WALK THE MOON is a soulful indie-rock band of boys from Cincinnati, Ohio, whose sound evokes traces of the Police, XTC, ELO, Squeeze, and the Killers. Nicholas Petricca, 21, sings lead, writes, and plays keyboards, synth, and FRICKIN’ KEYTAR. He and Adam Reifsnyder (bass, vocals), after playing and writing together in various groups since 2006, formed the band in January 2008.
I met the both of them at school, where we sang in rival a capella groups.
The first time I saw WALK THE MOON play in mid-February 2008, I was just one sweat-soaked participant in an audience numbering around one thousand. In that cavernous college fieldhouse, it was almost as if the music were coming from the hot, panting dancers rather than from the band. It was fast, loud, and sounded like a mixture of 1977 and the feeling you get when you’re down to your undershirt and it’s two in the morning and she’s touching your neck and you’re not sure what to think but you know you don’t want the music to stop.
By the time I joined the band in the fall, they had since independently released The Anthem EP, a collaboration with producer/engineer Erwin Musper (David Bowie, Elton John, Van Halen). Two of the songs on The Anthem Nick and I had written together in college: Angeline, a two-sided song with a brooding, static verse and a buoyant disco chorus, had become the campus singalong; and Stone Cold Fox, the dark horse, had begun with a simple proto-reggae riff that we had flipped upside-down into a downbeat-heavy rock groove. In May the EP had shocked A&R; reps at London City Showcase, and the boys flew in to play a week of shows in the UK the following June.
In the months that followed, attention from CityBeat Magazine, FOX 19 Cincinnati, and WEBN radio was urging them forward, and WALK began to meet with industry heavyweights Steve Thoma (formerly of Fleetwood Mac) and Ross Hogarth (producer, Ziggy Marley, John Mellenkamp, R.E.M.). After a brief hiatus, the boys needed a new guitarist and drummer, and Adam and Nick invited me to audition, along with 19-year-old stunner Adrian Galvin. By the start of the New Year we were in the rehearsal studio pushing envelopes all over the floor, breathing new life into the already vivacious WALK THE MOON rep.
In 2009, we will record a full-length album with Thoma and Hogarth and tour into the fall to support its release. Keep listening, watch out for us, and don’t be afraid to dance.
