It’s safe to say you don’t see too many bands around like Moon Hooch.
The Brooklyn trio’s lineup features two woodwind players and a drummer. It’s music is a mix of jazz fusion, electronic and beats, shifting from tight arrangements to improvisational forays. The group members are formally trained — at the New York School For Jazz and Contemporary Music — but they also honed their craft (and earned a little scratch) busking in subway stations.
Moon Hooch has released three albums so far as well as the new EP “Joshua Tree,” which is available for free on the group’s web site. So don’t say they never gave you anything…
* Moon Hooch came together in what can only be described as a roundabout way. The group’s Wenzi McGowen dropped out of college to play on a cruise ship and then produce electronic music that James (Muschler, drummer) was in. “Just for fun James and I started playing in the subway, playing electronic dance music kind of stuff, and one day Mike (Wilbur) just came by and joined us,” says McGowen, 28. “It was very organic and not planned.”
* The subway busking days were, not surprisingly, filled with adventures for McGowen and company. “It was wild,” he recalls. “People would come down to the subway just to hang out with us and dance, so we had our own little subway crew down there of people who took the train and had flexible schedules. One time this guy comes up to James while we’re playing and starts licking his neck. James was like, ‘What are you doing?!’ And the guy’s like, ‘Sorry, sorry, sorry…,’ like he just couldn’t resist. And we became friends with this saxophone player called Antenna Man, who claims to be a channel for some aliens or extra-terrestrials. He’d stop by and start screaming and squeaking through his saxophone, and then take the train and leave.”
* Moon Hooch’s new “Joshua Tree” EP took a turn as the trio started recording it. “We rented a house in the Mojave Desert and said, ‘OK, we’re just going to set up a studio and make an album,” according to McGowen. “First we tried to learn songs we’d already written, just the usual approach, but nothing came, or it didn’t feel right. So after four days we’re like, ‘Damn, we’ve got this house, with a studio,’ and suddenly oen day we decided, ‘OK, let’s take a new approach. Let’s all go into the same room and start playing. Don’t say what we’re gonna play, just start playing,’ and stuff started coming out. It sounded pretty cool so we recorded it and made songs on the spot and then finished the whole LP like that.”
If You Go:
* Moon Hooch
* Saturday, Feb. 4. Doors open at 8 p.m.
* Otus Supply, 345 E. Nine Mile Road, Ferndale.
* Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door.
* Call 248-291-6160. or visit otusupply.com.
