Moonlight is a Lebanese band with an outstanding output, I have got the chance to speak with their lead guitarist, Cynthia, to know more about their music and upcoming plans. Let’s find out!
Is the female band members in the rock scene became a modern phenomenon? In which Moonlight are performing old school music for legend artists,
such as; The Doors, Rainbow and others, so let’s answer this question together while we had the opportunity to know more about the Lebanese female musicians and the Lebanese music scene in general…
Monk: Cool, so how are you Lou and Cynthia?
Lou: good good.
Cynthia: very good.
Monk: Okay, we will start with why did you choose Moonlight to be the name of the band?
Cynthia: Moonlight isn’t a cliché female band name and it’s an artistic name.
Lou: I mean we came up with a lot of names before but then we settled with this one because it’s simple and a nice name that we all agreed on.
Monk: Who are the members of the band?
Cynthia:
Noor Mounzer: Vocals.
Cynthia Maalouf: Lead guitar.
Loulwa Khoury: Rhythm guitar.
Sarah Mrad: Bass guitar.
Tanya Abi Chaker: Drums.
Monk: Okay, what is the concept of the band to be all female members band? is it related to a feminism concept?
Lou: Well no, not really. I came up with the idea last year.
Cynthia: The fact that we’re all girls playing rock music in Lebanon is new.
Lou: It’s not a feminism concept but a new idea like Cynthia said.
Monk: It is a new idea as a female band, but not as rock in Lebanon, because I remember the Lebanese 70s movies were full of rock music, am I right?
Lou: Sure.
Cynthia: Yes of course, but we’re not just playing covers the way they are, we’ve added our own touch and we mixed songs together we played some medleys and so on..
Lou: Plus female musicians are sometimes underestimated in Lebanon…so in a non-feminist way we’re trying to prove them wrong.
Cynthia: Yes and we hope that in the upcoming future there will be more female bands in Lebanon.
Monk: Okay, how was the feedback from the other – male – bands in Lebanon about Moonlight?
Lou: Well…most of them just like the idea that we’re all girls. Others who attended our 1st gig learned more about us and the feedback was pretty good. Especially that no one was expecting the changes we made in the songs we covered.
Monk: Have you faced any aggressive attitude or situation from male musicians?
Cynthia: No, many of them have been helpful to us and motivated us. Still, we have proved in our last gig that female musicians can rock hard as male musicians especially with adding our own touch. You can check Starstruck on Youtube to see what I mean by our own touch.
Monk: What – rock – music genre in Lebanon attracts young people?
Cynthia: In Lebanon there are different audiences for different genres, but u can still see a punk fan in a hard rock concert or a metal fan at a classic rock concert but I would say that pop rock mainly attracts the most of people.
Monk: How did you feel through the first time on stage with Moonlight?
Cynthia: just great and inspiring. Inspiring as playing a good music with an all female band maintaining a high level of musicianship. Practicing with the band did pay off as the show turned out to be a very special one for us and the audience, we both shared the same level of enthusiasm.
Monk: That means you have the same answer, am I right?
Lou: Yeah, despite the technical problems we had during the beginning of the show.
Monk: I see, and how was the audience feedback about the show?
Lou: They all appreciated it very much.
Monk: Is the rock/metal music scene in Lebanon faces any troubles with the authorities or people?
Cynthia: We as Moonlight have no relation to metal or the so called Lebanese metal scene.
Lou: The rock scene doesn’t get in trouble with the authorities unlike the metal scene
Cynthia: The popularity of rock music in Lebanon every since the early 90’s has been increasing not facing any sort of legal trouble since it has kept high standards .
Monk: So is it okay to make a rock concert in Lebanon, or it needs a lot of licenses and permissions?
Cynthia: Like any other concerts, a rock concert needs a license but that doesn’t make it a special case.
Monk says: I see, Okay, how can I find Moonlight online?
Lou & Cynthia: The Facebook Group
Monk: Is Moonlight just a tribute band?
Lou: No, not really.
Monk: Are you going to work on an album soon?
Lou: Now the album isn’t a case to discuss…but maybe later…who knows.
Monk: Are you going to add your tributes to your original work album?!
Cynthia: No! Even if we are paying tribute to big bands, we are adding our own “twist” to it.
Monk: What are the upcoming plans for Moonlight?
Cynthia: Details will be revealed soon on our Facebook group; let’s just keep it a surprise.
Monk says: Describe Moonlight in one word to you?
Cynthia: Creativity
Lou: in one word? Hmmm…Twisted
Monk: A word to your Egyptian fans…
Lou: I just thank them for their support and will hope for them to come and see us live someday.
Cynthia: I didn’t know we had fans in Egypt, but oh well … we are proud to have listeners abroad. Hopefully we get to visit Egypt sometime next year.
Monk: And finally, what is your opinion of Rock Era Magazine?
Cynthia: Great work and interesting concept! Keep it up.
Lou: Honestly I think that you guys are doing a great job. Keep it up.
Monk: Well, thank you Lou and Cynthia for your time, and I wish all the best for Moonlight as I wish to see them in Egypt within an international tour soon
Lou: Thank you and take care.
Cynthia: Thank you!