Back in April, The Lunar Towers released their single Wire, available across all platforms. As well as being good friends with our mates over at Day Trip To Monaco, these guys rock hard. We thought it would be good to chat to them about all things music.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Where are you from and how did you all meet?
Rory and Joe met by chance in 2008 at the age of fifteen, when they found themselves seated together in a French class. During this period, they quickly realised their shared love of lyric writing and guitar music old and new, which set them on the path to forming their first band in their hometown of Cheltenham. In 2021, following the first lockdown in which they had sent demos back and forth, the songwriting pair reunited in the garden of Joe’s home in London, along with old school friend Rob. The duo had now become a trio with a unique chemistry and hunger for crafting memorable pop records.
Since then the group has grown into a full band outfit with the addition of their drummer Bradley and have set to work writing and rehearsing songs together. The band recently recorded five tracks with producer Richard James (engineer on Julia Bardo’s Bauhaus, L’Appartamento) from Vacant TV, whio also offers backing vocals on ‘Plastic Glass Towers’. All tracks have been mastered by revered engineer Pete Maher (Rolling Stones, Pixies, Nick Cave).
The group have been played on Gary Crowley’s BBC Radio London and have received praise from Robert Carlyle in a recent tweet.
If you had to sum the band up in three words, what would you say?
Mad for it – Rob
Melodic hit makers – Joe
Where did the name The Lunar Towers come from?
It’s come from the landscape we’ve made the records in, the changing horizon of London and specifically Acton, around the new HS2 developments. This combined with the ethereal nature of our tracks gave us the name.
You recently released your debut single Wire. Can you tell us a bit about what the song means to you, as a band?
It’s a great song. I think it was the first song we worked on as a band, singing together and figuring out parts for the first time. – Rob
Joe: I think this song says a lot about who we are, writing together, singing in harmony, with a lot of energy and pop hooks, it feels like the song we’ve had inside us for years, it’s an introduction to the four of us, there’s plenty more to come in all different forms though!
‘Wire’ is an allegorical love song inspired by the legendary French high-wire artist Philippe Petit. The song’s lyrical references to his famous and illicit high-wire walk between the Twin Towers in 1974, symbolise a broken-hearted person unexpectedly falling in love again. – Rory
Who produced it? What was it like working with them?
Ric James – the fifth Lunar Tower. We’ve done 12 songs with Ric. He’s a mate now, and it’s great fun recording with him. – Rob.
Joe: Ric has really opened our eyes to how we can develop and experiment with the songs in the studio, we’ve recorded everything to tape which means we have to be super tight and locked in as a group before we hit record, which has really helped us get ready for gigs. Recording to tape has also meant we can speed things up or slow them down if we want, Ric called it ‘messing with the fabric and physics of time’ I think which I really loved, I’ve always wanted to try that ever since learning about The Beatles recording ‘Rain’ at twice the speed on record then slowing it down to half time. Ric has taken all our ideas and brought them to life before our eyes. He’s a great listener and knows how to get the best out of us. Shame he’s a Man City fan!
A shout out to Pete Maher and Andy Crofts too who have both done incredible jobs of mastering the tracks!
What is one thing you’ve learnt in your journey into music?
The way a song can come to life in new ways when you play it with other people – Rob
Joe – just to be keep totally open to all ideas, to always try each and every suggestion (where time allows), work with as many people as you can, but also stick to what you believe in. We’ve all played with lots of different musicians over the years and I think it’s made us a very versatile group because we can draw from those experiences and the different types of music we’ve all played and listened to. That said, I think we have a clear vision of what we want to do, and we’re completely determined to realise that vision. You can only truly rely on yourself to get up, pick up a guitar and put in the hours to delve into yourself, look at the world around you and write the hits, you have to show up every day, and being in this group means we have each other to show up for. We do it for each other. Writing together has made us all work harder and the tunes are benefitting from that, 100%.
What’s next for The Lunar Towers?
We’re releasing a second single in June, and then a couple of E.Ps. Gigs in London and beyond. Music videos. And continuing to work on new music. – Rob
Where can we find out more about you?
Instagram @thelunartowers
Twitter @TheLunarTowers
Spotify and all digital streaming platforms
Anything else you would like to tell us?
We’re playing at the Sebright Arms on June 24th supporting Bonze Music – come along! – Rob
We’ll also be releasing our new single ‘Happy as Larry’
Huge thanks to Andy and John and all the bands at Colorama Records for their continued support!
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