“I just remember reading somewhere … if you’re a musician, your work is your downtime so you have to enjoy it as much as possible, so I just try to stay disciplined and try to practice my guitar every day and try to get better,” said Centre Wellington native Graham Caldwell, lead singer and guitarist for the band Billy Moon.
Now living in Hamilton, Caldwell and fellow band member Patrick Ryan, are set for Billy Moon’s first tour. One of the first stops will be at North By Northeast (NXNE), a music festival that supports indie-artists and takes place throughout Toronto from June 17 to 21. Billy Moon will be playing on June 17 at Cameron House at 9pm.
“It’s really great to see lots of bands come together,” Caldwell said. “The whole city kind of gets moving and even though there’s a lot of bands that probably no one has ever heard about that get involved with the show it’s cool because you’ll get to mingle and meet lots of different people in the industry.”
Caldwell, who began making music before he was six years old when he lived just outside of Inverhaugh, said the two-week tour to the east coast of Canada is a big step for Billy Moon.
“I don’t want to think in terms of milestones, I just want to keep looking ahead,” he explained. “Once this tour’s over that’ll be our biggest accomplishment and then we’ll just keep working.”
Caldwell began Billy Moon the summer between Grade 12 and university, he said.
“When I first did it, it was all bedroom rock kind of stuff … sitting at a laptop recording things over and over and putting guitar part over guitar part and adding synths and trying to write these weird melancholic love songs or trying to make sense of what was going on around me with music and … I guess you could say it just kind of blossomed out of that.”
Now the band has a defined garage rock sound.
“When I made my first EP I just decided I was going to put my foot down and make a declaration about what I wanted to do.”
Billy Moon has released four EPs, recorded music longer than a single but shorter than a full musical album. And Caldwell writes every song himself.
“The first two records … I just did in like two different moods,” he said. “I just did those in my bedroom, used drum samples and played all the bass and guitar parts myself.”
But he wants to write more.
“You always have some kind of drive to write,” he said. “You’re always coming up with different ideas and you always think of like ‘oh that’d be cool’ or you’re just humming to yourself.
“Right before I go to bed sometimes I’ll hear a melody and I’m like ‘oh man I’ve got to sing into my phone so I can remember it.’ Every writer wishes they were writing more than they already are.”
Even on stage there is only Caldwell and Ryan so Caldwell said he’s responsible for all the guitar parts and Ryan takes care of the drums.
“Because we’re a guitar and a drum … I’ll be soloed or I have to figure out how to make bass and melody with my guitar when I play, so it can be challenging,” he explained. “It’s also a lot of fun.”
The most recent album from Billy Moon is Young Adult, a five-song EP that was recorded in Hamilton by Threshold Recording Studio.
Caldwell said he has 10 new songs ready for the band to record and he’s hoping to release them this fall.
“The … idea is to work with different producers and experiment with different sounds for different songs and we’ll see about releasing them sort of in groups as opposed to just one big plop,” he said.
In addition to making music and performing as Billy Moon, Calwell produces music videos and also works in the kitchen of Burrito Bandidos in Kitchener.
“I just work and then find time for my music,” he said. “There’s really no other way around it. You’d … be hard pressed to meet a musician who is at my level who didn’t have a second job.
“Just (to) have some money to make the band happen.”
Caldwell said he’d eventually like to return to Elora and play at the Elora Legion Branch 229.
“It would be cool to come back and play a big show in Elora sometime,” he said. “My first concert I ever went to was actually at the Elora legion hall (and) I’d love to play a show at the legion hall again sometime.”
Marcus Retterah’s band, BamBoo, will also perform at NXNE at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern taking the stage at 2am on June 20. Retterah has Mapleton roots.
