A Young Band With An Old Soul
By Esther Sanchez
A few weeks back I was at our beloved, Schmidy’s Tavern checking out my boys from Right On, Right On when I was lucky enough to catch a group I had yet to experience. It was already close to midnight when the last band of the night was setting up to play for an inevitably thinning crowd….never an ideal situation for performers, but it goes with the territory. I had been outside hanging out with my peeps for at least 10 or 15 minutes while some group I didn’t know was performing. That’s when my homie, Ben Crowson walked outside and said something along the lines of, “Are you hearing these guys? They’re awesome.” Feeling a combination of curiosity and guilt for not being supportive of my fellow local musicians, I went in to see what I was missing.
To be perfectly honest, the first thing that struck me was how young these guys looked. I questioned whether or not these boys were even of legal age to be there at that hour. As I listened, I was immediately taken back by the level of maturity that was manifesting from this baby-faced mystery trio. This was not the type of sound I would expect from such young guys. Besides their clearly impressive instrumental skills, there was a depth in both their musical style and their creative orchestration that seems to be the product of musicians with a lot more years on these guys. Not to mention the soulful and often clever lyrics. Needless to say, by the end of the night I was a full-fledged fan of Daytime Moon.
Formed in 2012 by frontman, guitar player and lyricist, Brent Simpson, Daytime Moon has gone through changes in members over the past few years. They have toured up and down the west-coast and beyond with a few various members, but as Simpson told me in our interview, “Daytime Moon is his baby.” Now, joined by buddies from High School who reconnected over music, DT seems to have found its sweet spot.
Growing up in the musical and artistic Mecca that is Joshua Tree, all three band-members grew up doing what comes as second nature to so many in the High Desert….. Making music. In fact, not only are all three of the guys multi-instrumentalists, Malachai Rosmino (bass) and Joseph Gonzales, (drums) actually formed their very own hardcore band when they were still in middle-school. I must admit…the thought of a group of 13 year-olds playing hardcore sounds simultaneously adorable and badass.
Over the years, the guys in Daytime Moon have developed a sound that is distinctly their own, and at the same time oozes a sort of trippy, yet mellow vibe that is totally High Desert in the best way imaginable. The clear influence from the environment that nurtured them is abundantly clear and it is a concept that they truly embrace. And even better, the high-desert is growing to love them right back. In addition to performing all over the state, they have been given a resident spot at the uber-hip Beatnik Lounge in Joshua Tree where they perform and host other bands.
Daytime Moon is releasing a new (currently untitled) album in mid-April and expects to go on tour this summer. facebook.com/DaytimeMoonBand
(Photos by Esther Sanchez)
