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.
Set time: 8:15 p.m.
Hometown: Oklahoma City
Members: Erich Emil Massad, Chavez Soliz, Billy Muschinske, Jacob Mann
Follow them on: Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, Bandcamp
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
