Half Moon Run ready to tour with 2nd album, Sun Leads Me On
Montreal's indie rock band Half Moon Run surprised a lot of music fans with its first CD, Dark Eyes.
The beautiful, atmospheric sound of the band caught the attention of critics and fans across North America and Europe.
That album is certified Gold in Canada, which means it sold over 40,000 copies. But with 75,000 albums sold now, it's well on the way to Platinum certification.
So there's a lot of curiosity about what Half Moon Run has put together for its second album. Sun Leads Me On is set for release Oct. 23.
The first video for Half Moon Run's new album is ready and the guys in the band are pumped for an international and cross-Canada tour starting Oct. 21 with sold-out shows in London, Paris and Brussels and four sold-out shows next spring in Montreal.
Conner Molander sings vocals, plays guitar and keyboards with the band. He moved to Montreal from B.C. nine years ago at age 19, dreaming of starting a band.
With two other musicians from the West Coast, Devon Portielje and Dylan Phillips and Ottawa native Isaac Symmonds, Half Moon Run is living that dream.
When asked about the stress of writing a second album, Molander says he's confident Sun Leads Me On is the best they could do.
"That is a really nice feeling to move forward and look at 18 months of touring ahead of us with a record we do believe in."
An international following
Half Moon Run's lush sound on songs like No More Losing the War garnered the band a following internationally. The Guardian called this song "gorgeous, velvety drama."
But after touring Dark Eyes to 345 concerts in more than 15 countries on 3 continents, Half Moon Run landed back in Montreal to try to write another album.
The first single, Turn Your Love harks back to creative days in a cabin before the release of Dark Eyes.
Molander says the guys were experimenting with wacky schedules to spur their creativity, waking up at five in the morning.
"And the rule was nobody can speak till we play a full jam. And that riff kind of came out of the morning mist."
Other songs on the album were written during a spur of the moment road trip to California.
"We'd been on tour for a long time and when we got back we were struggling to settle into our lives. What do you do when you're at home? So I said, 'Let's go to California' and we got into the van the next day."
Half Moon Run says the band is on a quest for beauty and honesty.
"Well, yeah, of course you try to be as honest as you can with yourself about the music. Otherwise it feels as though you're cheating yourself. And we like beautiful sounds. Beautiful things are wonderful."
But when asked if the band is making money, he hesitates.
He doesn't like the way the music industry has evolved over the past decade.
"Money goes so many places we think it shouldn't go. We kind of got in trouble recently saying 'F you' to Ticketmaster on our Twitter. Like, that's one place I feel money doesn't need to go."
After the online ticket sales site had trouble putting tickets for a Montreal show up for sale the band went to Twitter to complain.
Molander says "It's taken us a really long time to make any money. On the one hand that's kind of disappointing but on the other hand I know we are fortunate to be able to play music for a living at all so I'm grateful for that every day honestly."
Sun Leads Me On drops Oct. 23. It's on Montreal's Indica Label.
After Europe, Half Moon Run starts a cross-Canada tour in Victoria on Dec. 7.
