Interview: Walk The Moon

With their self-titled album Indie rock outfit Walk The Moon have loudly announced their arrival into the American consciousness. TNS sits down with guitarist Eli Maiman ahead of the album's UK release to see what’s getting the US excited.

To many in the UK, Walk The Moon are an unfamiliar entity, but with a sound tinged with a distinctly British influence it is easy to warm to them. Their synthesized indie rock will undoubtedly draw comparison to the likes of Franz Ferdinand and Two Door Cinema Club, and Maiman is more than happy for that to be the case.

When asked about the band's British sound, Maiman said: "The British vibe mostly came from our influences. We’re certainly into The Killers who, while aren’t British, draw a lot from the British heritage. We’re also really into David Bowie and a lot of Britpop so we draw some of our sound from there.’"

The Walk The Moon sound is certainly one that has been developed and refined, as a listen to their debut I want! I want! will reveal. The band have become more energetic and their songs more infectious. While these elements were there in the band's debut, they hadn’t been fully realised and capitalised on until their self titled follow-up. Maiman described the bands progression as "us getting tighter, both as people and as a musical unit", with the two years of experience and exposure setting the band off on a trajectory that is likely to lead to the very top of the genre.

Elaborating on this Maiman stated: "I think the band has got better and more dynamic live over the past few years, and I think we really got that across on the new record."

It is clear that Walk The Moon are at their best when they have an audience in front of them and they excel on putting on a show that can delight existing fans whilst creating new ones with their compelling, inclusive live performances that very much involve the audience.

Maiman elaborated on the band's live performances, stating: "What I find special about Walk the Moon shows is that there's a real emphasis placed on community.

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We don’t want to be this band that’s separate from the audience. We really want to be there having an experience with the crowd."

The band have a particular way of including the audience in their shows as well: "Before a show, we’ll come out and paint people’s faces. For a young band like us coming to England for the first time, it’s a good way to introduce ourselves and connect with new people."

For young people in particular it is easy to relate to the band. Throughout the album, particularly in their hit single Anna Sun, there are themes of youth and escapism running through their lyrics. Maiman puts this down to the band's situation at the time of the albums conception: "A lot of the record was written near the end of our college careers, and that’s a pretty intense transition period."

Expanding upon his statement, he said: "We found ourselves wondering who we are and where are we going and how we can be adults while maintaining a semblance of childhood and youth."

The band certainly have come of age with their new album, and its success has led them to Britain, where they have been preparing for this week’s UK release of Walk The Moon, which they hope will bring them further success in the UK.

When asked about the bands profile as up and comers in the UK, Maiman said: "It’s exciting. There’s definitely a perk to being put in front an audience that doesn’t know you, it tends to keep us hungry. We go on stage wanting to make the audience love us, and we want to win them over. So for us it’s really fun."

With the album release in the UK and touring commitments, the tail end of 2012 is a fairly busy one for the band as they look to continue their surge upwards. When asked about the band's plans, Maiman replied "Other than world domination?’" before stating: "We’re going on tour with fun for a month, which is really exciting, we’re going to see a lot of places I never dreamed of seeing before then take a month off in December to recharge our batteries. Expect us back in the UK again in early 2013."

With such a strong album and an impressive live performance Walk The Moon should easily prove as big a hit in the UK as they have back in America. But their catchy Indie Dance tracks may not be enough for world domination. The band will simply have to settle for domination of the airwaves.

Interview: Walk The Moon

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