moons

The summer of '08. It's been nothing but stasis. It's the perfect word, I'm sorry. Stasis. No diminish, no gain. Just a comfortable home to call my own. The only time I've crossed state lines from April to now was spent with a mysterion. Stuck in Louisville at the Terrastock with the Dark Side of the Mural (Dustin White), a bottle of Bulleit, my brother, and dude from the future. Nice that L'ville supported such a combination of off-ness (worth a visit).

We were certainly obliged to hear the latest from the Moon and Badtimes, then and now shortened to Moons! (good reduction). White is basically Moons! Who knows how many others played here, 1-2 maybe, so you've got to imagine multiple versions of the lanky, skywalker, playing drums, guitar, basslines, and keys, to fully ingest this limited release EP (mines 11 of 50). There's a new touring band every week.....(???)...

You could compare it to the act of boiling water. Mundane analogy, sure. But I'm thinking of it as heat energy, cosmic awareness. Moons! and the man (I'm referring to Mr. White) can't be pressured, if you stare into the aqua nothing will happen, if you're expecting a full-length tomorrow don't bother. You must step away from the pot and just let thangs happen as they will. Naturally. Eventually you'll get what you want. Maybe that's why this review took so long. Things this grand take time.

White swims liberally in Topographic Oceans on this first recorded introduction. Though I know the guy is always down for a discussion on direct-to-vein psychedelic immersion (we go on for hours about indulgent kraut), he's more likely to let his flavors stew for minutes before getting under the skin. White is somewhat fanatical, meticulous, and introverted (to his studio lair) -- then again, "Carousel to Rebirth" gets the tape going on overdrive right from the first note with a thick haze of reverb and smoke before entering those Wakeman arpeggios he's so fond of. Anyone with the slightest interest in the Yes keyboardist's fluid excursions will find plenty to chew on here. The synths are pristine and cosmic, exploring space from a Columbus' backyard yearning to travel if only to get closer to closest dwarf star.

Moons! is of the mind-set that everything has it's place, every little melodic strain of mellotron must be put back where it belongs, there is a constant order and White is simply orbiting it all, sucking it up with magnetic force. "Pyramids are Forever" is that universal perfection -- Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra -- for now belying the ultimate heaviness that is sure to (soon?) follow in the fourth part of some nine-part suite for the "album" already mapped out in his infinite wisdom. Still, let's not call this an EP, it's epic in its four songs, it's epic in just this song. If you see the guy on the street you might want to coax him back into the lab -- there's a classic afoot. - World of Wumme

Alright, let's get straight to the point here: I've been out for quite a while and have missed out on writing about some really great stuff that's been happening in Columbus in these summer months so I'll try and take the next few posts to catch up. Then maybe a few thoughts about all the random sounds I've been filling my mind up with.
But first and foremost, I must mention what should be...no, scratch that....what will be the greatest debut show in a looooong time here in Columbus, and that is the unleashing of The Moon and Badtimes at Ruby's this Friday night. Surely to be shortened to "The Mab", this five-piece is the newest brainchild of Sir Dustin White and his "dream drummer" Travis Kline, who've carried over the look and feel of their short-lived Freedom project into something much more focused and awesome. REALLY AWESOME. I've only really heard three of the working tracks and it was enough for me to christen them Best New Band Ever. If you know Mr. Dusty you sort of know what you'll be getting: essentially all the good parts of 70's rock, from straight-up boogie to euro-prog to white-noise jams to drone. Think Crimson, Les Rallizes, Cactus, Captain Beyond, Ash Ra, etc., with plenty of stoner vibes, some vocoder and mellotron, Kraut-rhythms, and on and on. All that good shit. They like the good stuff. But one of the greatest things about this new project is that Dusty will be singing most parts, and from the sound of what I've heard he should have been singing in ALL of his bands. Now that I think about it he did sing a little in Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, correct?
The Moon and Badtimes are filled out by newcomer to the scene, the youngster Mike Leach on guitar, who, by the sound of it should quickly become one of Columbus finest, as well as Bob Silver (Brainbow) on bass and little Jason W. (also formerly of BTDATDBS) on keys. Unfortunately there are no songs on their myspace, as the band hope to present a clean debut to this weekend's on-lookers and listeners free of any previous opinions or expectations. But let me tell you it will be well worth your time. It may be historical. Dusty will probably kill me for hyping this up so much, but I guarantee you it will be awesome.
The 'Mab will be last at Ruby's, Friday, August 3rd, along with the Makebelieves, the Malabar Brothers, Necropolis, Greenlawn Abbey and Cotton Jackson, as part of the Lost Weekend Records Summer Blowout - Population: Doug

Gas prices may have eased slightly in recent weeks, but filling up still elicits long sighs and grimaces. Though that’s bad news for everyone, it’s a particularly heavy burden on touring bands—especially smaller ones struggling to cover food and fuel costs each night.

These indies have had to get creative with their transportation. Some are touring in smaller vehicles and bringing less gear. Others just flat-out aren’t touring.

But more and more, bands across the country and here in Columbus are relying on Americans’ love of fried food to fuel their tours.

Dustin White, who plays in Columbus’s the Moon and Badtimes and has toured with bands such as Fuel and Sea Wolf, heard it was possible to convert a diesel engine to run on waste vegetable oil (WVO). This would open up lots of possibilities since restaurants with fryers store their used oil until it can be discarded. Theoretically, those restaurants could be the Moon and Badtimes’ filling stations.

So White decided to do some research. A lot of research.


“It’s like any sort of fringe science,” he says. “You read stuff that goes against everything else you’re reading.”

Eventually, he figured out that the conversion process is, in fact, pretty simple. So simple that he could do it by himself because it doesn’t require any sort of modification to the engine.

So he bought a vehicle—a 1986 Ford that used to be a shuttle bus for a retirement home in Dayton—and got started.

There are just a couple of key requirements, White says: The oil needs to be filtered and heated.

The heat problem is usually solved by having two fuel tanks—one with straight diesel for starting and shutting down, and another equipped with a heating system for the veggie oil.

As for the filtering requirement, filters and full conversion kits can be purchased and installed at places such as Full Circle Fuels in Oberlin, a venture started by 2005 Oberlin College graduate Sam Merrett. It’s a one-stop shop for everything related to alternative fuels, and Merrett says he has converted 180 vehicles to run on veggie oil as a dealer and installer of the tried-and-true Golden Fuel Systems. Product costs range from $6.50 for a small filter bag to $6,000 for a full bells-and-whistles bus conversion.

White rigged his homemade system for about $500. “It’s all fuel-system stuff,” he says. “There’s nothing mechanical. Theoretically, when it’s all said and done, you just flip the switch and everything’s cool.”

Another local band, Bullet Jones, decided to stick its toes in the veggie oil rather than jumping right in. Last September, the alterna-rockers bought a used ambulance, had it painted black and began adding WVO to its usual diesel fuel. Now, plastered with the names of the band and its website, the vehicle is affectionately referred to as the “Jambulance.”

“We got the vehicle to save us money rather than taking four vehicles to a show,” says drummer Mat Marcum.

But the vehicle is also a marketing machine. The band often takes the Jambulance to Nationwide Arena concerts or Skully’s “Ladies ’80s” nights and hands out free hamburgers, hot dogs or licorice to spread the word about upcoming Bullet Jones shows.

“It seems to get a good response,” Marcum says. “At least it’s a way for people to not hate us.”

Soon, the Jambulance will get a little greener. The vehicle is often fueled by a mixture of 40 percent WVO and 60 percent diesel—a blend that can be used without doing anything to the van itself. The catch is, since the oil isn’t heated, the mix can’t be used in the winter or on cold fall days.

But Bullet Jones has plans to fully convert the van to run on WVO in the near future. Marcum thinks the band has “enough patience and knowledge to get a satisfactory, safe, functioning conversion completed.”

A quick lesson in biofuel terminology: Veggie oil is not the same as biodiesel. In fact, more and more people are saying biodiesel isn’t all it’s cracked up to be—including Merrett, and he sells the stuff.

“We treat it like a gateway drug here,” he says. “It’s good because it gives you some confidence that this kind of stuff actually works, but biodiesel isn’t that cool. A lot of fossil energy goes into making that stuff.”

It’s not cheap, either. Full Circle’s biodiesel runs $5 per gallon.

Plus, WVO is easier to find. “There are thousands of restaurants throwing away veggie oil,” Merrett says. “It’s readily available.”

Though Bullet Jones has received WVO locally from Chipotle and McDonald’s, the Moon and Badtimes avoids corporate chains on the road. “You have to go someplace where there’s someone who can actually make a decision,” White says.

White admits that he’s gotten some weird looks from restaurant managers when asking for their old, nasty fryer oil, but he says more people are becoming familiar with the process.

Locally, some venues are catching on. At Carabar, owner Ron Barker has started saving all his oil to give to bands. It’s a win-win, he says, because the venue used to pay around $150 a month for a company to come out and empty the “grease trap.”

Colossus, a North Carolina band on Barker’s Nice Life label that converted its van, took advantage of Carabar’s stockpile on its last tour and actually made money—a big feat for a small band.

Using restaurants as filling stations on the road isn’t without its challenges.

“Getting the stuff can be a hassle,” White says. “You don’t always know where to get it, and you don’t know who’s going to be friendly.”

As a result, he says, WVO-fueled vans are likely to be driven by musicians who are shorter on cash than they are on time.

“That’s the interesting thing about it,” White says. “It’s mostly easy for a smaller band who isn’t on as tight of a timeline. They’re not playing places where there’s a 7 o’clock sound check.”

So are bands relying on veggie oil because it’s cheap or because it’s green? It depends on whom you ask.

White’s interest stems from his devotion to the concept of alternative fuels.

“It’s going green, but not just the NBC-green-logo-in-the-corner way,” he says. “I was really into the idea that you could just use a waste product. It’s like Back to the Future, like putting trash into the car and suddenly it’s flying.”

“It’s not just so you can say, ‘Check it out! We use veggie oil! We’re green!’ on a one-sheet for when your next record comes out.”

For Bullet Jones, on the other hand, converting is all about the bottom line.

“We were looking for financial support from Chipotle,” Marcum says, “and they’re all about the energy-conservation thing. So we thought, there’s no better hope for getting money from Chipotle than if we present them with a green automobile that says ‘Powered by Chipotle’ on the side.”

To put it bluntly, “It’s more about the color of money than the color of the earth,” Marcum says.

Even Barker admits the initial idea for hoarding grease for bands was to cut costs. “I can’t say we’re too hippie,” he says.

But there’s one aspect of WVO that everyone likes, whether they’re thinking green or not: the smell. The exhaust from vehicles powered by veggie oil smells just like doughnuts, making the trip to the next gig a little sweeter. - The Other Paper