Get ‘Ready to Know’ Lunar Intruder

Lunar Intruder consists of four talented guys from all over NZ - Auckland, Nelson, Havelock North and Christchurch. L-R from top: Tom Spillane (drums), Matt Earle (guitar), Cam Buyers (vocals/guitar) and Matt Genet (bass)

On a very cold Saturday morning, I had the opportunity to be invited round to have a chat with the Lunar Intruder boys in their practice space at Matt G's flat in Christchurch. 

Upon arrival, Matt and Tom were kicking it watching Six60, spacey jane and sticky fingers videos on TV, as you do on a saturday morning.

Cam soon arrived and Matt e showed up just in time for the interview. We gathered out in their practice space, the garage (or lunar headquarters), and chatted all things music ahead of their upcoming second EP (which is going to be released very shortly), their favourite alcoholic beverages and also their last messages sent/received.

interview contains swearing. i like to keep it real on welcome to the gig. enjoy!

—-

Thanks for having me guys, awesome to be here and be interviewing you, finally.

Matt G: Fuckin oath. Do we swear or…?

Yeah, yeah. It doesn’t matter.

[all guys start swearing in the background]

Matt G: I mean, we’re not on the radio, mean.

Tom: It’s the right type of journalism, really. Happy-medium of like, semi-casual, semi-formal.

—-

First of all, congrats on the release of Ready to Know, that is a very moving track, as you probably read from my review on it last night [this interview was done the day after the song was released]. I was worried I wasn’t editing it or wording it right.

The beautiful artwork for Ready to Know, designed by Riley Hewitt.

Tom: I mean, I don’t even know what the song is about. It’s cool. Like, if you listen to it enough times, the meaning just kind of shifts around, cause like, again, it’s a matter of perspective, it’s cool. It’s like Angel as well, that song kind of went from being another song to being like “holy shit, this song is pretty cool”

Yeah, that’s awesome. Angel is huge, eh? That’s probably one of my favourites and I know it’s one of your favourites [as a band] too, right?

Cam: Pretty much, maybe tied with [unreleased song title here]

Tom: And Dizzy and [another unreleased song title here], all of them.

So, basically all the unreleased songs? [From the upcoming EP]

——

Lunar was formed on a whim via a Facebook post, when you guys formed the band, was your aim to just do it for fun, or eventually take it further?

Cam: Probably fun, to be honest. I thought it was just going to be a side project for me and then it turned into a main one, cause like it was actually going somewhere, unlike my other band.

Tom: Straight Face.

So, what happened with your other band?

Cam: Just couldn’t gel with it, basically. I was like, I have to commit to one band.

—-

Solar Hangover was released on July 24th, 2020. Artwork by Anna Bruce.

It’s coming up on a year since Solar Hangover was released, how have you grown as a band since then?

Tom: Definitely gotten a lot tighter. I’d only just joined the band probably a month or two before we made Solar Hangover.

Matt G: We did like, 4 gigs before Solar Hangover came out and then that came out and then it just like, got us on the radar and then we were doing gigs every weekend.

Tom: I don’t think I played with the band before we released Solar Hangover, it was only after we released it, that’s when I started playing gigs, which was pretty huge and now we have played hundreds and hundreds of gigs, like, fuck me.

Gigs every weekend!

—-

So, is Solar Hangover still quite popular with the audience? [It was at this point I realised the silly question I had asked]

Cam: I mean, it’s the majority of what people know. Like, we know all our new songs, obviously and so we’re like “why does no one know this yet?” and then I’m like “oh, it’s not even out”. So, yeah, I’d say so, because it’s the stuff people know.

Is there like, a fan favourite that you guys have noticed?

Tom: Breeze on the Hills. Yup.

Yeah, cause that was pretty big eh, you guys did that acoustic last year and it was fucking amazing.

Cam: Depends on the audience eh. Just froth Wasted Taste.

Matt E: It’s just too hype when it’s live, eh.

Tom: It’s getting better and better, like I’m feeling it more each time. That’s why the crash [cymbal] has a crack in it! [We were talking about the crash cymbals prior to the interview, Tom has a couple cracked ones]. It’s just that song. Like, I genuinely think it’s just that song.

It’s definitely one of the more ‘heavier’ songs that you’ve got, eh? But it’s so good.

—-

So, how long have you been a band? When did Lunar become a band?

Matt G: Ah, will be over like, two years ago now. Which is fucking crazy. So, there was this interview that we had when we first started out and fuck it - I’ll go get it, I’ll go get the photo [Matt leaves to get this photo of one of the first interviews they did]. You’ll be like “what the fuck?”

Tom: Oi, you guys had an interview when Sam was still in the band? That long ago?

Cam: I remember seeing that interview as well and being like “this is sick!”

So, for context, Sam was your previous drummer before Tom, right?

Tom: Yup. Sam Shore. Sam is a lovely human being, he actually does mechanical with me as well, so I see him at Uni all the time. It’s pretty lucky we’re on good terms, it could go the other way pretty easily.

Matt E: Yeah, pretty peaceful.

You want to maintain that peace, eh?

Tom: I was pretty worried about that. The first time I’d ever met him was when we played The Raddlers gig [July 2020], and like, I finished playing Suit Yourself which is his song and he was like “bro, I’m so happy you kept it!”

[Matt G walks back in with the laptop and shows me the photo from the first interview they did] Oh my God, you guys look so young!

Matt G: They even spelt it wrong. They spelt Lunar wrong. [They spelt it LunaIntruder, not Lunar Intruder on the photo]. Yeah, I came across it the other night and was like “nah, I need to screenshot this!”

—-

Just waiting to drop their next EP!

So, because last year was a huge year with the pandemic, did it affect you guys as a band, practising, recording?

Cam: Practising, in comparison to other bands, to what they had to go through, I reckon we were way safer than the others just through the way we worked. We worked quite digitally as well.

Tom: I think it helped us in a way, over the pandemic, it helped NZ bands in general go a lot and through our perspective, just starting out, it did get us gigs because they couldn’t get people in from overseas and like, they were kind of struggling to fill places and we were like, “hey we’ve got an EP, listen to it, do you like it?” and James from Dolphin Friendly, the manager, he picked us up for a gig at Hide and we played the Sounds Tasty thing there during [covid alert] level 2, I know you were there.

Yes!

My first photo with the boys at the Hide, Sounds Tasty gig, August 2020.

Tom: That was our first solo sort of gig and yeah, it was pretty good. We picked up things like that, because no one else was around.

Matt G: Then again, at the same time, when we went into level 2, it was fucking shit because people would be like “yo, we’re having this party, big as one” and we were like, “oh mean!” and then it’s like “we can only have 100 people” But, in terms of practices above level 2, you can still have like, 10 people, so we just practiced basically and wrote the songs and gigged. Gig, gig, gig, gig, gig.

So, essentially, 2020 was really good to get you guys off the ground in New Zealand music.

Matt G: Yeah. 100%.

Tom: Just kind of like, putting feelers out there, to see how it works, because we still have got a lot to learn about New Zealand music and the industry and shit, I’m slowly picking it up, but it is pretty complicated. This song right here [music was playing in the background], this is like, THE song.

Matt G: This is like, the ultimate song. Terandara by Mild Orange.

Cam: Did I mention I like Mild Orange?

You know, the first time I heard about Mild Orange was actually from Cam, at the Hide gig, it wasn’t from Matt G, surprisingly! [For context, every time I see the guys, Matt ALWAYS mentions Mild Orange!]

Matt G: Nah, straight up. Spacey Jane as well, listen to them and Mild Orange.

—-

Both very talented bands, eh. That is quite ironic, because my next question was going to be “I know you’re all huge Mild Orange fans, are you influenced by any other bands?”

Matt G: There’s heaps, eh.

Cam: I’d say Mild Orange play into the sound we quite like, but yeah. Definitely not just them. What about you boys?

Matt G: It’s so many, like, we will like their soft stuff, then we will just listen to Alice in Chains, Nirvana, and then all their stuff. Then, you rock out then you come back to Mild Orange, Marlins Dreaming, Soaked Oats… But, yeah. I know Tom listens to heavy metal and shit, and so like, polar opposites. Depends on your mood really. Whatever is playing on shuffle.

Cam: I’d say for me, Radiohead plays a lot into my songwriting cause they kind of like, they are the band that inspired me to start songwriting. So, like, inevitably I feel like there is always going to be that influence there for me.

Tom: Muse. Also, Pink Floyd. Pink Floyd live at Pompeii, that’s the one. Those are the two biggest things that we watched probably 30/40 times last year, start to finish. It’s like, the peak of music.

Matt G: Happened like 50 years ago too.

—-

What do you guys do in your downtime, when you’re not playing gigs, working or studying?

Cam: Downtime...

Tom: It’s a nice concept, I’d like to meet it someday.

Cam: I’m pretty into my video games, eh. If I wasn’t doing the band, I’d definitely be pursuing like video game music and stuff. I find that stuff real interesting, I rate that stuff. Collaborating with video game creators to create a mean score would be cool.

Matt G: Matt E goes surfing heaps.

Matt E: Yeah, I’m pretty into my surfing. Outdoorsy stuff.

Matt G: Jam Warzone.

Tom: I take photos.

Oh yeah, you’ve got a photography page on Instagram right?

Tom: Yeah, I do. I’m actually considering stopping it. I’m going to post my photos on my main page. I have a website to keep things, like, a larger collation of shit if anyone is interested, they are welcome to check it out here.

—-

I guess this is a question for all of you - what is your creative process like? I’m guessing you have to do it element by element?

Tom: Mostly Cameron. About 99% Cameron.

Cam: When it comes, it comes, I guess. I don’t know.

Matt G: You’ll just be like “I’ve got this new song” and then he’ll start playing it and be like “oh, fuck, that’s mean eh. Oh, that’s mean. That’s mean. So, how does it go from there?”

Tom: Yeah, it’s more or less like this is how the drums should sound, move around with that and same with like, the bass and the gat. It’s usually like, “Matty, do a sick solo”, then Matty does a sick solo and then it’s a song.

Matt G: Then vocals come in last.

Cam: I’m fine with anything instrumental and then I actually have to write lyrics and I’m like “oh, writing lyrics, come on!” I guess it’s like the slowest process for me.

Tom: The ‘Roadie’ song sounds great as an instrumental because it doesn’t have lyrics yet.

Cam: I don’t know what you’ve heard, it has no lyrics yet!

Matt G: Should be all wrapping up soon though.

Nice! Is this the new EP? Because you guys were going to try and release it in July, but then decided not to because of Mako Road releasing their album, right?

Matt G: Not bad to release it at the same time.

Tom: We’ve got dates. We’ve got deadlines.

Cam: We actually stayed pretty close to our deadlines. Me and Tom were looking at our deadlines the other day and we accidentally hit all of them!

Tom: Yeah, within a day. It’s fucking mental. We set the deadlines like, 3 or 4 months ago and it was just a piece of paper and every single one of them, we’ve hit them like bang on! Our release of Angel and release of Ready to Know, we didn’t really plan them that well, but we kind of accidentally did, so we’re bang on track.

—-

Lunar Intruder at Summerstein, 2021. They started the evening before Dolphin Friendly and Mako Road took the stage.

So, have you got a name for the new EP?

[The guys whisper what the EP is called, but you’ll have to wait and see what the title is when they announce it!]

Matt G: The inspiration [behind the title] is very Lunar Intruder.

Tom: I don’t quite understand why, but I feel it resonates a bit more with us, gaging our kind of tone and music genre, because Solar Hangover it doesn’t really sound like Lunar Intruder, but then [new EP name] does and I don’t know why. It’s just a thing that I have in my head, when I hear [new EP name], I just feel it’s going to be great.

Matt E: It’s like, more of what we’re going towards. Obviously, Solar Hangover, at the time, was more what we were about but we’re all pretty stoked on the one in the new direction.

Tom: Solar Hangover is more of a crowd pleaser EP, [new EP name] is more us making music that we enjoy, but we don’t know if people are going to like. We hope they do, it’s pretty likely that they will, from what we’ve seen so far, but it’s more for us than for anyone else, which is why you should be making music to begin with, it’s shit you enjoy.

Angel and Ready to Know are so different to Solar, like you guys have said. So good. I’m obsessed with Ready to Know. I listened to it like, 18 times yesterday just to write the review.

Matt G: Mean.

Tom: Literally, same though. I saw your thing saying you listened to it 18 times. I was like “fuck, probably same!” I just had it on repeat all day yesterday.

—-

What do you guys make of the artwork [of Ready to Know]? Riley did an amazing job. Do you think it tells a story in a way?

Cam: Um, I’m vibing the consistency! Like, I was saying to the boys, when I see it, the colours, like, this is exactly what’s in my head right now. You’re in my head!

Matt E: We send the song to her, so she has a listen to it and we sort of give her like, well, often we don’t have too much of an idea of what we want, but we give her, like, a main sort of aim and she just gets back to us with like the initial background and stuff and we’re like “oh yeah, maybe like some more of this, more of that” and then yeah, it just turns into what it is. We’re pretty stoked with it.

Tom: It’s honestly unbelievable, considering we give her pretty much nothing to go off of, apart from “add more swirly, psychedelic shit” which is like the baseline of “we just want more swirly, psychedelic shit” she has done an incredible job.

Matt E: We’re so grateful for her because like, both of the Angel and Ready to Know [artwork], we hit her up like, 3 days before and we’re like “you keen to make some up” and she’s like “yeah” and we go “oh, by the way, we’ve got like, 2-3 days”

Cam: I fucking rate that one for the EP.

Matt G: It’s not done though, there’s something missing.

Tom: Swirly psychedelic shit.

Matt G: Nah, nah, nah.

[Big discussion about the EP artwork and what’s missing]

Matt G: We’re big Star Wars fans. When Mandalorian came out last year, everyone would just come to mine and watch it. It was mean as. [Matt has a massive burst of inspiration of what to add to the EP cover artwork after talking about Star Wars]

—-

Have you got any dream venues you’d want to play?

Matt G: NestFest. 100%. The house I grew up in is literally like, 200m away, so it would be mean to be the hometown boy, that would be so gangster.

Tom: For me, it would probably be The Tuning Fork. I played a couple gigs there in year 12 and year 13 and if we managed to play there, it would be full circle, it would be pretty cute. I would like to play there.

Matt E: Rhythm & Vines.

Matt G: Any festivals to be honest.

Tom: Please book us for any festivals, we’re pretty keen. Le Currents, hit us up.

Matt G: “Yes bro!” this is to Ed [their mate], you need to leave this in the interview, he will completely understand and crack up about it.

Tom: We love Ed.

Ed - Matt needs his jacket back.

Tom [to Cam]: Oi, what’s the venue you’d want to play?

Cam: I’m not phased. Just a venue where you know everyone is there just to see you. It would be more about the audience than the actual venue itself. You know? Who was there.

Tom: Cameron. My heart!

I think the audience makes it, doesn’t it?

Cam: Yeah, festivals are cool, even then, you know a lot of people are new to your stuff, but if you put on like a sick show, everyone there is like, Lunar Intruder. It’s different.

A big night for Lunar - a wonderful backyard gig for the release of Angel! Photo by Fran Scrimgeour. Spot me in the front anywhere?!

Matt G: We’re going to do another one here [backyard gig] when the EP releases. We are going to step it up, ten fold. We have like a band opening who are our mates. I won’t say who it is. We will hype it up. They’re good, you know them.

Matt G & Tom: Yeah, you know them.

Matt G: We’ve got our mate who is a DJ who is pretty keen to finish it. It’s going to be a massive UC night [University of Canterbury].

It’s going to be awesome! Getting pretty close to the EP release. How are you feeling about it?

Matt G: Yeah good!

Tom: Very, very excited.

Cam: Just want it to be out, to be honest!

[Jumping back to previous question]

Matt E: Yeah, I don’t know eh [in terms of dream venue]. Probably just a big festival or it would be sick to play, not really at a venue, but with a huge band that I don’t know, that we’re inspired by like Sticky [Fingers] or Spacey Jane, Mild Orange…

Shit, Mild Orange need to get you guys on their next tour!

—-

What is each of your favourite Lunar songs?

Matt G: Oh, shit. Mmm… Angel. Fuck, this new one we’ve got, that road trip one, I fucking love that one. Got a little soft spot for Crossroads, eh.

That’s quite a meaningful song, right?

Tom: What the fuck is that song about?

Cam: It’s just shit.

Matt G: It’s literally like, your life is at a crossroads.

Cam: It’s like when your life kind of changes around at a certain point and you’re like, “what the feck?”

What about the rest of you guys, favourite Lunar song?

Cam: I really like Angel.

Matt G: Oh, Dizzy [unreleased]. That one is mean.

Cam: Dizzy I rate as well. It’s probably between Angel and Dizzy. You haven’t heard Dizzy yet, but it has got a sort of similar vibe.

Tom: For me it’s between Breeze on the Hills and Ready to Know to be honest, just for the pure reason that Ready to Know, like the first time that Cam ever sung it at practice, that just gave me chills. I had legitimate chills.

I was so blown away with Ready to Know, the recording. Like, your voice is so powerful in that track.

Cam: Yeah, I kind of think that song was made a little bit more for the vocals, more than some of the others we have done, just to show off my vocals a little bit more.

What about you, Matt? Would would your favourite Lunar song be?

Matt E: I don’t know eh. Probably just whatever we are currently working on. [Unreleased song title] is a new one we’re working on and it’s real fun to play live. Whatever is new.

—-

Some non-music related questions for you! Where would you go in the world if there wasn’t a pandemic?

Matt G: California. I am just in love with American culture. All pop culture and their fucking food.

[Discussion about American food portions and how cheap it is]

Matt E: Morocco! Sick waves, sick surf.

Tom: Taormina in Sicily, I went there once, like, six years ago. I went with my parents and my sister. My parents went back a couple years ago, just before the pandemic and it reminded me just how much I love that place. It’s small little town vibes in Sicily, it’s really quaint and I wouldn’t mind being there for just like, 3 or 4 months just to feel things out.

Matt G: We are mobbing [in NZ].

Tom: We are literally mobbing.

Matt G: That’s the new term, to just like walk around and just mob. Tell your Mum, “yo Mum, I’m just going out to go mobbing”

She will be like “what the fuck is mobbing? She’d be like, “did you learn that from the Lunar boys?” Like, yeaaah. I’ve picked up so many phrases over the years from bands, like Dolphin Friendly, went through a phase last year saying “preash!” [appreciate] to everyone.

Tom: Shout out to the Dolph boys, shout out to The Hootz as per, preash!

Cam: I’m actually pretty keen to go to a third world country, because like I haven’t been to any and it’s a different take on the world, I guess. It’s not exactly, like a holiday. I reckon I’d really rate it, to be honest. My brother has told me so many stories from like when he went to a third world country [Cam couldn’t remember where], it’s just a different world.

Lunar Intruder playing at Halo Venue, March 2021.

—-

What’s your favourite drink?

Matt G: Maverick.

Matt E: Greenhill seltzers, as they’re from Mot [Motueka] and I’m from Nelson. Shout out to them.

Matt G: Happy Dad. Put that in the interview!

Tom: Greenhill seltzers or G&T. I love G&T. I can never afford G&T, so it’s seltzers. I like really expensive, nice gin. I bartended for a summer, so was surrounded by all of these really nice spirits and tried each of them individually and now I can’t drink most spirits, but I can still drink gin.

What about you, Cam?

Cam: Nah, I’m boring, I like… Hoft Brown.

—-

What was the last text you sent?

Tom: Text or message on Facebook?

Either or!

Matt G: “It’s fucking cold” by Thomas Spillane. Oh. “Can we do the interview inside? It’s fucking cold.”

Yet, we’re in your garage instead!

Tom: I’m wrapped up in a blanket, so it’s fine.

Matt G: That’s how cold it is [breathes out air]

It’s not that cold, you’re being a sissy!

Matt E: My last text was “kick ons?”

[Tom reads out the most weird, yet hilarious conversation with a mate, but it definitely cannot make the interview for reasons that you all would not want to know, just know it was typical guy banter!]

—-

Do you have any crazy fan experiences?

Cam: Nah, we don’t really have any crazy fan experiences.

Matt G: We’ve just got really good fans.

Matt E: It’s real mean when someone comes up after a gig and says they enjoyed our set, especially in Dunners [Dunedin].

Cam: You’d hope that it would be the majority of real nice people, who are down to listen to your tunes.

Matt E: When someone says they listen to our music, we’re just like “fuck, that’s sick, yeah” cause that’s like, the whole point.

Tom: It’s unexpected. Cause we still don’t think we’re that big, at all, so when we go to a different place like Dunners, that’s the perfect example, we played down there and we finished up our set, we were pretty unhappy with it to be honest, it wasn’t the best set we’ve done, but this girl came up to us who was bartending and was like “that was fucking insane, I’ve been listening to your guys’ shit for ages, I’m from Tauranga, you guys have a pretty big fanbase there, you should definitely play Tauranga” it was real cool.

Lunar’s debut Wellington show, April 2021. Incredible vibes!

—-

What’s the next step for you guys, any plans on doing a nationwide tour?

Cam: We are planning a tour, but it’s a small one. It’s probably a pretty wise decision on our part, just to get an idea of what it’s all about. Looking at how other bands have done it, when they go around, they won’t get many people they want going to their shows. I don’t know if you’ve watched any of the Ocean Alley documentaries, but when they do their European tour, one of the places they play in Italy is like, ten old people, listening to their tunes, that’s kind of humble. This massive band who are just like, playing to old people in Italy in this random venue, but sometimes you just have to do it and keep on repeating it until people just hear your name in that town a bit more. It is a lot of work, where we’re at is just going to be quite hard to do a nationwide tour and we just don’t have the money to do that right now.

Tom: I was going to say, financially, that would be the biggest one. If we could, we would, it’s just like, flying to all these places as opposed to driving is really difficult and you have to put up accommodation, pay deposits for venues and you have to pay for opening bands and all the equipment and stuff, that’s assuming you don’t have it to lug around with you, like a drumkit. It’s a lot. I’ve been looking into it the past two days and fuck me, it’s expensive. So, Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch is where we’re at at the moment, potentially Queenstown.

—-

Is there anything else you guys want to add, plug anything?

Matt E: Anyone out there who has listened to our music, we are so thankful really and we hope that we can keep putting tunes out.

Matt G: You can support us by following us on Instagram and listening to our stuff on Spotify.

Tom: Yeah, you know that old buzz that you support your mates that are artists? Make sure that you actually follow their shit. You can support us by liking our stuff, following us on Spotify, because the algorithm gets all flicky and it’s just a whole bunch of statistical bullshit, it doesn’t seem like it helps, but it does. So, thank you very much for being here and thank you for your help!

Cool, anything else?

Matt G: Thanks for interviewing us, nice showing you all the fucking artifacts from the Lunar lab.

It’s awesome to be here!

The infamous sign that now hangs in the Lunar headquarters! Matt G, Cam & I. March, 2021.

Originally made it as a joke - the guys loved it however and have kept it, so cool.

Tom: Oh, we have the #1 Lunar fan sign right over there. [I gave the guys a cheeky sign in March at their gig that says “#1 Lunar Fan!” with a letter on the back and they kept it and hung it in Lunar headquarters - but it fell off the wall]

Hey to Caleb who walked in at the very end of the interview.

—-

Awesome, thanks boys!