“Too Many Damn Hippies On My Front Lawn”
Up-and-coming band, Moon Rules Apply talks about their new album
March 5, 2023
Dressed in an all-black suit with an elaborate yellow pattern tie strung around his collar, Andre Holman stares off into an energetic and eager crowd overcome with pitch-black shadows. Sweat dripping down his hair and brow, he takes the mic with one hand and holds his guitar with the other.
“Come closer guys, we don’t bite,” Holman said urging the audience to come closer to the stage.
Lead singer and guitarist Andre Holman, bassist Logan Stogentin and drummer Ryan Weaver make up Moon Rules Apply, a three-piece up-and-coming rock band based out of Oswego, whose new album, “Too Many Damn Hippies on My Front Lawn”, came out on March 3, 2023, on all streaming services.
A little over a year ago the band members met at various stages in their musical lives; Holman and Weaver met at a jazz summer camp, later forming Moon Rules Apply with another bassist. The pair then met Stogentin last January, solidifying the current electric lineup. Their passion for music blossomed at a young age among all the band members, which segued into picking up an instrument.
“I fell in love with music just from my parents playing music in the car and just hearing it everywhere,” Stogentin said. “I decided to start learning [music] when COVID hit, so I fell in love with it even more.”
The band draws influence from 90s alternative rock bands such as Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Dinosaur Jr. and Deftones.
“I’ve always been playing drums, ever since I was, like, very little, probably two years old,” Weaver said. “I remember playing Beatles: Rock Band on my PS3, […] then when I was old enough, my dad asked if I wanted to take drum lessons because he noticed I was really into it.”
According to Holman, the band name came from billionaire business magnate and investor Elon Musk. After hearing a newscaster say a phrase with the exact same wording, he took a liking to it and decided to use the name.
In terms of the band’s songwriting process, no set process is set in place and when inspiration strikes, the members capitalize on it.
“So usually one of us comes up with a riff, or a drum part, or a bass line, and then we’ll take it to band practice and build off of it with everyone’s ideas,” Stogentin said. “Then someone will go and write lyrics and a melody. [After that,] someone will send a video of them playing it to the group chat and then we’ll finalize it.”
Holman talked about the length of the new album’s recording process.
“Since last June we’ve been in the studio,” Holman said. “It used to be almost weekly, and now it slowed down a bit because we’re just now getting into the mixing and mastering of the tracks. It’s been more than six months, I know that.”
The band explained there’s nothing better then performing to a live and energetic audience.
“It’s just pure adrenaline and, you know, you’re just doing a bunch of stupid stuff on stage and you don’t care because everyone else is doing stupid stuff [too],” Stogentin said. “You just gotta look as stupid as possible.”
“When you’re that sweaty, it really doesn’t matter,” Holman added.
In the huge and ever-growing alternative rock scene in Chicago and its suburbs, Moon Rules Apply believe that they stand apart from other bands because of their tight sound and technicality.
According to the band, the DIY Chicago music scene is welcoming to fans, even though it might seem scary at first.
“Then you realize we’re idiots,” Holman laughed.
