MOONRAKER

Moonraker - June 2003
by Jeff Royer

Ironically, when a band lists one or more Berklee School of Music graduates among its members, it often serves as a big, red flag to the listener. While you are guaranteed a study in amazing musicianship, chances are that little room is left for song structure and melody.

Fortunately, this is not the case for Boston-based Moonraker, who, while stemming from Music Theory Central, delivers melody, hooks, lyrical content, and breathtaking vocal work alongside the near-virtuoso instrumental performances you'd expect. What's curious about the band is that no one can seem to put his or her finger on Moonraker's style. At any given moment, you can swear you're listening to trance, electronica, jazz, drum and bass, or even rock and disco music. Yet there is that certain something, that thread that weaves the songs together. While the music flexes, it is always cohesive.

"It's been a topic of much debate amongst the band ... about what our sound is and how is it that we define ourselves and how we want people to perceive us," explains vocalist Kelli Scarr. "We just don't want to be pigeonholed and feel obligated to stay within the boundaries of a genre or a type of song - or a length of song, for that matter. And so we're just trying to keep it as open as possible." While it makes sense that Moonraker lists artists like Bjork and Radiohead among its influences, it also makes sense that the band has shared the stage with the likes of Joan Osbourne, Ice T, and the Disco Biscuits. They've got the groove of a hip-hop group, the chops of a jam band, the ambiance and innovation of Bjork and company, and a cute-as-a-button singer with a velvety voice that sounds at once emotive and effortless.

"Originally, we started out and we were pretty mellow, down-tempo, comparable to Portishead and whatever else," Scarr says. "When we were writing those songs, that was in our stage of kind of finding ourselves and finding how we were writing songs and what we were going to let influence us, and at that point it was like a big pot of salsa or something. It was just crazy. And I don't think we're as into that now because we want more of a fluid approach. Not necessarily putting perimeters on it as far as the disco and down-tempos, but in the sense of being able to put on a record, listening to 10 songs, and being like, 'Every single one of those sounds like Moonraker.'"

Moonraker got its start in 1998 when guitarist David Moltz, bassist Kody Akhavi, and drummer Dan Mintzer, all Boston University students at the time, began experimenting as a party band. "They realized that they wanted to go into a more electronic vibe and that a singer would be the cherry on top," Scarr says. "So they started looking for a singer and posted ads around."

The ads caught the attention of Scarr, who was busy playing in and directing a jazz quartet while studying at Berklee. "I saw this sign of a band looking for a singer, and it named all these influences, all these bands like Portishead, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Radiohead, Bjork - all these people that I totally listen to. So I thought, 'Oh, this could be cool,'" she explains. After a few jam sessions, Scarr dragged keyboard player and fellow Berklee attendee Dan "Shaolun" Chen along to a practice, and the balance was established: lots of music know-how tempered by lots of instinct.
"I think that definitely we can attribute that to the fact that half of us are 'educated' musicians and the other half aren't," Scarr muses. "Really interesting music can be really mathematical. But to be honest, never at one point when I'm writing music with Moonraker am I like, 'Oh, what key is this in? Oh, I can't be singing a minor third over this major seventh chord!' It's not like that. The purest music is coming from inside this place where I'm tapping into. I'm not tapping into my notebook. I'm tapping into my heart and what I feel, and I think everyone else is, too. It's never been a technical thing."

Moonraker is preparing to release its first national album on Immergent Recordings in August. The self-titled full-length will primarily feature re-recorded material from the band's three independent albums with a few new tracks thrown in for good measure. "This is going to be our first worldwide record released on a label," Scarr says. "It's just kind of like, 'Here's what Moonraker's been up to until now.' And then we're releasing another album with them hopefully before 2004, but who knows with the rate of this industry." As live clips on the band's Web site (www.moonrakermusic.com) reveal, Moonraker's live show is a treat not to be missed. "It's gone lately into much more of an upbeat, kind of rocking set, where we just go and play our asses off for like an hour for people and then get off the stage and we're all sweaty and stuff," Scarr explains. "It's just a totally different experience now."