Luna Marble played their third ever headline show at Manchester’s famous Night and Day Café venue, and after completely selling out their previous shows despite not having a huge catalogue of music available to listen to, I knew I had to get there to find out how they were making such a scene.

Among a sea of Northern indie music, Luna Marble are a refreshing look back into psychedelic rock. As soon as they start playing – whether its Maria’s strong, gritty vocals, Dragos’s ripping guitar solos, or Sean and David’s infatuating grooves – you simply cannot deny the fact that Luna Marble nails their formula, while also trying to bring something new to the well-loved genre.

Walking into Night and Day, I see Maria darting around, looking busy. She has decorated the stage with hand-made golden stars, and the band are stood waiting for soundcheck adorned in the finest 70s-inspired hippie chic.

Anarchists Abroad – the Denmark Tour

Not long after, in the cool basement green room, we sit down to discuss what Luna Marble has been up to. One of the things that will become apparent in this interview, or if you spend any amount of time looking at Luna Marble’s socials, is how great Maria is at making connections and finding opportunities.

The Denmark tour – how did that happen?
Maria: So, I work as a music facilitator and I did a project over the summer where Danish people came to play in Manchester, and then Manchester people when to Denmark. And through that, I got the contacts, and there was an opportunity to go back. The leader of the project saw that there were a bunch of gigs, so from Tuesday to Saturday we were gigging up and down, and it was the best experience ever!

Was it difficult to get there?
Maria: No!

Sean: Well, for you guys it wasn’t [Sean points at Maria and Dragos, and they laugh]. So, due to work commitments at the time, we went at two separate times. So they did a few days earlier than we did [refers to himself and David]. We got up at, like, three in the morning. With it being Manchester Airport, you know, one centimetre of snow and the whole operation grinds to a halt. They got us on the plane, ready to go and everything, and then we were actually stuck on that plane, stationary, for five hours.

They didn’t let us off for anything. We were just stuck in Manchester airport. We were supposed to get [to Denmark] at, like, ten o’clock in the morning, and go have a nap, and then do the gig. But unfortunately, we had to miss out on one of the gigs, so Maria and Dragos had to do acoustic. But, once we got there it was worth it. It was really fun – a really, really good experience.

Maria: It was, like, the equivalent to the Apollo, it was huge.

Sean: Full of people that didn’t have a clue who we were, but – it was really weird – after we played, they were coming up to us, buying us drinks.

Maria: Yeah! It was the best gig of our lives! The reception was not what we expected.

Were you supporting another band?
Maria: No.

Sean: It was like a showcase sort of thing, wasn’t it?

Dragos: Yeah, this guy that was the leader of the programme – Jens – he works in a … place that would have loads of bands, I guess? And they teach them how to be a band.

Sean: There were a few Danish bands, as well.

Dragos: Yeah, so it was like a showcase for that place. We and the other Manchester artists got to play there as well.

Sean: And then the bar the night before was kind of the complete opposite.

Dragos: Yeah! (laughs)

Sean: Not in a bad way, because it was still an incredible experience. It was this small, community-built bar, built by these…

Dragos: Anarchists!

Sean: Yeah, anti-fascist anarchist sort of people that wanted to, you know, abolish the government and everything. They gave such a warm reception. And it was freezing cold. It was kind of like this room [Sean references the room we were currently sitting in, a basement, brick-walled with stickers and scribbles covering everything, and cool], so we were playing in our coats. And they loved it, it was so fun.

Maria: It was hand-built – the venue – out of, like, sticks and stones, literally. People were just happy to have the music, like really were happy about it.

The ‘anti-facist’ thing is an interesting point. What was the scene like there?
Sean: So apparently, Denmark has quite a problem with, like, right-wing neo-Nazi movements. I had a little look into it afterwards, like, that’s quite interesting. I guess it is everywhere, nowadays, but for some reason, in Denmark, it is quite bad. These guys said they used to protest in a field. This group, they’d go drinking and protest all the neo-Nazi stuff. And then they got told they weren’t allowed to do that anymore, so they built their own little bar where they could go and be themselves. There were all sorts of interesting and cool-looking characters. It was really cool. Very cheap as well (laughs). With the currency exchange, it came to like a quid for a bottle of beer – ridiculous.

The dream.
David: Favourite type of gig.

Dragos: That’s a lot of places, you know, in the world, compared to the UK.

Hard Work and Success

As of June 2023, Luna Marble has only released three tracks. In the most recent of these – ‘Mad World’ – Maria confronts her struggles with the grind of being a musician.

So, the first song you released was in 2021. Is that the first song you released as Luna Marble?
Maria: Yeah.

Sean: That was the first thing we worked on together. So, originally, me and David were filling in on some session stuff for Maria and Dragos, which – the first track we helped them complete – was ‘Running’. And then we just kind of gelled, and then decided to become a proper band. But yeah, that was the first track we wrote together. But I know Maria and Dragos had loads written as well.

Maria: Well, I had loads of other projects and bands in the past, so these songs, I had written them even before I had met Dragos. So when I met Dragos, I said “I have these songs, I need a band,” and then Dragos took them and made them his own. And then we got Sean and David in. I feel like our catalogue was mostly that, but after two years we started fresh material.

That was quite a while ago, now, and since then, you have released a song year. Something I often end up talking to people about is the difference between gigging – and how important gigging is – compared to releasing music and being out there digitally. In line with the type of music Luna Marble plays – the traditional themes of psyche-rock – do you think gigging is something artists need to be getting out there and doing?
Maria: Absolutely. I guess it depends on what you do – I feel like we are such a live band, and it really comes in our recordings as well. When you get to see us live, you get it all. Even our recordings are all one-takes – we don’t do overdubs.

Dragos: Basically, the principle we have when recording our music is, to capture the live sound.

Sean: The one thing I’d say to other bands, who I’m sure would all agree, is that working with certain promotion companies and certain promoters, sometimes, is just a waste of time [Dragos laughs knowingly].

Maria: But you’ve gotta play the game – that’s the thing.

Sean: That’s the thing. This is our third [headline show] that we’ve put together ourselves, and every time we’ve done one of these we’ve had such a good turnout – we’ve made a bit of money off it – and it’s such a good experience. There are a few good promoters, but a lot of them – they don’t do their research into you. You’re an up-and-coming band, so obviously you can’t bring 30 people down, you’re still trying to get out there. But they’ll be like, “Sell 25 tickets and then you can have another gig,” whereas, for a lot of people – it’s their first ever gig, of course they’re not going to sell 25 tickets. So, that’s stuff that you’ve got to look out for. Like Maria said, you’ve just got to play the game.

Maria: Unfortunately, that’s how it goes. Just to get out there, you’ve gotta lie to promoters, and then you will find two people that like you, and then you start building the game. But, it’s like “Fake it until you make it,” unfortunately. Out of, like, three gigs, two will be shit and one will be good, but you cannot know.

Organising Gigs and Dealing with Promoters

This might sound like a stupid question, but what is the point of promoters? What do they do?
(laughs)

Maria: Nothing! [she jokes]

Sean: They don’t actually promote – this is something that I’ve been saying for ages. They don’t promote, they’re events companies [there’s an array of “yeah”s]. I don’t know why they call themselves promotion companies.

David: They just book the venue and make you do all the work.

Dragos: They do the admin, that’s what they do.

Sean: They do one Instagram post, like, two months before the event, and then they’ll never talk about it again. And then they’ll kick up a fuss when bands only gather 50 tickets. And they call themselves “promotion companies” when there’s no promotion going into it.

David: That’s not all promotion companies, of course. That’s just the majority of our experience.

Dragos: What would be really cool, in an ideal world, you’d have a promoter that has their own kind of style, and their own ‘name’, and people would know that “this promoter is cool. This promoter puts on cool gigs. This promoter puts on cool bands.” And then, if you have an up-and-coming band, people would say: “Oh, I haven’t heard of this one before, let’s see what they’re about because I know that this promoter doesn’t disappoint.”

Sean: Another thing, as well – just from us being in a band together – nine times out of then, they don’t even watch you play, which is always great. Then you’ll get an email saying, “Oh, I really enjoyed your set.”

David: “Are you sure?”

Sean: “You weren’t even there.”

I hear a lot of mixed opinions about promoters. What do you want out of them? Why do you go to them?
Maria: Well, the good thing about them is that they put you on good venues and great – I hate to say this, but the exposure. We did a gig at Deaf Institute with a big band called Novastory, and from that we got fans that are coming to this show because they liked us as an opener. We were a support act, and some people were early. As I say, you’ve got to play the game, we didn’t get paid as much as we could have for asking, but – it’s annoying – you’ve got to play the game.

Sean: Like, it’s not like a ‘working together’ relationship, it’s a one-way sort of thing. But, as Maria said, it’s not all bad, obviously – we’ve had some good gigs from [promoters], but it just feels very one-sided.

Dragos: Basically, what they give you is gigs. And, every now and again, a good support slot, or something, will get you some fans. And that’s good – it’s good that there are gigs. It’s just – I guess – I wish we could get better paid. (laughs)

Sean: I think that’s the same for all musicians in – well, not just Manchester. I don’t think people realise what goes into rehearsing for a show and setting everything up. But I guess that’s been a thing since live music started.

Dragos: It’s like, you get about ten or 15 percent of the money from tickets sold. We should be earning a bit more than that! (laughs)

Sean: And then, once you’ve paid for your Uber or whatever to get your equipment there, you can buy a pint, maybe, afterwards. And I think that is just the general experience for a musician.

Maria: Unless you have a record label behind you. But we will get there!

David: I would say that we are fortunate to be in the position that we’re in, where we’re able to put on our own events.

Sean: Oh, yeah. I know some people aren’t able to do things like that, so we are very lucky.

The Struggles of Being Independent

Something that I really see from Luna Marble that I don’t see from a lot of other artists in Manchester and beyond – and I’m not entirely sure if it is just because you are amazing musicians and that everything you do is great – but, you don’t have much music out, I can’t see too many reviews of you online, but here you are selling out venues and putting on headline shows. So, obviously, something you are doing is working. Is there something that Luna Marble is consciously doing that is different?
[Dragos, Sean and David all point to Maria and laugh]

Dragos: I think, before Maria gets going, she puts in a lot of weight (Maria laughs). I think it’s important to create some kind of relationship with your fans.

Maria: Yeah, it’s a community. It’s not cynical – like just, “do this”, you know? I like to be very one-to-one – replying to every comment, trying to be on top of social media interaction. As I say, I’m on TikTok, I’m on Instagram, I’m on Facebook. I’m on Youtube Shorts, now, that’s like the best new thing. (laughs)

But you’ve gotta kind of tell your story and try to humanise yourself, and try to understand your brand. And I feel like that’s something I’ve managed to build over all these years. I think this gig, now, is what I envisioned from the beginning, and what I’ve been trying to put out. But it’s just that journey. And telling that journey to people. Be very present. I always talk on Instagram stories, and reach out personally to people as well.

Sean: Something Maria has been saying for ages, as well, which is very true, is that you can be really good musicians – you know, you can have the tightest set in the world – but if you’ve not got a bit of an image about you, it’s not going to work. Which is obviously a bit unfortunate, but you have to have a bit of a ‘look’ about you.

Dragos: It’s all about being great, but then it’s all about getting people to hear and see you, and that’s the hardest bit.

Sean: Standing out from the 500-odd other bands that are knocking about in Manchester. I mean, if you look around this room at all the band names and stickers… [Sean makes reference to the range of scribbled band logos and promotional stickers dotting the green room’s walls]

Maria: It’s harder than ever.

Dragos: It feels like the most bands we’ve ever had in the world, and also the least amount of attention span people have. So, I think that’s why it doesn’t matter if you’re really good – it matters, but what matters more is trying to get people to see you.

Sean: And talking about building an image. 450 of those 500 bands are playing Arctic Monkeys and trying to be the next Oasis. Here, you’ve got us, and the guys upstairs, that little niche pocke] that’s still doing interesting things.

Dragos: I mean, you could say the same thing about us, we’re just trying to be Led Zepplin. (laughs)

Maria: It’s a fresh twist on our inspirations. As humans, we like repetition. We’re always going to find something to relate to. You cannot create something from nothing, the way you learn is repetition.

Where Does Rock Fit into Manchester’s Music Scene?

In the scene full of people playing indie music, why did you choose to stick to your psychedelic rock roots? Was there a conscious decision?
Maria: We don’t do it because we want to do what’s popular, we just do what we like and hope you like it, you know? If not, you’re selling your soul!

Sean: It’s like I said before – me and David started doing some session bits for Maria and Dragos and then we liked it.

Dragos: It feels good, you know? It feels good, and I think people can feel that, as well.

Maria: We’re able to understand each other. [David has always] been my number one session player. Since first-year of uni, he would be the only bass player who would stick with it.

David: If you ever needed bass, I was the only option! (laughs)

Maria: Then I would say yes! He has the right attitude for me, he’s not flakey, he would prioritise me, and that’s what you need to do if you want to make it. He was my first bass player ever, he’s in all my attempts of recording music, and then he just stuck. (laughs)

Do you still do session stuff for other people? Or is this your main focus now?
(laughs)

Dragos: Yeah, David does a lot.

David: I’ve got a few other projects.

Dragos: Man’s gotta eat, you know? (laughs)

David: I’ve got some function gigs. I just find it fun to play different kinds of music with different kinds of people. And make a bit of money, as well, which doesn’t hurt.

Dragos: I do some session stuff as well.

Women and Queer People in Music

I have a question for you, Maria – I saw on your Instagram story, you went to see Delilah Bon play at the Deaf Institute. And you made a comment saying “Women-fronted bands are the only people doing interesting things in music right now.” Why is this the situation? Why are festivals still using the excuse that there aren’t enough women and queer-led acts?
Maria: It’s our generation. Only the young people are starting to have another mentality. As an example, when I was promoting this gig by going into town and putting up posters, and I was talking with the record store people, they were just, like, old, British men – they were laughing about me to my face like, “Look at this little girl talking to me about her band.” Take me seriously for a minute!

I think, for women nowadays, although we’ve made so much progress, you need to make twice the sound. People are not realising that in most cases every successful band is DIY. Even Tay [Temple], she’s doing all the marketing; I’m doing all the marketing: all the [outfits], managing the photography, the socials, the marketing. Emailing the promoters, creating a band.

And, the same as Delilah did at her gig – you went into the gig and it was a whole experience. It’s so fresh, and I think many white-man bands, like the indie ones in Manchester, it’s just copy-and-paste. They’re doing the bare minimum, and not saying anything. And I think people are just missing that. It’s kind of sad that, after all this progress, there is still this mentality, this lack of trust and confidence in women and queer artists.

Dragos: I think we’re getting there, I just think change is slow, so we’ve got to keep going. And I also think, maybe people are tired of the masculine energy. Yes, what we’re doing is traditionally quite masculine, you could say – the rock – but obviously, because you didn’t have this many women involved in music, historically, it’s fresh and new. Women do something different, they bring something else, a different kind of energy. Same with the queer people – it’s just new. And they have this drive to get themselves out there, as well, and to do something cool. I think, maybe, ‘The Man’ is a bit tired of this new change.

Sean: I think, especially with the scene around here, it definitely needs a change. You can walk past five venues and you won’t be able to tell the difference between which band is playing. You know, it’s the same guys with trench coats and tambourines and bucket hats. (laughs)

Maria: Everyone should be able to express themselves musically, it’s just that – then, the people who really deserve it. It’s all a popularity contest at the end of the day, and sometimes that can make you feel like, “What the fuck am I doing? What is all this for?” But, stick to your guns.

Dragos: It’s like a filter if that makes sense. There are all these bands, but only so many of them will get through that filter of people paying attention to them.

Sean: I think that the more female – female-fronted or fully female – or queer bands that start to push through the filter, there will be more [in the public eye]. Because, at the end of the day, the big festivals – like you were saying before – there’s not enough representation there. I don’t think half of it is picked on talent, I think it’s picked on what’s trendy right now, what’s going to make them the most money. So, the more bands that start small and build it up, being female-fronted and queer, the more you’ll see it at the top. It’s kind of got to work its way up.

Maria: Especially with festivals. I really wanted to go to a festival this summer, and I was looking at the lineups around the world, and I was like, “This is so fucking boring.” Like, Glastonbury – it’s just all the big names, but they’re not doing anything, and people are like, “Wow, I’ve just been to the best gig of my life.” Going to see Delilah Bon – I’ve seen the Foo Fighters, I’ve seen all the big bands – and I was like, “This is the best gig of my life!”. It was an experience, like what people were pushing in the 70s. Audio-visual, have a brand, what can you do differently that really makes you feel in the moment. If you manage to get that right in the band, that’s great. It’s not just about playing the music like a nine-to-five job, you know what I mean?

Sean: I think a lot of the goal of seeing those big bands is just about ticking off a name, isn’t it? Like, “Oh, I’ve seen that band, I can tick that off. I’ve done it.” Whereas not dissing any of the other big bands, I love the Foo Fighters, I love to go see them.

Maria: Yeah, they’re great, we love them!

Sean: But sometimes you can pull up to something like this, or pop into Deaf Institute, and have ten times the gig, because obviously, it’s a lot more intimate – it’s a lot smaller. And because these bands haven’t ‘made it’, they’re absolutely going for it, they’ve got the drive. Whereas, seeing Elton John play Glastonbury on his fifteen-year long farewell tour. (laughs)

Maria: Well, there’s this thing. Your favourite band was once a local band. There are some true hidden gems.   

It does not take a scholar to see that more bands are turning to be DIY and independent, but as I talk to more and more artists based around the North of England, it is becoming easier to see the trends in the struggles that they are having. The scenes are saturated, there isn’t enough money, it takes lots of time and you have to work multiple jobs – the list goes on.

Luna Marble are a great example of how to work the combination of creative vision, excellent musical ability, and relentless self-promotion. Luna Marble don’t allow their dedication to the traditional psyche-rock sound that they love to get in the way of their progressive goals, and they stand out as one of the most impressive and unique acts in the current Manchester scene.

*****

Photos: Courtney Turner
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*****

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