Les Moontunes Introduce Interstellar Concept Album With Trippy, ’70s Metal-Inspired Single “Elephant Wizard”
Things can get weird in isolation, and then add unemployment to the mix and you’ve got yourself a recipe for some wild, psychedelic trippy-ness. Such were the conditions leading to Les Moontunes’ dark, strutting, and stunning new single “Elephant Wizard” – available now – off of their forthcoming concept album of the same name.
During the thick of isolation in the Covid-19 pandemic, Les Moontunes’ frontman Miguel Dumaine had been laid off from work and his days began bleeding into one another, forming one long, blurry stretch unto nothingness. So he dug deep into his imagination and created a fictional character he christened the Elephant Wizard.
But the Elephant Wizard’s story really began to take shape once the band did a residency in Sussex, New Brunswick. By spending time among the inspirational hills and rivers of rural NB, the band members’ imaginations flourished and the story of the mythical creature trumpeted to life. With their fuzz pedal-tinged single “Elephant Wizard” serving as a sneak peek, we soon discover that the Elephant Wizard is a badass mofo who’s about to stomp into the future to fight off evil and find a better life for himself on Planet Metal.
In the early creation days of Les Moontunes, the band regularly played together in a dark basement, illuminated solely by a cheap plastic mini-disco ball. The light dappled the room with psychedelic revolving colors that created a special atmosphere and inspired their unique style of music. Some of this inspiration is reflected in the atmospheric, ’70s-style lyric video for “Elephant Wizard.”
As for the album itself, Elephant Wizard is a slight change in direction from Les Moontunes’ self-titled debut. Having been influenced by heavier music throughout their lives, the band aimed to paint the Elephant Wizard’s story with heavy, hard-hitting tones that paid homage to the sounds of some of their favorite bands of the ’60s and ’70s, while also infusing the record with the modern jazz/soul aesthetic they’ve displayed in their previous work.
This sophomore album also features the band’s two drummers, who since 2019 have been a driving force behind Les Moontunes’ unique sound. The rhythm section (drums, keys, and bass) was recorded live off the floor, which played a major role in the album’s more natural feel.
Producer Mike Trask’s use of analog tape for recording aligned with the tones the band were seeking for this record. In contrast to their debut album, where all the music was written prior to going into the studio, Elephant Wizard contains many sections that were written during the recording process, which adds an element of spontaneity that can be heard in the music.
Winners of the 2021 Music NB awards for both ‘Breakthrough Artist of the Year’ and ‘Video of the Year ‘for their single “Paper Boat”, the seven-piece Les Moontunes released their self-titled debut album in 2021, solidifying their place as rising stars in the Canadian music scene.
All seven members of Les Moontunes are Acadians. Acadians are known for their kitchen parties and musical storytelling, and Les Moontunes’ work has mostly been created from long nights jamming and improvising together. They are part of a group of artists from the East Coast that’s reinventing what an Acadian band sounds like, sharing their culture with the world through their electrifying art. Fans of soul, jazz, hip-hop, and metal will be captivated by this band of groovy cosmonauts, who blend catchy grooves with ambient interstellar jams.
Care to introduce yourself?
We are Les Moontunes, a 7-piece Acadian heavy soul band from Moncton, NB. We’re a group of friends who met each other through our love for music and have been playing together as a band since 2015. We have since released one studio album (Les Moontunes) and one live album (Live on the Moon). We are super excited to release our 2nd studio album, Elephant Wizard, on January 19, 2024.
Tell us about the process of recording “Elephant Wizard”?
The very beginning of the Elephant Wizard album mainly started with a bunch of parts of songs Miguel (pianist/vocalist) had been coming up with during the thick of the pandemic. It was a tough time given the isolation we all faced, as a band we had to get creative and share ideas online (and not jam together in person, which was a challenge!). We would share ideas and try to build on stuff through a Google Drive.
Once we were finally able to spend some time together, we worked with Mike Trask, our producer for this album, on pre-production for about a month in Sussex, NB. This helped us really develop those ideas and make them into songs, and also tap into creative juices together for the first time in a while. We knew we wanted to make a concept album out of this, and we had the idea of this mythical creature called the Elephant Wizard as the focus point. It was super fun to live in this imaginary world for a bit – at times, members of the band would work on some musical aspects of the Elephant Wizard’s journey, while others would be developing its storyline. Somehow, we ended up blending the two into a result that we’re all very stoked to finally share with everyone!
As far as the recording process for Elephant Wizard goes, it was also an unconventional but great time – we started off by building the foundations of the song with just bass, keys, and (double) drums. For that, we worked with Thomas Stajcer at Fang Recording, a studio in Dartmouth, NS for a week to lay the bed tracks, along with Mike Trask’s guidance. From then on, the other instruments (trumpet & sax, synthesizers, guitars, flute, percussion, and vocals) were all recorded at Mike’s old studio in Memramcook, NB, with the assistance of Sam Mallais. All of the tracks were recorded through tape, bounced on a computer for mixing, and then sent for mastering at Archive Mastering (J. Lapointe).
One of the most thrilling things about this album’s creation process for us was that everything was added onto the songs bit by bit – until the vocals were recorded at the very end, no one really knew what each song would sound like in its entirety. It was pretty cool to work on it that way, not knowing what the end result would be, and just letting the inspirations flow. A lot of the adjustments were made in the studio, kind of like they did back in the day, which was a totally different approach compared to our first album. Given that our main inspirations for the Elephant Wizard album were from 60s/70s heavy rock bands, we really enjoyed working this old-school type of way. Also, working with an all-star team to put our ideas on tape made it easy for us to trust the process and have fun along the way!
What’s it like being a band in Moncton?
Although half of the band have since moved out from Moncton (to Montreal and Nova Scotia), we have enjoyed growing up in a community that has brewed so many talented artists. For a relatively small population, New Brunswickers (and Acadians) have so much to show in terms of creativity, and we definitely have been lucky to grow up watching so many great artists from the area. A lot of our time spent on weekends in Moncton growing up was going to see live music and jamming with friends. There always seemed to be another show to catch or another party where we’d meet other musicians and play with them. There was never really a shortage of inspiration that came from the scene where we grew up, which was nice. Even though our reality of being a band now may seem different because of the distance that separates us, we always make sure to find time to play together at each opportunity we get.
Who was the first and most recent Canadian artist to blow you away?
This would probably vary depending on the band member you ask, but I’d say the first Canadian band that I got to see live that blew me away was 1755. They’re an Acadian band that has been active for decades, which is inspiring for Acadian artists like us to see, and we’ve been so lucky to have been able to see them play numerous times in our lives. They’re great storytellers who paired their music with the late great Gérald Leblanc’s poems, and I think they had a huge impact on what Acadian music can sound/feel like for our generation.
Lately, a more recent band that we’ve had a chance to be blown away by is Pallmer, a chamber-pop band from Fredericton, NB. They blend live-looping with a 2-piece string section, layered with beautiful vocals. Although we had heard of them before this, our summer tours coincided on a few dates in 2023 and it was a treat to see them play a couple of times while we were on the road.
You’ve been making music for a bit of time now, what’s one piece of advice you can offer to those starting out?
As cliché as this will sound, just go for it and have fun along the way. We continue to make music as long as it’s fun and we enjoy it, and if people are into it then that’s a bonus. Creating art is such a fulfilling thing to do, and we hope that folks who are starting out can have as much fun as we’ve had so far.