Moongiant

Jacob Mann (drums/vocals) and Erich Massad (vocals/guitar) met me at Saints Pub in September, and we discussed how the above song was created.

Massad said the track started as an attempt to replace the intro of another Moongiant song. His guitar melody caught the attention of the band and the intro quickly became new song material.

“‘Nightjar’ came together out of nowhere,” Massad said. “When I put it together, we were all going through some pretty tough times as Moongiant. Everything from woman, jobs and living.”

Massad said “Nightjar” is a song about self-reflection. He cited the song’s opening lyrics, “I’m a tall man on a mountain but a small man in the sea.” The song focuses on how perception can make us think we are in one place but in actuality we are in an another place.

It’s a look at where you are,” Mann added. “It’s a snapshot.”

The rest of “Territories” came together with what the duo called a “Frankensteining recording process.” Early versions of songs started at bandmate Billy Muschinske’s house. In Oct. 2013, Moongiant recorded again at Horse Thief’s studio in downtown OKC.

Moongiant wrapped recording in May after a late-night, marathon vocal session at ACM@UCO. Mixing was handled by Michael Trepagnier and Keven Lively mastered the album.

Keep your eyes peeled for more information on Moongiant’s Nov. 7 EP release show.

Also, remember you can hear all of our track debuts at The Middle of Nowhere's SoundCloud page. - NewsOk

Oklahoma City band Moongiant — charming indie folk rock in the vein of Los Angeles band Lord Huron or the closer-to-home Horse Thief — is releasing its new EP this week.

Careful in everything from unwillingness to speak over each other in this interview, to the timeline and level of polish on its first official release, Moongiant (singer/guitarist Erich Massad, guitarist Chavez Soliz, bassist Billy Muschinske and drummer Jacob Mann) offers a unified front.

Q: What’s the timeline of this band’s formation? How did you guys meet?

Erich Massad: In the summer or early fall of 2012, Chavez and I were thinking about starting up a new project. I’d just gotten out of one, and he wanted to start one, so we jammed a little bit. Jacob and I had played together in the past, so we got him in, and Billy came along. He’s an all-around musician, and he started playing bass for us. We played our first show in February (2013).

Q: Are any of you ACM@UCO students?

Massad: We all are. Or were.

Q: Congratulations on the EP. Tell me about the recording process.

Jacob Mann: We recorded with a good friend of ours, Cash Wheeler, who is kind of an unsung treasure in a way. He recorded Horse Thief’s first album. We sat down with him, gave him our budget and told him what we wanted to do. We ended up recording at a studio downtown that we all practice in (and share with Horse Thief). Cash recorded us, and Michael Trepagnier mixed it — another incredibly talented dude we really love. And it was mastered by Kevin Lively. Just all really awesome guys. We couldn’t have picked a better team to work on our first musical venture together. Billy does a lot of engineering in his home studio ... we added one song that he did to the record as well.

Q: How did you guys know it was time to put out a record?

Massad: In OKC’s music scene, I suppose, there are so many bands who can put themselves out there via social media and things like that. It’s hard for people to be confident in a band, to go see them if they’ve never heard anything. We all decided that we need to have something for people to listen to, that we can be proud of. Not just throw a demo out there, but something we actually worked on. We just said it was time.

Mann: I wanted to add, too, we didn’t really want to do the demo route. We’ve been pretty united on that since our inception. We never want to release anything we’re not proud of. We took quite a bit of time getting this record right, getting to where we really loved it. I think I speak for everyone when I say we’re pretty excited about the end result.

Q: What’s your songwriting process? Is one of you the primary writer?

Chavez Soliz: It’s sort of a combination. Erich and I usually bring ideas to the table. One thing we’ve found that works really well is we demo out tracks at home and send them to everybody. When we have rehearsal, everyone’s already got a good idea of the song, and it just goes from there.

Massad: I think it’s cool to live in an age where you can just send things like that. When we have an idea, we can send it off and collaborate.

Q: One thing that I think is unique about bands coming out of ACM is that the community spans genre. What’s your take on how the school has shaped where you landed in OKC’s music scene?

Mann: Three of us started the first year at ACM, the first day it opened. We’ve seen a lot of great changes. It’s a hub for all these bands to meet; it’s how I met Erich and Chavez. Young kids, people who are a little bit older, everyone’s working to create something new and cool in Oklahoma City.

Q: So what’s next, then? You have a record. Where do you go from here?

Massad: That’s a tough question. For an unsigned band in OKC, there’s not much you can do without a label giving you a bunch of money. We’re going to put this record out and some regional weekend outings. We’ll probably just start getting more recording done in the next six months or so, but we’re definitely going to push “Territories” pretty hard.

Soliz: I definitely feel like we’ll do regional stuff and push the record, but at the same time ... we’re not content. We’re going to continue writing, probably pretty heavily now that we aren’t in the studio. We’re going to be very active in the behind-the-scenes kind of stuff, too. - NewsOK

Moongiant is a band from Oklahoma City with big plans. The band plays an enchanting style of indie pop, grand in its proportions. Lead guitar rips reverberating chasms into 12-string brilliance from lead singer Erich Massad who coos in a style that delineates away from the folk-inflected appropriations the band may receive from more surface listens. This is big time indie rock a la Grizzly Bear, especially influenced in the rhythm section where clicks and smatterings of swampy toms and rims rise to punctuate the wash. On record these guys sound crisp, clear, and professional; it’ll be a treat to see how they develop their live show. Thanks for driving twelve hours to get here, guys. - Pop press international

I will admit, until recently, I have never heard of Oklahoma’s Indie Rock band Moongiant. The harmonies alone makes me feel like I have been locked away, living under a bridge. So good. These guys are incredibly talented and their music is everything that an Indie rock band should be… and more. I admittedly went into “creepy stalker mode” and now follow them on social media and even purchased their EP “Territories” that came out in November of 2014. (You can get you a copy of it here.) It’s been awhile since a band has wowed me to this extent. Hard to believe they are located here in OKC. - Naked City OKC

Erich Massad had to visit a jail cell for this song.

Luckily, it was because the old Marlow police station and city hall were renovated into a recording studio. “Cloud Chief” was recorded with studio owner Jaron Nix, and here’s your first chance to hear the results.


Moongiant singer/guitarist Massad visited The Oklahoman newsroom in downtown Oklahoma City after sending a brief statement about “Cloud Chief.”

"The lyrics of ‘Cloud Chief’ are somewhat about the anxiety of an intimate relationship,” Massad said in an email. “and how a relationship can progress and digress.”
He made the effort to visit me in person to make sure I understood that the song doesn’t have just one direction or meaning. He said it’s a challenge to speak about a song outside of the words and lyrics he’s already connected to a track. He doesn’t want to pigeonhole a song and wants to keep things relatable.

“I would like it to be as versatile as people want it to be,” Massad said.

Writing “Cloud Chief” flowed naturally for Massad. He met with guitarist Chavez Soliz and the two pared the song down and cleaned it up. Massad noted he thought the writing process mirrored the song’s sentiment of having to craft a more presentable version of something for another person.

The track was recorded in March with Nix, who Moongiant looks forward to record with again soon.

If you like what you hear then make sure to catch Moongiant 11 a.m. April 23 at the Festival of the Arts and at Norman Music Festival 8 8 p.m. April 24 in the Sooner Theater. - NewsOK

There’s no getting around it: There was a whole lot of handsome on the stage when the impeccably coifed, well-dressed buds behind Moongiant stepped out from behind the curtains at Sooner Theatre, a trend that continued all through the night with a stacked lineup that included Horse Thief, Pageantry, Idabel and Aaron Pierce. But what was even more beautiful was the layered, composed indie folk that the Oklahoma City four-piece has been perfecting since last year’s festival appearance. With a small string section tucked to the side, the band slung out the soaring harmonies that elevated 2014’s Territories, owning the large room and looking good doing it. — JB - Oxford Karma

Moongiant's single "Territories" is featured on the list. - Oklahoma Rock Show

Moongiant is a band from Oklahoma City with big plans. The band plays an enchanting style of indie pop, grand in its proportions. Lead guitar rips reverberating chasms into 12-string brilliance from lead singer Erich Massad who coos in a style that delineates away from the folk-inflected appropriations the band may receive from more surface listens. This is big time indie rock a la Grizzly Bear, especially influenced in the rhythm section where clicks and smatterings of swampy toms and rims rise to punctuate the wash. On record these guys sound crisp, clear, and professional; it’ll be a treat to see how they develop their live show. Thanks for driving twelve hours to get here, guys. - Pop Press International

Moongiant is featured on this Mixtape Monday! - Anon Magazine

I will admit, until recently, I have never heard of Oklahoma’s Indie Rock band Moongiant. The harmonies alone makes me feel like I have been locked away, living under a bridge. So good. These guys are incredibly talented and their music is everything that an Indie rock band should be… and more. I admittedly went into “creepy stalker mode” and now follow them on social media and even purchased their EP “Territories” that came out in November of 2014. (You can get you a copy of it here.) It’s been awhile since a band has wowed me to this extent. Hard to believe they are located here in OKC. - Naked City OKC

Erich Massad had to visit a jail cell for this song.

Luckily, it was because the old Marlow police station and city hall were renovated into a recording studio. “Cloud Chief” was recorded with studio owner Jaron Nix, and here’s your first chance to hear the results.


Moongiant singer/guitarist Massad visited The Oklahoman newsroom in downtown Oklahoma City after sending a brief statement about “Cloud Chief.”

"The lyrics of ‘Cloud Chief’ are somewhat about the anxiety of an intimate relationship,” Massad said in an email. “and how a relationship can progress and digress.”
He made the effort to visit me in person to make sure I understood that the song doesn’t have just one direction or meaning. He said it’s a challenge to speak about a song outside of the words and lyrics he’s already connected to a track. He doesn’t want to pigeonhole a song and wants to keep things relatable.

“I would like it to be as versatile as people want it to be,” Massad said.

Writing “Cloud Chief” flowed naturally for Massad. He met with guitarist Chavez Soliz and the two pared the song down and cleaned it up. Massad noted he thought the writing process mirrored the song’s sentiment of having to craft a more presentable version of something for another person.

The track was recorded in March with Nix, who Moongiant looks forward to record with again soon.

If you like what you hear then make sure to catch Moongiant 11 a.m. April 23 at the Festival of the Arts and at Norman Music Festival 8 8 p.m. April 24 in the Sooner Theater. - NewsOk.com

There’s no getting around it: There was a whole lot of handsome on the stage when the impeccably coifed, well-dressed buds behind Moongiant stepped out from behind the curtains at Sooner Theatre, a trend that continued all through the night with a stacked lineup that included Horse Thief, Pageantry, Idabel and Aaron Pierce. But what was even more beautiful was the layered, composed indie folk that the Oklahoma City four-piece has been perfecting since last year’s festival appearance. With a small string section tucked to the side, the band slung out the soaring harmonies that elevated 2014’s Territories, owning the large room and looking good doing it. — JB - Oxford Karma

As we count down the days until Saturday’s big ol’ party at Native Sound Stage, Oxford Karma’s Endless Summer (tickets available here), we’ll also be profiling each of the artists performing and, most importantly, why they need to be seen. Next up: Moongiant.

Hometown: Oklahoma City

Members: Erich Emil Massad, Chavez Soliz, Billy Muschinske, Jacob Mann

Why you need to see them: Classy, elegant, earthy, celestial — no matter your preferred descriptor, Moongiant does it really, really well. Vocalist/guitarist Erich Emily Massad can falsetto with the best of them; lead guitarist Chavel Soliz imbues just the right harmonies and tones; bassist Billy Muschinske provides a rolling, resonating low-end; and drummer Jacob Mann is the sturdy, reliable backbone of it all. Literally everything about the band — from its arrangements to its attire — features just the right amount of polish and sophistication, and it’s rare that such a relatively green collective comes this fully formed so early in its existence. It’d be an ominous, early-peak prescription for most, but Moongiant is equipped with that rare, towering creative promise capable of weathering any type of storm.

What others in the know are saying: “[Moongiant] plays an enchanting style of indie pop, grand in its proportions. Lead guitar rips reverberating chasms into 12-string brilliance from lead singer Erich Massad who coos in a style that delineates away from the folk-inflected appropriations the band may receive from more surface listens. This is big time indie rock a la Grizzly Bear, especially influenced in the rhythm section where clicks and smatterings of swampy toms and rims rise to punctuate the wash.” – Lukas Truckenbrod (Pop Press International, March 3, 2015)

Essential listening: Territories EP - Oxford Karma