The Blue Moon: ‘The major big crossover was Buck Owens, the one album that we both completely fell in love with’

Watford soul duo The Blue Moon are gearing up to release their brilliantly toe-tapping second EP ‘So Glad’ alongside some additional new singles. 

Each track of the E.P. is being released a few weeks apart with a couple of extra singles. ‘I Love You, Baby’ is out on the 23rd May, ‘Think of Nothing at all’ on 20th June, ‘So Far So Good’ on 18th July and ‘Fighting with Myself’ on 15 August. Describing themselves as ‘two soft teachers who love heartfelt music’, The Blue Moon consists of singer and guitarist James Chapman and drummer and guitarist Alex Walker. They met when Chapman, who works as a special needs teacher, went into Walker’s music school to play guitar. Did they take their band name from Elvis’ band, The Blue Moon Boys? ‘No, my wife came up with it, I don’t know where she got it from,’ said Chapman. ‘I don’t think she knew about the Elvis link, to be honest, I think she just thought it sounded cool! We do love Elvis and the The Blue Moon Boys were Elvis’ backing band in some of his first tours around county fairs with Colonel Tom Parker.’

‘So Glad’ will feature three tracks that balance soaring melodies with introspective lyrics covering love, loss and grief: ‘So Glad’, ‘Think of Nothing At All’ and ‘I Love You, Baby’, all infused with the band’s trademark blend of soul, roots, and indie-rock. Of the EP, they say: ‘We’re so proud of how ‘So Glad’ has turned out. We’ve pushed ourselves to experiment with new sounds, whilst still keeping that raw energy that our audiences respond to.’

‘We discovered that kind of sound of the brass and that combination of soul and indie rock and I think we found a pattern that fits’

On the day we chat, Walker has just been coaching swimming at his local club house and they’re sitting outside on the idyllic-looking jetty, which he quips ‘should be really nice…we’ll probably get bitten by mosquitoes!’ Chapman describes the upcoming EP as a continuation of their soulful sound: ‘We discovered that sound of the brass and that combination of soul and indie rock and I think we found a pattern that fits,’ he said animatedly. ‘I think the big breakthrough for us was having a collection of very slow, depressing songs (laughs), and a big collection of upbeat party songs and on this EP, we’ve learned how to put them together and how to make a pop song that is quite expressive but still cover some of those more difficult topics, like loss and grief in the lyrics.’

The title track ‘So Glad’ is a proper stomper of a soul number, pulled along by Chapman’s powerful, warm vocals, a rumbling trumpet and hooky, feathery drumming from Walker and it turns out to have a sweet provenance: ‘I wrote that song just before I proposed to my wife,’ Chapman said. ‘I was thinking “I’ve chosen this person spend the rest of my life with” and celebrating that. Us two write the songs together, just one guitar and a drum kit, or two guitars. And then we have a bunch of friends that we hire to play the gigs. The instrumentation came along as we went along. It’s actually our producer, Jamie Savage, playing lead guitar on that song. He was sat there with me playing it for a long time and I wasn’t quite getting it. It was a strange moment because he just kept on telling me to play the guitar louder and harder (laughs). And everything you get taught in guitar is to play it soft, and especially when we do three or four hour gigs, you don’t want to be digging into the strings for three or four hours (laughs). But to get the sound right, you really want to be playing loud. He just got a bit frustrated with me, took the guitar off me and just kind of played it like that!’

Walker’s longstanding friend Andy Bruce composed the parts for the trumpets. He and Walker used to play in a former band together called Flutes and have played together in other bands since: ‘He’s always been a bassist but now he plays piano,’ Walker said. ‘He did a lot of string arrangements for a singer called Catherine Williams. He’s an amazing songwriter himself and we just asked him if he’d be interested. We definitely wanted to have trumpets but we don’t know how to write trumpet parts!’ I say that for me, it’s the trumpets that lift the whole track and give it that extra magic and he agrees: ‘I think you’re completely right but I wasn’t sold on that until we heard it. It was very much James saying: “Look, we’ve got to have horns on this next one.” And I was like, “Well, I don’t know, that feels like a lot of admin!” Chapman is laughing: ‘You said maybe one French horn. And I was like: “No, I think we need to have trumpets, trombone and saxophone. We need a harp solo!” It would be great, right?’ Walker interjects: ‘I was like: “Ok, this is a lot of logistics!”‘

The tracks have been tried and tested on stages throughout the UK and the Netherlands, including two sold out shows at London’s Green Note, sold out shows in venues in Manchester and the Netherlands, and more recently at shows supporting Dustbowl Revival and The Swamp Stomp String Band.

‘Live, I do lots of ad-lippy, Elvis-y kind of “Oh-ho-ho-ho’s” and wibblies and wobblies!’

‘I Love You, Baby’ is a real old school shimmyer and I say that I could imagine Sam Cooke singing it, as it builds to a glorious wall of layered up trumpets and guitar on the chorus and they look delighted: ‘I love Sam Cooke!,’ Chapman said enthusiastically. ‘I think I’d find it hard to say one of our songs and Sam Cooke in the same sentence, to be honest, just because it’s too much of a compliment. I’m not very good with compliments!’ Walker agrees: ‘No, we’re neither of us particularly good at that.’ Chapman jumps back in: ‘I think a lot of that shimminess and Sam Cooke-ness came from a nudge from the producer. Live, I do lots of ad-lippy, Elvis-y kind of “Oh-ho-ho-ho’s” and wibblies and wobblies (laughs) like putting on a character. In the studio, for some reason, I thought I wasn’t allowed to do that but our producer encouraged us to. By the time we got to the second EP, I was ready to run with that stuff.’

Walker explains: ‘Our producer was very good at saying: “You’ve asked me to help you do a live recording, so do it like you do when you do a gig.” I’m definitely from a different recording background and from playing in covers bands and things like that where you play the bits you’re meant to play and nothing more. He encouraged us to overplay a bit. I remember him, even on the first record that we did, saying: “No, you should do that mental fill that you just did because that’s live.” He allowed us to use much bigger parts and be freer and not be too stressed about the tempo moves because that all adds something to it.’

The track also has a heartfelt backstory: ‘I wrote ‘I Love You, Baby’ for our wedding day,’ Chapman said. I say that his wife must love it: ‘I think she’s a bit bored of it now,’ he said laughing. ‘She certainly did love it when she first met me. I don’t know if she quite feels the same now! I surprised her with the song at the wedding. I was like: “Oh, there’s a surprise on the wedding day” and I think she was hoping for a nice present or something but instead, she got a song!’ I tell him that a song is the best kind of present: ‘I’m not sure she’d agree, but I think deep down, she likes it quite a lot but she’s not always that keen to show it.’

Their real breakthrough was ‘World Around’, a big stompy, soulful and singalongy track which they released as a single last year: ‘It was one of our first soul-influenced songs,’ Chapman said. ‘Me and Alex kicked it about on acoustic guitar and drums for a while and it wasn’t really working. I tapped out a rhythm on my leg and we played it again and it clicked. I remember later we were demoing it and I heard Alex playing the drums in isolation and thinking this might be a great song. Our friend Jim Barnes also did an incredible job on the backing vocals. He wrote the music for the musical ‘Two Strangers Carry A Cake Across New York’.

‘I suppose the major big crossover was Buck Owens, the one album that we both completely fell in love with’

Their close camaraderie is evident on our Zoom and Chapman says that they’re very similar people. ‘We’re also very similar musicians. I don’t know how to describe it but when we play together, we do play in a similar way, although we actually have quite different music tastes.’ Walker agrees: ‘I suppose the major big crossover was Buck Owens, the one album that we both completely fell in love with. I probably like more miserable, introspective kind of music (laughs), like National, Interpol, that kind of stuff, and quite a lot of instrumental music. I’m quite into artists like Tykko with lots of melody. I’m really interested in the drum parts, obviously. I find it quite hard to listen to records and not listen to the drum parts.’ He looks at Chapman: ‘Whereas I think you probably listen to the guitar and I’m like: “Oh, there’s a guitar in that song?!”‘

Chapman is thinking about it: ‘I’m actually not sure I do really listen to the guitar,’ he said slowly. ‘I think the songwriting is usually the more interesting part, so I listen to a lot of country, a lot of soul, a lot of Americana. And a lot of Beatles, that’s another crossover.’ Walker agrees: ‘We’re big Beatles fans. Bruce Springsteen is another massive crossover for us as well, we both went to his shows last year. We’re both fans of his back catalogue, although I actually do genuinely like his new music. I know that’s an unpopular thing to say. I think that track ‘Ghosts’ is amazing!’ I say that I love it, too, and when it came out (in 2020), I played it on a loop for weeks: ‘I did exactly the same thing!,’ Walker said excitedly. ‘And I made all my students learn it as well because the drum beat is really easy!’ I tell him that Springsteen has a new song out on the day we chat but that I don’t like it very much and he laughs: ‘It can’t all be hits,’ he said. ‘Maybe he’s finally too old? Actually, I don’t think he’ll ever be too old. I think he’ll be still marching around in jeans with a big sweat patch on his back when he dies!’

Chapman has gone back to Buck Owens: ‘You might be interested to look up – because obviously I can tell you’re a massive music fan – the album that we really met on, which is the Buck Owens live in London album (2005). It’s very unusual, not many people listen to it. He decided that he was just going to do the same set and record it in seven different places in Europe. He does an impression of the Beatles, where he puts on mop wigs and takes the piss out of them (laughs). Walker joins in: ‘He’ll say: “I’m going to do this song for you guys, this is the kind of music you like”. It’s not a bad pastiche, I suppose, but it’s very funny! On the whole album, you can hear them talking. One of the guitarists makes a mistake, I think, on track three or four, and they make a big deal out of it and laugh. It’s an amazing listen.’

‘Sonically, it’s closer to ‘I Love You, Baby’ – it still has the horns, it’s still got that soul feel, it’s still a relatively upbeat song’

‘Think of Nothing At All’ reels the listener in from the big brass intro yet has a very different backstory: ‘It’s a bit of a cliché, really, but it’s a sort of COVID song,’ Chapman admitted. ‘I’m sure every one of your interviewees has got a COVID song!’ I say that they have and he laughs: ‘You’re probably very bored of hearing about COVID songs. Each verse is sort of a story about a person that I knew who was going through a difficult time at that period of time. So it’s not specifically “Oh, we had to wear masks and we had to stay in our living rooms”. It’s more about people’s individual stories of grief and love and loss. Sonically, it’s closer to ‘I Love You, Baby’ – it still has the horns, it’s still got that soul feel, it’s still a relatively upbeat song.’

Walker jumps in: ‘It came about really strangely. We had a completely different version of it in mind when we went to Glasgow to record it. It was going to be quite slow and sombre and a bit miserable (laughs). We’d never met our bass player that was going to play on the record with us but we’d spoken to him a bit on the phone. He seemed very professional and we’re used to working with different players. When he turned up, he was just so nice and suddenly the energy completely changed. He was being really supportive of our really shit version of the song (laughs). I could see he was being patient. But then he was like: “Have you thought of maybe just trying it like this?” And we played it once through and that’s the version that’s on the record, we didn’t change it at all. We just did it once with him. And we were like: “Yeah, that’s it!” Let’s just record that on our phone, so we’ve got a note for tomorrow. And then that’s it done. Thanks, Callum!’

Chapman laughs: ‘I was playing it on an organ but I can’t really play organ, so I was trying to sing and play an instrument I can’t really play!’ Walker interjects: ‘I was trying to play electric guitar, which was going really badly. I’m very much a rhythm guitarist, so the idea of me playing haunting notes is hard, I remember being quite sweaty and stressed!’

‘We’ve done a lot of gigs where I’ve got laryngitis or my uvula’s swollen and I think that stuff makes your voice very strong and loud!’

They cite other influences, including Marcus King, The Heavy Heavy and Nathaniel Ratecliff. Incredibly, for someone with a voice like Chapman, he wasn’t initially aware that his voice was something special: ‘I’ve got a big, big, loud voice,’ he said laughing. ‘I suppose I’ve worked on it because we’ve done lots of three-hour long gigs in sweaty, tiny pubs. We’ve done a lot of gigs where I’ve got laryngitis or my uvula’s swollen and I think that stuff makes your voice very strong and loud.’

I ask how he got into singing as a kid: ‘I don’t really remember, I think I was just a bit of a cocky kid, really (laughs) and I just never really questioned it. There were a couple of big moments. You won’t know the answer to this question, this is a stupid story. But you know that dude who does all the choir programmes on BBC?’ Walker nods: ‘I do know exactly who that is, he does a rock choir or something?’ Chapman nods and continues: ‘I did some acting lessons and they had a musical bit and he – Gareth Malone – was covering for a singer who’d gone off to do a gig on a cruise ship! I sort of knew I could sing but I thought I could sing in a room full of other people who could also sing. He was the one who said: “You’re doing something slightly differently to everyone else in this room” and gave me a solo. That was when I was about 14. Up until that moment, I thought everybody could sing, all you had to do was open your mouth and shout (laughs). That was when I started to think that maybe I could do something that other people might not be able to do.’

Walker’s introduction to music started with the guitar, which he started to play when he was seven: ‘I carried on guitar lessons ’til I was 14 or so but it was all classical guitar. Until recently, I really have been quite annoyed about it because I never really understood how people just picked it up and bashed out some chords (laughs). When I was at secondary school, I swapped my guitar for a drum kit and didn’t tell my parents. We did the swap and they put all the drums on the side of the road, I hadn’t thought it through (laughs). And I was like: “Oh, shit. I don’t know if I’m going to get all these drums home!” So then I had to phone my mum and say: “Can you come and pick up MY drums?!” She was like: “What drums?!” So that’s how I got into drumming. My mum has memories of me putting all the pillows out and hitting them with snooker cues and just playing drums to music.’ I say that Dave Grohl used to do that as well. ‘Did he? There you go, that’s promising. Maybe I’ll one day be as good!’

‘If I was socialising, it was probably around music’

After struggling to identify with being at sixth form, Walker decided to try doing music full-time instead once he finished: ‘That’s kind of how it came about, really. School bands and scout huts with mates and things. Just always doing it. It’s very much the social thing. I don’t know if it’s the same for you but if I was socialising, it was probably around music. I didn’t really go to the pub, I was always going to a scout hut to do some music.’ Chapman weighs in: ‘That’s similar to me at university,’ he said. ‘I didn’t do very well at university, I only just scraped the 2:2 and I think that’s because I spent 90% of the time just forming bands and being in bands!’ Walker laughs: ‘Although, obviously, I wouldn’t recommend my son do the same thing! I think I’ve been in – we were counting this the other day – upwards of 30 bands and most of them were shocking, really dreadful bands – with no songs!’ I say that I bet they weren’t half as bad as he thinks and he grins: ‘Some of them might be twice as bad as you think!’

Their makeshift attitude to rehearsing and gigging is endearing and shows just how much juggling there can be: ‘I didn’t have a drummer for a long time, we couldn’t really afford a drummer because if you have a drummer, you have to pay for a rehearsal room,’ Chapman said. ‘So I did folk music and bluegrass music a lot where we’d put on gigs in parks. I’d play a lot of mandolin and stuff like that, I love that music. We’d often have gigs that were cancelled because where we decided to play – and told our friends to turn up – there’d be a swan nesting there and he wouldn’t let us be there anymore (laughs). Or we’d go play a pub and we’d forget to tell the pub that we were planning to play. We’d organise a gig at the pub and just not tell them, then we’d end up being quite cross when a band turned up!’ Walker laughs: ‘That doesn’t sound that believable but it’s well on brand!’

Sometimes, the venues themselves get it wrong, as an amused Chapman recounts: ‘We turned up to a gig once and the bouncer started laughing at us, we wondered why but it was soon apparent. There was a DJ set up on the stage already playing. The manager had double booked. It turned out the place was actually under new management, which made sense since the previous manager had got so drunk at our previous show she fell down the stairs then tried to kiss me!’

If they could go out drinking with any musician dead or alive, who would they pick? ‘Oh, that is a hard question. It’d have to be someone you could keep up with!,’ Walker said. Chapman looks at him: ‘What do you mean? You think it might be a bit of a dark, stormy night?!’ Walker grins: ‘Yeah, I think that night’s going on!’ Chapman is mulling who to pick: ‘I think I’m leaning on someone who probably wouldn’t want a big night, but I’d love to have been there.’ Walker laughs: ‘You’re lying then, aren’t you?! That’s not true, you would turn it into a big night, wouldn’t you?!’ Chapman grins: ‘Yeah, I’d turn it into a big night! I’d love to have been there when George Harrison and Eric Clapton were good friends. I’d love to have been there before they had the big argument over Pattie Boyd (laughs). I don’t think I’d ask them anything, I think I’d just sit there. Well, I say try and sit there and not say anything but I probably would kind of take over and start pouring drinks and telling jokes and try desperately to make them laugh.’

Chapman has already planned out the encounter in his head: ‘I think we’d probably start late afternoon, I’ve thought about this a lot, actually (laughs). We’d probably start in his garden, the one full of the gnomes from the album cover (All Things Must Pass) and slowly sip on beers and smoke a couple of joints and talk about stuff. The really stupid things, I’d like to ask him about, actually. When he does slide guitar, he does overlays. Every time he did slide, especially on the All Things Must Pass album, he’d overlay 20 or 30 guitar takes and then about an hour before the songs were finished, he deleted them all. He always would do it and change his mind. His son talked about it. I think it was just an excuse for him to sit in his studio and not talk to anyone for a day under the guise of: “Oh, yeah, I’m just playing the same guitar part again!”‘

‘There’s a big part of me that wants to say Elton John, but I also know that there’s no possibility that I’m going to last more than an hour and a half, two hours at the pace that he can go at!’

Walker is still trying to decide who he mosts wants to go out drinking with: ‘It’s a really difficult question. I suppose with our Watford link, there’s a big part of me that wants to say Elton John, but I also know that there’s no possibility that I’m going to last more than an hour and a half, two hours, at the pace that he can go at!,’ he said. ‘What era of Elton would you go for?,’ Chapman asks him. ‘He was quite timid in the beginning.’ ‘No, not the early period, Walker said. ‘I want him at full tilt, big sunglasses! I’m going to go for the first rehab visit (laughs). I want to be carried along and just see. A friend of mine was in a room once and didn’t speak to Lady Gaga but said that she has an aura of superstar around her. I don’t think there’s that many people around that have that but I get the impression at his peak, Elton would have had that, that he would have entered a room and people would just gasp. I’d like to be swept up in that for just an evening but I know it would be very bad to do that more than one time!’

Chapman jumps in: ‘You know, he did that famous gig at the Troubadour (in LA, in August 1970), it’s a very poignant moment in the film ‘Rocketman’ when he lifts up off the piano. Who was the support band at that Troubadour gig? I often think about that. Nobody knows who they are, nobody remembers their name but everyone knows there was a support band! Who was it? That would have been a good night for them!’ Walker laughs: ‘I bet if you googled it, it will have been somebody who’s turned out to be massive!’ (He’s right, I google it after our chat: roughly 300 people were there that night, among them Quincy Jones, Gordon Lightfoot and the Beach Boys’ Mike Love. Neil Diamond was the first person on stage.) Chapman is just getting into his stride: ‘Another funny one is Coldplay and Radiohead,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘There’s a tour they did together in 1996 when neither of them was called Coldplay or Radiohead. Apparently, Thom Yorke and Chris Martin got on like a house on fire, a real bromance, and now they pretend they don’t know each other at all (laughs). So it would be nice to have a photo of Chris Martin and Thom Yorke having a big hug!’ Walker laughs: ‘A big hug… and a cup of tea!’

(Top photo: Alex (left) and James.)