Our Interview with Walk the Moon

I enjoy people who enjoy whatever endeavor they are undertaking. Far too often I encounter people who are so put upon by everything even if that thing is something they supposedly love, like making music. This is why I love the band Walk the Moon, their joy and excitement about the music they get to make emanates from every track and every video.

I stumbled on their amazing debut album I want! I want! by mere happenstance when I was looking for more info on another band whose name I can't recall. This is probably because my search ended when I stumbled on their video for Anna Sun. Anna Sun is such an infectious ditty that it manages to find its way into my head even if I haven't listened to the album in a few weeks.

We can all count our blessings that years spent living in Ohio haven't broken the spirits of these lovable lads

SYFFAL: I went to your label's site and those fuckers are essentially a tumblr site. Being that I am from a generation that a website needs to be a website or else it can fuck off I refused to read any further. So please indulge my fears of a changing world and tell me who is who in the band, what they play, their religion of choice, and their most ticklish area...and you know what I mean by that.

Walk The Moon: Across the board, our most ticklish areas are our thighs and glutes. We all sing. Nicholas Petricca sings lead, plays keyboards and percussion, and digs Hinduism except for the whole cow thing. Yum cows. Kevin Ray slappa da bassfish, and would be a monk except for the whole celibacy thing. Yum ladies. Eli Maiman plays guitar and is Jewish. Yum Kippur. Sean "Extremely Precarious" Waugaman is our drummer, and we all worship him.

SYFFAL: I don't read a lot, and I refuse to educate myself, it is the former jock in me. His name is Larry he used to play football. This being the case I have gathered bits and pieces in my travels found two things to be true. The first - everyone under the age of 30 is on some behavior modifying prescription, the second - so are all musicians. Which prescriptions do you use? And do they help you make this fucking amazing music?

Walk The Moon: Eli has an epi-pen, and once in awhile he takes a hit of that.

SYFFAL: I find your album i want, i want to be properly inspiring and calming. It feels as though someone is giving my wang an extra shake after I pee to make sure I don’t get any on my boxer briefs. Did you record i want i want with a goal of spreading good hygiene? If not what was your goal, and did it have anything to do with shaking my wang?

Walk The Moon: We prefer that anyone who listens to the record remove their underwear first.

SYFFAL: You have a lot of songs with ladies names in them. Do you consider yourselves to be ladies men? If so ever thought about doing a show like "The Pickup Artist"? If not I have a smooth move for you. It is when you are walking down the street with your lady friend, put your arm around her and then place your hand in her back pocket. Ladies love that, right Lindsey?

Walk The Moon: Yes we actually did a show like that; it was called "The Pickup Fartist", it only lasted two episodes, and we didn't film it.

SYFFAL: I read that you started out as an a capella group. Any truth to this or is it just a vicious rumor started by people who want to destroy you?

Walk The Moon: The band was influenced early on by involvement in a capella groups, but we have always been an American rock n' roll band.

SYFFAL: Being from Cincinnati have you ever gone to Scribble Jam? Do you know Mr. Dibbs? If you answered yes to any of these questions we can't be friends.

Walk The Moon: No, and no. We would consider taking part in Scrabble Jam, however.

SYFFAL: So how has being from Ohio set you back in life and how did you manage to overcome what I have describe as "A perfect place to drop a nuke and then turn into a game show where prisoners fight to the death for a chance to move to Calgary"?

Walk The Moon: Ohio's the shit. It also is surrounded by a magical force field that repels all nukes and sends them straight to your hatin'-ass boxer briefs.

SYFFAL: Your hooks are fucking gigantic, the music morphs and builds until my boys have to crawl inside to keep from freezing. Is this some sort of nefarious plot to keep my daughter an only child or is there a medical reasoning behind this?

Walk The Moon: Music metamorphosis is real and awesome. Have you ever watched "Voodoo Chile" morph into Japanese "Godzilla"-esque monster movie?

SYFFAL: I see you are playing the UK, last time I played there someone offered to buy a pair of Nikes off my feet. What is the strangest request you got from a fan that didn’t involve nudity or bodily functions?

Walk The Moon: Eli, who was wearing face paint at the time, once had a girl ask him to paint her face with his face. There's then a second half of this story which does involve nudity and bodily functions so we won't include that.

SYFFAL: Our site started out as a group of friends trying to keep each other informed on all of the great music that is out there. In that spirit, who are three bands we should be checking for?

Walk The Moon: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. from Detroit. Bella Ruse a lovely and amazing act from Minneapolis. From our home turf a sweet group called Way Yes. Way Yes is like if Graceland was re-cut by the Muppets.

SYFFAL: Speaking of our site, on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being Showtime at the Apollo after Steve Harvey stopped hosting it and 10 being the skinamax movie "The Hills Have Thighs 2" how great is our site?

Walk The Moon: 11, being even awesomer than nudey flicks.

Word Association

SYFFAL: Diphtheria

Walk The Moon: Dip Van Dyke.

SYFFAL: Unquenchable church

Walk The Moon: Jolt.

SYFFAL: Diagnostic Gnostics

Walk The Moon: Kevin's first band in high school.

SYFFAL: Robert Downey Sr.

Walk The Moon: Condoms.

SYFFAL: Those Taco shells that are flat on the bottom

Walk The Moon: The Oscar Meyer Weiner-mobile.

SYFFAL: Cancer Pixie Stix

Walk The Moon: Diet Soda

SYFFAL: When I listen to your music I often break into a strange robotic dance sequence. Is this because I am white and over 30 or is there something more sinister going on? and if the answer is the latter please tie it into the New World Order.

Walk The Moon: If by some diabolical scheme with our music we could get everyone on the planet to do the robot at the same time, we would absolutely be a part of that.

SYFFAL: Are you still writing about me in your dream journal?

Walk The Moon: Naturally. The last entry involved a romantic hot air balloon ride where the balloon was a giant honey-i-blew-up-the-kid-style pair of your boxer briefs.

SYFFAL: Is there anything you would like to promote? (please do so in an a/b rhyme scheme)

Walk The Moon: You and your friends and your lovers and your mom and your neighbors and your pants and your slacks should all go to walkthemoon.bandcamp.com and give us lots of money for our fresh-ass tracks Or holla atcher boyz when we're out on the road in London in May, West and East Coasts in June get yourself in cover-me-in-finger-paint mode we'll be singing some songs and they're all about you.

Love,
WALK THE MOON