David Marks was kind enough to answer some questions about his time in The Moon (and of course, several about Colours too):
TRAIL OFF: How did you meet Matthew Moore and form The Moon?
DAVID MARKS: I was friends with Terry Hand, who was signed to White Whale as part of The Everpresent Fullness and Matt was signed to White Whale as a writer. One day Terry brought me over to Matt’s house and the 3 of us started a band. Terry was on the first song that we recorded, "Never Mind" and he immediately left and our producer, Larry Brown, became the drummer.
TO: Did The Moon tour at all or play any live shows? Or was it primarily conceived as a studio-only collaboration?
DM: The Moon never did a public performance – not until 2007. But the Colours did a few live shows.
TO: What kind of music were you listening to at the time that was influencing you?
DM: I was listening to The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Bach, Cream, Albert King, Gershwin, Brahms and big band jazz.
TO: Was The Moon taking up most of your time in 1967-1969 or were you recording with other groups? Were you doing music full time or were you working a full time job as well?
DM: Personally - at the same time as the Moon, I was busy recording a blues album with Glenn Crocker, doing session work for Danny Moore, recording with the Colours, studying classical guitar with Mori Mizrahi, I was playing with Warren Zevon and taking a correspondence music course from the Berklee School of Music – where I later went. I didn’t have a job other than music because I had my Beach Boys royalties. None of the other guys had jobs either – The Moon was full-time for Matt and Larry was already on his way to becoming a successful engineer / producer and had been working with Davie Allen and the Arrows and Mike Curb.
TO: What was the process like recording Without Earth? Did it take a while? Were a lot of the songs written in the studio? Any memories of the recording session that stand out?
DM: Matt wrote the songs on the piano – alone, either in the studio or at home and he wrote out charts for all of us, so the basics tracks didn’t take that long to record. What took a long time were the over-dubs, like percussion, or backing vocals. The strings and horns were added last and that went pretty fast. We virtually lived in the studio while we were recording and sometimes didn’t know if it was day or night or what day of the week it was…we were very serious but we also had fun joking around. It was a great, carefree time…we were only in our late teens and to have freedom to express ourselves creatively was something special.
TO: I saw on YouTube that there was recently a Moon reunion. Any future live shows planned?
DM: We’ve talked about getting together and recording another album or playing some live dates, but we don’t have anything planned. You never know, I wouldn’t rule anything out.
TO: I love the two Dalton/Montgomery songs on Without Earth. Is that you singing them? Were you a fan? I assume the Colours record came out before Without Earth?
DM: I did sing lead vocals on the Moon’s versions of "She’s on My Mind" and "Brother Lou". I’m not sure what versions came out first. I didn’t even know the Colours did those 2 songs. Robbie Edwards played guitar on the first Colours album.
TO: You played on the second Colours album Atmosphere. How did you become familiar with Colours? Any memories recording "Atmosphere" that you can share?
DM: The connection with the Colours and the Moon was Matt’s brother Danny Moore. He produced the Colours and introduced us to Gary and Jack. My memory of the Atmosphere sessions was basically jamming over Gary and Jack’s songs and that they were both so funny that we were cracking up all the time. One day Jack dressed up like John Wayne, with the hat – he walked like him, talked like him and was looking to kick some ass. It was really funny.
TO: Ok, last question about Colours, just out of curiosity's sake: Who sings lead on "Angie", Dalton or Montgomery? (I love his voice!)
DM: Montgomery. They did the Beatles thing where they shared writer’s credits but sang leads on the songs they wrote.
TO: I'm trying to get a good sense of what it was like in the 60's in California. What was the L.A. music scene like? Was there really a supportive "scene"? Any local bands that you remember being into that were big influences?
DM: The late 60’s was approaching the end of an era where bands were still supported by labels while they were recording and getting their act together like Warren Zevon, Jackson Brown, Matthew Moore, The Turtles, etc and we all influenced each other.
TO: Was there an "underground" L.A. music scene? I know The Doors, The Byrds, The Mamas and Papas, The Association, etc. were recording in the area at the time and were popular. There were also some great studio albums being made by Gary Usher, Curt Boetcher, etc, which might not have been as well known nationally. Were any of those"studio only" albums like the Sagittarius records influences at the time for you or The Moon?
DM: No. The last I heard from Gary Usher was "409" (Beach Boys song). I’ve never been into pop music - my influences came more from classical, jazz and blues.
TO: Are there any other records from the late 60's that you recommend I check out? Do you ever listen to a lot of older records nowadays or is it mostly contemporary stuff?
DM: There was an album by Jack Bruce – the solo album by the bass player from Cream. I wasn’t really influenced by it, but I listened to that album more than any other record. I would also recommend Anna Montgomery’s Triple Seven CD – Anna is Gary’s daughter and this album is a memorial CD for him. It features some of his best work and songs she wrote about him. You can get it on CD Baby. I don’t really listen to music much anymore – my ears are usually tired after I finish recording and working on songs for shows. If I do listen, it’s usually old or something new by one of my friends.
TO: And did you ever get to go to Brother Lou's Love Colony?
DM: I have no idea where Gary came up with that one!
(More info on David, his time in the Moon, The Beach Boys, and his other projects, go to https://www.facebook.com/DavidLeeMarks)
