Diandra Interviews Arthur Moon: Observing Love Through Song
“I only know that I know nothing,” said Socrates on trial, according to Plato. In the face of death, he had no idea what was life and could not describe its meaning or worth to the very people asking him to defend his own. I thought of that quote after Arthur Moon’s interview. Her music is richly observant in how we can witness so much and not understand anything at all. From subject of peace to justice, her lyrics can be deeply emotional in revealing how hard they are to define. In our interview, Arthur Moon discusses her upcoming, self-titled album and how finding love has changed her music.
Diandra: You have said upcoming music, like recently released Homonormo, observes what it is to fail at society’s definition of success and normalcy. How do you think society defines these terms, and how do you, personally, define them?
Arthur Moon: In the context you’re referring to, I would relate those terms to conversations happening in the queer community about what work towards justice and equality might constitute. Is our fight for access to privilege or is our fight against a broader system that rests on reserving the resources and safety that “privilege” allows to a chosen few to begin with?
Diandra: With injustice on your mind, how has music helped you gain inner peace?
Arthur Moon: I’m not sure I totally know what inner peace feels like, to be honest, but playing and writing and being in community around music definitely makes me feel less terrible sometimes.
Diandra: You wrote some upcoming songs about falling in love. How has falling in love changed how you create and feel music?
Arthur Moon: I think the feeling of falling in love–that feeling of having your perspective suddenly shift so drastically away from what it was before, even though you’re the same person living the same life–that’s a big part of the joyful disorientation I’m often looking for in the music.
Diandra: You write your lyrics using cut-up newspaper articles. Why and what about this process makes your songs come to life to you?
Arthur Moon: Introducing elements of surprise and play into the writing process is what I’m always after–those moments where I feel like I can duck around my own ego and just let something emerge without the weight of all my own intention and self-doubt–those are the moments that always feel the best to me.
Diandra: You said you got the inkling to name yourself Arthur Moon after a dream. Describe another dream that guided you in terms of a specific music/ career choice?
Arthur Moon: These days I mostly have anxiety dreams, to be honest, so I try not to let them guide my choices too much.
Diandra: You love music that makes you pleasurably uncomfortable, how do you feel your upcoming debut will achieve this?
Arthur Moon: I hope it will be experienced by folks as pleasurably uncomfortable! I welcome all experiences though. I do think there are some moments on the record where that was explicitly the goal, though, like Standing Wave, which uses a shifting sense of time to disorient, especially in the B section of the song.
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