Moonlight Drive-In
/Daytona Beach is known for its speedway, bike week, and self-proclaimed “world’s most famous beach,” but lesser known are its many cover bands. Most of whom cater to the biker crowd. One can only imagine the many dive bars with countless renditions of Journey, The Eagles, and maybe a really rousing Man in the Box performance. This is why I found it refreshing to see Moonlight Drive-In performing my favorite era of alternative 90’s hits. Tackling such tricky vocals as Dolores O’Riordan, a young May Taitro and her band exhibit the raw talent that won them accolades such as the Mai Tai Rumble and Finns’ Beachside Pub Original Songwriters’ competition.
Listening in the car to the band’s latest surfer rock original, “Triggered”, and driving through the back roads of Holly Hill in search of the bands’ home base Feral Note Studios, a Humidbeing favorite, I found myself among many warehouses. Parking my car alongside an image of a flying pig and following my ears to the sound of music reverberating through the walls I found the band. Feral Note Studios is as pleasantly surprising as Moonlight Drive-In. Complete with cozy modern couches, a huge desk with an intimidating sound board, and any musicians dream experimental stage, it was there that I was officially introduced to May, Greg Davidson, Grayson “Gray” Belcher, and, well, Shane Hager I met later. I told them about my experience listening to their originals and asked them what influenced the musical choices they made. I found out that much of the band’s aesthetic is centered around the nostalgia of 90’s, an era where the music really struck a chord with listeners. May recalled many shows where audience members would approach her afterword and tell her about some memory that one of their covers would stir up. Even the name Moonlight Drive-In gives the fans a sense of simpler days when one would enjoy a drive-in movie with friends under the stars. Their original music assimilates so easily into the genre leaving most fans to question whether they heard a cover or original content. As with any artist however that nostalgia only went so far. They wanted to use those influences to as, May puts it “make real things” with their music. May first wrote music as a cathartic way to help her through tough times, and while he was traveling with the Navy to many places all around the Atlantic, and playing with the ships band, the Wardawgs, Greg says music was “my friend I could take with me everywhere I went.
Music is something we can share a story with.” I found that is the theme that Moonlight Drive-In lends to the listener and that is represented throughout their upcoming album. This connection resonated with many and led them to be featured on radio stations 101.1 and 102.5 for their song Triggered. Aside from their talented musical performance and reciprocal lyrics this band has a unique sense of mysticism. From drummer Shane Hager being the spawn of Rick Allen’s left arm, to Gray’s ability to write music through synesthesia, and playing by the light of a full moon like some kind of alternative ware-band Moonlight Drive-In is always surprising its fans. I know what you’re thinking, wait-- you said what? Let me clarify. Shane Hager was born when Deaf Leopard drummer Rick Allen lost his arm in a car accident, a fact that he attributes to his musical skill and deems himself the spawn of Rick Allen’s left arm. To fully judge this for yourself you’ll have to see him play, and don’t worry he’s not a disembodied arm like an Addams family distant relative, he’s just a talented drummer who attributes his skill to supernatural phenomena.
Gray’s ability comes from a condition that seems supernatural but is actually a very real perceptual phenomenon. Instead of just hearing notes like you or I might, he sees colors when he plays. For example, one note may sound blue and another orange. I tried to understand if a note sounded more upbeat or sunny and therefore yellow, or somber and therefore blue or gray, but it seemed as though the colors were more arbitrary than that. This affect is called synesthesia and it’s more common than you think, one in every 2,000 people in America are synesthetes. Synesthetes are people whose senses are connected in such a way as to ‘see’ numbers as colors, hear colors, and even tast letters. If you’re looking for a band that has a little something extra while also creating a sense of comfort and nostalgia then all you have to do is follow the light of the full moon where you can see May, Greg, Gray, and Shane emerge from the darkness and stand in the moonbeams to play their music. (Or if you’re more of a planner type you can visit just their Facebook page or their website moonlightdriveinofficial.com.)
