Josie Moon Shares 'Rose Tinted' EP + Interview

Wellington-based rising star of electro-pop Josie Moon has unveiled her latest collection Rose Tinted today, following an infectious run of impeccably crafted singles. The assured five track EP was co-written with windy city multi-instrumentalist Nik Brinkman (Physical, Bright Music), and spans haunted beat workouts and arms in the air, hook-packed bangers - showcasing Moon's powerful vocal range and infallible ability to home in on a catchy melody. Moon is celebrating Rose Tinted's release tonight at Auckland's massive The Others Way multi-venue festival, hitting the stage at Whammy Backroom at 7.45pm sharp. We caught up with the synaesthetic artist via email to get the scoop on her new EP, stream Rose Tinted here and read her words below...

Congratulations on the release of your new EP! We've been digging the rollout of your singles. What kind of influences were you thinking about with the creation of Rose Tinted? How long was your EP in the works for?

Thank you so much! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it so far. There were so many influences that I absorbed over the summer while I was writing this EP. I was listening to so many love songs but in stark contrast I haven’t had a super fortunate love life in the last six months so I was caught on that fringe of cynicism and hopeless romance. I watched Sixteen Candles a lot, listened to Daniel Caesar’s Freudian almost every day. Then at night I would stay up writing lyrics while playing lo-fi hip-hop streams on Youtube. I also was super inspired by Rina Sawayama’s latest EP which incorporates a lot of early 2000’s pop music. The EP took maybe three or four months to finish over the summer. Then once my school started up again I was skipping class about two times a week to comp vocals and check mixes with Nik. This was the first release that I’ve teamed up with a distributor to extend the reach of my music so it took a while after it was finished to line up the release schedule. It’s been pretty full on this year.

How did you come to work with Nik Brinkman?

Nik messaged me over Facebook just about trying to write together for a Ghostwriters project he does. I was a bit cautious because I didn’t know anything about him or his history writing and producing but I agreed. Once we got in the studio and were writing 'Call Me', I liked it too much to let go of it and we agreed to keep working together over the summer to make an EP.

You've talked about your experiences as a synaesthetic artist. How does your unique perspective as a synaesthete inform your creative process, in terms of music making and performance?

In terms of making music it’s kind of a blessing and a curse, especially now that I’m co-writing with other producers. They’ll come up with a melody they really like but I can’t vibe with at all because it changes the colour of the song and totally warps the personality. I’ve definitely had weird looks in the studio before when I try to justify why I don’t vibe with the colour of something. I’ve had to try and build a vocabulary beyond what I experience to negotiate the realm of co-writing. Performance wise it can be a really cool addition to flesh out the experience so others can see what I see. Currently I try and ask for lights to match the colours as best as I can but you don’t always have control over that. I think once I get a bit more established and can have some solo shows I really want to work on creating a really rounded visual show.

Were you involved with any musical projects before your current solo material?

Apart from just school stuff in music class back in primary school, not really. Pursuing music for me was kind of a really serious decision, I hadn’t really knocked around in bands or anything before I started writing and singing. Once I found out I could sing at 18, I took music on with this ride or die approach and I was really untrusting of anyone else. Having myself being the only one responsible for my project pushes me to strive to be better and it means that things won’t be delayed because a friend you’re in a band with doesn’t feel like practicing that day or something.

What's the move now your EP is out and about? Any celebration plans?

Actually I’m already writing again for my next release. It’s been a while since I finished writing for this EP and I already have lots of ideas for how I want to follow it up. I’ll try and take some time to celebrate with some friends while I’m up here in Auckland though hehehe.

What was it like shooting your video for 'Call Me' at the Chateau Tongariro Hotel?

It was a really fun and positive experience. First of all the Chateau were so supportive of us and kind of just let us go anywhere we wanted which was awesome, we found so many interesting little corners of the hotel. The architecture is so unique and beautiful and inspired me a lot. I worked with director Taylor Mansfield and we road tripped together down to Tongariro together, so we became friends really quickly. It made filming a really easy and natural process. He’s very receptive and accomodating of my ideas and took off a lot of the stress I was harbouring about working with a director for the first time.

Who are you looking forward to seeing at The Others Way festival on Friday?

I really want to see Bad Friend because I have some friends from school in that band, but they’re performing at the same time as me :’(. Other than them, I’d like to check out BENE, and Wax Chattels <3.