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Interviews
Bandawalla Moons - Black bras look good on the mic stand!
THEY CAME. THEY SAW. THEY REGGAED.
Paul interviews Zuzu, the lead singer of Bandawalla Moons.
Every now and then we hear a band with just a little more of ‘hey, these guys are good!’ To start with, The Bandawalla Moons were just two, playing at the Uniclub on Open Mic nights. They were doing acoustic covers from Bob Marley, Dave Mathews Band and Ben Harper. Eventually, two become four and four become what they are now, seven. “I’d like to say there are six of us, but we are pretty flexible in what we do,” Zuzu says.
The Bandawalla Moons are a group of highly skilled and talented young musicians with a creative urge that runs deep within them and binds them together. Every member of the group contributes to the creation of new songs, “It is not one person contributing to a particular song, it’s a collaboration of ideas from everybody, so I’m pretty pleased with that.” Since the beginning, the group has been full steam ahead and successfully pumped out ten popular tunes in a short 6 month time frame. Their creativity doesn’t stop with their music, the title ‘Bandawalla Moons’ was invented with random words on pieces of paper. “There were four of us coming up with random words and what we came up with was Bandawalla Moons.”
Having played in a stack of local venues around Townsville, the most memorable gig for The Bandawalla Moons has been the Roots Reggae Party at Bombay Rock put on by Shakedown Productions. Roots Reggae reflects their type of music and this event saw an impressive 500-600 people through the door. “It was really beautiful to see so many people turning up and dancing!” It was not just the numbers that was impressive for this new group, but an incredible opportunity to share the spot light with well established bands in Townsville. “To play alongside talented bands such as Pachooka, Lonesome Trio and the Kru, well, we were really privileged to have that opportunity.”
The more established bands in Townsville have had a large impact on The Bandwalla Moons. “To gain support from established bands such as Pachooka and Lonesome Trio, really gives us an opportunity to play more of our music and expose ourselves to the music scene in Townsville. We couldn’t have done it without them!”
The band members of the Bandawalla Moons have all shared interesting experiences since the dawn of the group. One experience however, has left some band members raising eyebrows with curiosity and leaving others laughing. “I was just like, singing, getting into the music and playing the guitar when suddenly I see these two black cups flying into my eyes and I thought… holy shit! So I got this bra and put it on my Mic stand for good luck.”
Recently, The Bandawalla Moons won Battle of the Bands at JCU. They entered the competition as one of the favourites to win, but this humble group were surprised when the winners were announced. “We entered the competition for fun and have people listen to our music. We had only been established for a short time. Also, to see random people dancing, listening and enjoying our music was a good feeling!”
In a countless number of venues and events, The Bandawalla Moons has had crowds up on their feet screaming ‘WE WANT MORE! WE WANT MORE!’. Good music that’s forged by the bands good vibe, good attitude and beliefs has stemmed from the fact that the members in this group are bound together by friendship. All of the members of diverse backgrounds coming from different countries and musical origins. “The music we play is our music, and we enjoy playing our type of music. Sammy has been playing Rock, Clement has been playing Jazz, Rodrigues played Reggae and I use to play Metal. We bring many influences into our music. We are not strictly Reggae, we play what feels good. That’s our music basically.”
Many people who have been inspired by The Bandawalla Moons have reached for their wallets and begged the questions ‘how much for a CD?’ At the moment this band has four songs recorded, however, these songs have not been finalised. “Firstly I’d like to thank everybody for supporting us! I am looking at mid 2009 to get an album out, when everyone has more time and money for more recording time. We are working really hard on it, so stick with us guys!”
Perhaps the most satisfying feeling for a young, new band is to have a core group of fans who make the gigs every chance they get. “I’d like to give a big shout out to everybody who has been coming to our gigs. Sending all of you big love and a big hug! Without you guys we would be nowhere! It’s because of you guys that we play and enjoy our music. We play music for all of you!”
