Lunar Spirit: Still Pretending
Lunar Spirit is an indie rock project that hails from the suburbs of Salt Lake City. Their melodic vibrations and folky textures produce an eminent sound that is unique in Utah’s often homogenous local music scene. With two albums under their belt, they recently released a new single titled “Still Pretending”. The troupe consists of Emily Tribe, Tanner Strokes, Conner Berry, Nicole Canaan and Kyle LeCheminant.
Recently Salt Lily had the privilege to discuss the group’s sound , and career with Tanner Strokes and Nicole Canaan.
How did you guys start playing music together?
Tanner: During high school, Conner (the bass player in the band) and I were in a rock/metal band together if you can believe that haha. We kind of hit a dead end and wanted to do something that was a little more our style. Because though we both love rock, we wanted to do something a little slower and a little more alternative. We asked our friends Emily (current singer/guitarist) and Jake (past drummer) if they wanted to start a band together and we just kind of took off from there. And even though we started the band in mid/late 2014, we have really only been a band for 3 years. Because after we formed and recorded our first album, Jake and Conner left on LDS missions. While Emily and Tanner both went to school. When they got back in 2017, we were off and on again as a band still trying to see if we could write and play together. It wasn't until 2018 when we really dove in and started working as a functional band again. Thats when I came across a video on my instagram of Nicole singing. I thought our current line up was good, but we had always needed a backing vocalist/keyboardist whenever we played live. So, I brought up to the band that we should ask if Nicole should join and they all agreed it was a good idea. I messaged Nicole and we all got together one afternoon and jammed and she was officially in the band a week later. Our original drummer, Jake left last year to pursue other musical endeavors, we asked Kyle (our current drummer) to join the band. And just like Nicole he fit right in! We had played with Kyle many times before, so the chemistry was already there.
What inspired the band's sound?
Tanner: I think that we're all very different, as people and when it comes to musical taste. And I think that's what gives the band its sound. The thing I love though, is that we all are very vocal about what we want for the band's sound. It's hard being in other bands or projects where some people are passive and just go with the majority vote on things. But what's great about this band is that we're all very determined with what we want, but very open to the other's suggestions and contributions. I also think it's the fact that everyone in the band writes songs and has at least a song or two of their own on every album.
What is your usual song writing process?
Nicole: Usually one of us will come up with an instrumentation or maybe just a chord progression that we like and we go from there, one person will pitch in a lyric idea and someone else will come up with a melody and we just put it all together! but usually it's the chords first and everything else later.
Do you have any message or question that you are trying to get through to the audience?
Nicole: With "Still Pretending" I definitely wanted people to feel a sense of personal nostalgia and have it be a song that when you hear it you reflect on your past friendships and relationships. The message overall I wanted the audience to feel is that you're gonna change. It's inevitable. And even when that change causes pain and separation between you and someone else, that hopefully the love will still be there and you can grow together because of it.
Tanner: I also think that with most of our songs, as cheesy as it sounds, we write about 'hope'. I think a lot of the time we focus on saying "things are tough and that's okay. Things will look up and it will always get better."
How has your sound evolved since you guys first got together in 2014?
Tanner: I think it's just the fact that we've changed as people. Whether that be with music taste or big life changes like Emily and Conner getting married (not to each other of course). I also think some of it is the fact that I started producing our songs ever since we got back together in late 2017. Before that point Jake (our old drummer) was the producer and he had more control over the sound. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I completely changed the band's sound or anything. I personally feel though that there was a slight shift in our musical direction once I started producing more. I also think that ever since Nicole joined the band she helped change the sound. Because adding any new color to a painting is obviously going to alter the outcome of the whole piece. Though Kyle just joined (November of last year) I think that he'll help push the band into a different direction as well.
Nicole: Yeah, I think our sound has gotten a little grittier while still keeping that light and flowy indie sound.
How is your new single "Still Pretending" different from your older music?
Tanner: I think with this song it's different because it's the first real song Nicole and I had done together. We had written Alligator Wallpaper and Valley of The Sun together. But with this song it felt as though was much more collaborative. Whereas with the other two songs it was me doing all the music and Nicole having to work her lyrics and vocal melodies in wherever they could fit. And with this song we worked on trying to focus on the lyrics and meaning behind the song and molding the music to help form that. I also think that Kyle adds a new flavor to the song as well. This being his first recording with the band, I think that his drumming on this song is different from what other drummers would have done.
How is Lunar Spirit different from other projects you guys have been in or done?
Nicole: Lunar spirit really is all of our tastes and sounds combined. Tanner's solo music he's made has aspects of psychedelic rock, while my solo music is more of a pop sound and so our band's music has had a wider range of genres to pull from that we can only get together. We all have pretty different music tastes and when we make our own personal music it doesn't have the same feeling as when we come together.
Do you guys have any exciting projects/shows coming up?
Nicole: We're working on a new album! We already have a few songs put together and we're hoping to release some more singles soon. Our newest song we've written is called "Living With A Ghost" which is a metaphor but we also couldn't help ourselves from making it a little spooky sounding. We will also be coming out with a music video for "Living With A Ghost" and it will be our first one so we're all really excited about that.
Where do you guys hope to see yourself in the next five years?
Tanner: That's a tough question because I don't think any of us know what we want to do in a week haha! I think we want to put as much music out there as possible and play as much as possible and see if anything sticks. We all love playing together, so I hope that we continue to perform and record for as long as possible and hopefully we can get more people to hear our music.
Lunar Spirit’s music is available on Spotify
