loose structure. It never felt quite right in rehearsal, but we had run out of time trying to develop it leading up to the booked studio time. It was supposed to be one of our new originals, yet we decided to record it anyways live off the floor with a lot of added improvisation. We did two takes and thought, “Maybe this won’t make the final cut” since we really didn’t know how it had come out. But when we listened back, we realized it had turned out awesome! We were super warmed up from recording all weekend so we were able to capture a cool unexpected moment. Since it was a jam and not really a “song”, we decided to include it on the live EP with our normal live set staples.
Can you talk about any standout tracks on 'Live from Dead Moon' and what makes them special to you?
The version of “Howl” that we recorded for this EP really stood out to us. Actually, the idea for this Live EP was initiated by wanting to capture the extended live version of “Howl” that we had developed with this new lineup. This has been our big blowout set closer, and it can go in a million different places since we never play it exactly the same way. But we’d like to think that we captured the best iteration of the song, where it flows seamlessly from part to part while being able to hear everyone adding to the beautiful chaos of it.
How would you describe your band's overall stage presence and the energy you bring to your live shows?
We try to give everything we have every show. Guitars have gotten smashed and damaged, drums have been kicked over, our bassist jumped into a mosh pit once and got his bass destroyed, and even drumsticks have been used to smack guitars. We just try to give our songs the energy they require to play them properly live. Controlled chaos is a good way to put it. We’re loud and proud of what we do.
Where do you find inspiration for your songs or musical ideas?
We are all pretty inspired by the more recent garage/psychedelic rock that has come out in the last 10 to 15 years. We’re also into older grunge, punk, and 60s/70s psychedelic music. We have a wide range of influences, and we’re not afraid to take inspiration from all sorts of different places. Our bassist is really inspired by 70s R&B and funk music whereas our drummer the EP takes inspiration from all kinds of metal and progressive music. It keeps fresh for each member to have some common influences, but also have different influences and musical personalities.