THE CRESCENT SOUND OF MOON

 

IN SEARCH OF A TRUE SOUND

Music and singing were always an essential part of Moon’s identity. He studied music from childhood and began songwriting in high school. As a young man, he delved into the spiritual music of India and received the name Chandrashekhar (Crowned with the Moon) from his spiritual teacher. For many years, he studied operatic and other vocal techniques. Eventually, he owned a project studio where he composed, recorded, and produced hundreds of tracks and collaborated with dozens of artists.

Many years experimenting and looking for his “true” sound led to frustration, and in 2011, he decided to take a pause. He continued to sporadically coach singers, but he stopped creating, except for a few musical scribbles now and then. To create something worthy, he thought, his voice and music needed the seasoning of life experiences.

Moon took off. For a decade, he stayed for months at a time in a dozen different countries, discovering peoples, learning customs, words, songs, languages, chasing the moonlight... until 2020, when he became seriously ill and found himself, suddenly, bedridden and isolated. Diagnosis: advanced Lyme disease with neurological involvement.

 

 

THE DARK SIDE OF MOON

Living with a chronic illness may be, to put it simply, overwhelming: breaking one’s body, bit by bit. But that’s alright. It’s when the chronic illness starts chiseling away at one’s soul that the true tragedy begins: it erodes one’s vitality and sense of meaning and hope. Surviving alone no longer makes sense.

Millions around the world suffer from chronic, debilitating illnesses, many with no known cause or cure. Patients with advanced Lyme disease are immunocompromised and suffer from a wide range of inflammatory, rheumatological, and neurological conditions. In the words of one of the top specialists, “This disease targets the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system like no disorder known to mankind.

It takes really knowing a patient, perhaps intimately, to begin to understand what that means. Lyme disease gradually erodes one’s body, mood, personality, and then one’s social networks and sense of purpose and of reality. It’s easy to contract, hard to diagnose, can go undetected for years — and there’s no consensus on how to treat it.

 

 

LIFE — REMASTERED!

Living within the confines of a ravaging illness casting chains over him, Moon dreamed of making a comeback to music as a way of reclaiming his life: body, mind, voice, and soul.

For years, there was nothing to do but lie back and recall a lifetime of treasured memories and songs. Moon first played and sang in his head. Then, if he found the strength, he forced himself to sing for an hour or two each week. And when his cognition allowed, he began rescuing a dozen songs from his past, rewriting music and lyrics extensively.

Moon’s music began resonating with the overtones of being a life warrior, scratching the darkness in search of light. “My music feels energized by the imperative to be be authentic to the bones, the power of time, the drive to complete long-forgotten projects, and the necessity of celebrating the brief and wonderful moments and the human connections that make life worth fighting for,” says Moon.

In February 2023, Moon realized it was time to head back to the studio. With the support of Zoe, his partner, he was able to begin making arrangements, preparing backing tracks, vocalizing, and rehearsing. Moon felt happy and strong. In May 2023, they arrived in Metropolis Studios, in London, for a series of intensive recording sessions: the beginning of MOONPHONIC.

Invigorated by Moon’s struggle, MOONPHONIC is dedicated to the many who suffer illness and disenfranchisement; it’s an invitation to band up and rock away the inertia, shake away isolation, and share in the journey of a life worth living, day by day, beat by beat.