Self-described as “the world’s shortest band”, Moontower is an act you want to make sure you get to the show early for. Comprised of Jacob Berger (guitar and vocals), Devan Welsh (guitar and keyboard) and Tom Carpenter (bass), the LA trio puts on an electric, high-energy show that I could only wish was longer.

I got a chance to sit down with them while on the Cleveland stop of the Girlfriend Tour to talk about touring and their new album, as well as to figure out if they are actually the world’s shortest band.

Meeting at University of Southern California, Carpenter and Welsh were producing music for an artist that Berger was writing songs with, and started spending time together which eventually turned into Berger basically becoming their third roommate. They spent their time making music and writing songs “that they didn’t really want to give to anyone else and thought we might as well do something with them,” Berger said.

If you’ve seen the 1993 coming of age comedy Dazed and Confused, you may recognize how the band got their name. In the film, the moontower is where everyone could come together no matter who you are or what your label might be.

“We wanted Moontower to be sort of a melting pot environment for those kinds of people. No matter who you are, moontower is the space to rock your bod, smile or whatever you want to do” Carpenter said.

Releasing their first single in 2018 William, and their first EP Season 1: The Ballad of William Hollywood in 2019. Ones to Watch describing it as,“the 7 track concept album focuses on its titular character as a vehicle for the band to convey their own upbringings and adolescent experiences, and was accompanied by a 3 episode video series following him in a "story of love, loss, and recovery in a psychedelic suburbia”

As for their upcoming record, it’s being mastered and will be released sometime in 2022, the date is still TBD at the time of writing this. I asked them about the process of recording the album, to find out they had an extended stay at an AirBnB in Parker, Arizona where Welsh told me they recorded all the demos for the album in that house. Returning to their homebase of LA, the band was in the studio with Michael Coleman, who you may know as a former member of the band Sure Sure.

Taking influences from U2, Dire Straits, Coldplay, The Beatles, Keane, Billy Joel, Rush and Daft Punk, makes Moontower’s sound unlike any other. It combines elements of each member’s music taste whether it be strong lyrics, a melody that will make you feel something or straight up bold, which is why they’ve shared the stage with artists like Bad Suns, COIN, Cold War Kids, THE DRIVER ERA and YUNGBLUD.

With their shortest member coming in at around 5 feet 5 inches, Moontower doesn’t take home the title of the World’s Shortest Band. (According to the Guinness Book of World Records it actually goes to a band called Minirockerz.) “We don’t have a member who is 6 foot to bring up the average” the band said.

You can follow Moontower on Instagram and Twitter as well as stream their music on Spotify

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