A few months back we stumbled on new music from Brooklyn-based Arthur Moon. The new project from queer artist Lora-Faye Åshuvud really reminds me of a young St. Vincent or Perfume Genius… let’s call it electro avant-pop.
Arthur Moon’s self-titled debut album came out on vinyl via Vinyl Me, Please & everywhere August 2. 1st single “I Feel Better” gave listeners a darkly bubbling peek into Lora-Faye’s deconstructed pop, exploring the concept of “incorrect music” and how it is in itself a queer impulse: breaking the rules, and finding the power that comes from doing things “wrong” by celebrating it, owning it, making it the center of the music… She often writes her lyrics using cut-up newspaper articles, adding to the collage-like quality in the band’s music.
The Arthur Moon project is a collaboration with musicians Cale Hawkins (Quincy Jones, Bilal, Wyclef Jean) and Martin D. Fowler (a composer for This American Life).
Girl Gang Music got the chance to do an exclusive Q&A with Lora Faye about her music and how she got here. Read it in full below.
GGM: You’ve been making music for a MINUTE now! And we’re huge fans. What keeps you going?
“Thank you! My bandmates keep me going—Marty, Aviva, Cale and Dave. Their creative work and their trust in me makes me feel fortified even when I’m totally lost in the sauce. I also refuse to be bored, which I think can frustrate them sometimes, but it means we are constantly changing things up, which definitely keeps me going.”
GGM: Where do you draw most of your inspiration from?
“Gay stuff.”
What advice would you give to someone just starting out in the music industry?
“I feel like I’m still starting out, to be honest. But I guess I might advise someone super new to the music industry to trust their instincts about people, always.”
GGM: How did you get into production/songwriting & what’s your current (the basics) set up? If you have a pic you can share, rad, if not no worries.
“Started songwriting when I was about 14, on an old Gibson Epiphone acoustic that my uncle lent me. Production came much later, and more slowly (always learning!)—as I began to realize that the only way to make my recordings sound the way I was hearing them in my head was to treat the recording process like it’s own instrument, an instrument I would need to play myself.
Current setup is all Ableton, all day, although most of the songs that I produced on the Arthur Moon record (I produced about half of them) were post-produced in Pro Tools because they were recorded using Pro Tools at Strange Weather. To put it gently, I do not prefer Pro Tools. Ableton forever. I’m also really into recording and processing tin foil right now? It makes surprisingly beautiful sounds. So that’s an integral part of my setup. And the vocoder of course. I have the new Behringer one, which is pretty great.”
Check out a livestream of them in the studio here:
GGM: What’s your favorite part of being an artist? What’s your least favorite?
“Favorite: When I make a mistake while writing, and it ends up being better than the thing I was trying to write.
Least favorite: Promoting shows.“
GGM: If you could give one piece of advice/motto about creating, what would it be?
“Do things wrong.”
Lora Faye’s Girl Gang Music Picks
L’Rain
“I’m a big fan of Taja Cheek’s band L’Rain—the latest record is a masterpiece. I can’t wait for what they do next—I hear there’s something new in the works. I also love Raia Was, who just put out the A side of her beautiful collection of songs this summer. I think the B side is coming this spring. I did a remix of one of the tunes on the A side—coming later this winter.“
Dua Saleh
“And lately I’ve really been getting into Dua Saleh. “Warm Pants” was on repeat at my house all fall.“
Aviva Jaye
“Oh and my bandmate Aviva Jaye is working on some music that’s gonna break the internet. I can’t give you a link for that because it’s not recorded yet but I can tell you to watch out for it because it’s coming and the songs are perfect.”