Interview: Moon Tooth
2019 was a breakout year for Long Island-based experimental metal band Moon Tooth. Their sophomore album, Crux, earned glowing reviews and even landed on Rolling Stone’s “50 Best Albums of 2019” list — not an easy task for a genre-bending metal record by a relatively unknown group. Alas, just as their momentum was peaking, the world came to a screeching halt at the hands of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Being forced into a two-year tour hiatus just as their fanbase was exploding could have left them bitter. But rather than letting it get them down, the quartet was able to utilize that time by writing and recording their most optimistic album to date.
Released on May 13, Phototroph is packed with the kind of big hooks that could earn the band national attention. They’ve managed to seamlessly blend it all together: classic rock’s bombastic bravado and appeal; the earnest emotional heart of grunge; the head-spinning technical prowess of prog; heavy metal’s muscular thunder; and the cool, throbbing attitude and riffs of stoner rock.
Fresh off a tour with Dance Gavin Dance, Moon Tooth swings through town on Sunday, May 22, for a show at The Odditorium. With the band seemingly to be on the cusp of stardom, this may be the last chance to see them on a small stage.
Singer John Carbone and guitarist Nick Lee recently put aside a little time to answer a few questions for Asheville Stages.
Jonny Leather: How’d you end up with Asheville on your tour itinerary? Is this your first time playing here?
John Carbone: The tour with Dance Gavin Dance ends in Alabama, so we needed a few routing dates to make it back to New York. We've only played Asheville once but it was enough to be really charmed by the place, so we're super excited to be back!
Nick Lee: I’ve been back on vacation with my fiancée since then. I just love it here. Great scenery, great beers and food, friendly people — Asheville rules!
JL: How has it been being back in front of crowds?
JC: Happier than I've been in two years. We live to tour. Personally, there's nothing I love doing more. My identity is one and the same with writing, recording, and gigging all over, so I feel like myself again.
NL: It has definitely been amazing getting an opportunity to come back with the bang of 1,000-2,000 people per night. Three years waiting for an opportunity like this really got to us personally after building our lives around this band for the last nine years, so we’ve been super grateful to have the challenge of winning over so many new faces every day. I’m glad we’re coming back with something bigger than ever.
JL: Moon Tooth’s sound can be hard to pin down. It can be proggy, heavy, technical experimental metalcore one minute, and then shift to the kind of soaring melodic alt-metal that would earn comparisons to Soundgarden the next. How do you manage to balance your wide range of influences?
JC: Honestly, we just found in each other the right people to create with. The blend that you hear is just what naturally happens when we write together. If it was something we actively tried to cultivate, it'd be trash.
NL: The four of us actively listen to everything. We definitely play some metal and hardcore in the van, but on this tour I’ve been loving driving to Miles Davis, John Prine, Merle Haggard, and Django Reinhardt. As far as Moon Tooth is concerned, there’s only two types of music: good and bad. And when it comes to writing, that leaves us very open to trying anything and everything. Of course, I want people to enjoy it and want them to come see us live, but it’s not priority number one. If we satisfy our own creative needs, then that’s what matters. Genre is never a part of the conversation. We just write what we love and try to pay a little tribute to every era of rock and roll — back to its roots, if we can.
JL: Nick, you have toured extensively as a member of Riot. What wisdom have you been able to bring back to Moon Tooth from being on the road with seasoned metal pioneers?
NL: Every show and tour, no matter how big or small, gives you valuable experience that you take with you. The most obvious knowledge gained from those Riot gigs was how to navigate much bigger stages, how to make sure you can hear yourself enough to put on an intense set, and not let anything get in the way. Some of those big festival stages are totally “do or die.” Riot doesn’t tour with a big crew or anything either, so we were self-reliant while going on right before Judas Priest, after I set up my own pedal board! It made me tougher in the face of adversity and not willing to take “no” for an answer from a crowd.
JC: We have management now, but from day one, Nick has been the de facto manager for Tooth. I've met few people who are more organized, hard working, and naturally-inclined to do the job. We wouldn't be this far along without his contribution in that sense, so he's the perfect person to learn those lessons before the rest of us.
JL: You guys grew up around a pretty vital Long Island scene.
NL: We certainly did!
JL: Who are some of the bands you looked up to when you were kids first getting into music?
JC: For me, it was ska, punk, and emo bands like Patent Pending, 32 Degrees in Hell, and Arrogant Sons of Bitches. There was a local church whose youth group, led by and made up of punks and metalheads, would throw shows in the basement — so that's where I started to see bands live. The most important, though, was a band called Harold's Trousers. My older cousin Jonathan, who is my only family member that's been in bands and toured, played bass with them. So naturally, I idolized him and the Trousers. They were a blend of punk, ska, reggae, and hip-hop. Jess DeBellis, who played keys with them, has actually played on a couple Tooth tracks over the years.
NL: My first impressions were from a ska band called The Supercools, a death metal band called Ballistic, and a stoner metal band called Dirty Rig. I saw them all when I was in middle school and looked up to them because they were older, but they were local and they were really doing it! [Moon Tooth Drummer] Ray [Marte] and my band in high school were close friends with El Rio Humano [now known as Gamblers] and Vision Through Sound [now Yankee Longstraw]. Even though our music didn’t have a lot in common, we played hundreds of shows together and it was just such a supportive scene.
John and I went on to play in Rice Cultivation Society, who I still think was the most underrated and talented band on that whole island, regardless of our involvement. Johnny Booth is one that was around before Moon Tooth but still continues to get better, heavier, and tighter. I looked up to them because they were heavier than all the cookie-cutter L.I. hardcore bands, but they were accessible, friendly, wonderful people and had none of that fake tough-guy bullshit that their peers were so obsessed with propagating.
JL: Have you found yourselves becoming one of the bands younger Long Island musicians now look up to?
JC: Ha! I have no idea, but that's the goal: to show kids that they can make their dreams come true if they work hard enough.
NL: I hope so! I can think of a few who have told me that, and I have a lot of guitar students all over the country that have said we’re an influence on them. Feels good to carry the torch!
JL: Your new album, Phototroph, dropped on Friday, May 13. Did you specifically arrange to release it on Friday the 13th, or did it just happen by chance?
JC: I think it was a coincidence, but I'm not sure. Details like that are outside my pay grade. I just have to show up, be thicc, and shake it around!
NL: Just lucky, I guess.
JL: What can fans expect from the new material?JC: Thematically, it’s a lot more optimistic than the last record — more uplifting, with a will to strive towards healing. Sonically, it’s more upbeat as well. It’s definitely the catchiest stuff we've ever written. I think we scratched our classic rock/pop itches on this one — but still weird, still us.
NL: This album is the logical step from our previous album. They can expect an album to lean on when they need something to help them through a tough time, and also to get them fired up when they’re trying to rage!
IF YOU GO
Who: Moon Tooth + The Shrunken Heads + Night Beers
When: Sunday, May 22, 7 p.m.
Where: The Odditorium, 1045 Haywood Rd., ashevilleodditoriumtickets.com
Tickets: $12 advance / $15 day of show
(Photos by Jesse Korman)
