Moontan - ProfilesArchive

About Me

"Every song is a story that says what you always wanted to say,
...in a way you didn't know how. "
Jennifer Hallam, Emmy-Nominated Filmmaker/Documentarian
"Keep an eye out, and an ear out, for this fast-emerging talent.""
William Fleischer, Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Midnight alchemist, singer/songwriter MOONTAN (a.k.a. Richard Jay) writes and records till dawn. He has lived right above a bread store in Hell's Kitchen, New York City for several years. As the fresh bread rises --- and it's scent permeates Moontan's home laboratory, Brownhouse Studios --- the music flows.
Born in the Bronx, and quickly transplanted to Long Island, Moontan began his informal musical education during tenth grade, when he first picked up guitar. He cut classes to tinker on the piano in the auditorium, played bass in the seemingly never-ending after school jam/bong sessions and immediately began writing songs.
While earning a degree in Economics from NYU, Moontan joined his first serious band, Gumption Trap, as lead guitarist. The band kinda sucked, but managed to earn a spot in the annals of rock history by being banned from CBGB's for stage antics.
Moontan founded Brownhouse Studios in 2001. It quickly become a guerilla music production house: Indie film scoring, video-game music, demos/albums for local songwriters. A one-man-band was forged out of this experience. This was the format for the early Moontan recordings.
By '04 Moontan had assembled a full backing band, was gigging regularly and had attracted the attention of Zach McNees, who was then a staff engineer at New York's legendary recording studio The Hit Factory.
Zach was already overworked --- engineering for artists such as Bjork, Rob Thomas and Paul Simon --- yet managed to hustle and get Moontan studio time. Bit by bit a cohesive album emerged; Ten songs were recorded over a two year period.
Besides music Moontan enjoys practicing yoga, drinking coffee and chasing women.
""Moontan's cd is fantastic. The songs ... stick in the mind.
What I like about Moontan's songs is that they're so hard to categorize.
A blend of rock, jazz, folk, and funk. One minute you'll think you're hearing the Beatles or Dylan, but the next you'll swear it's Nirvana. This is a fine cd from a smart and clearly interesting talent!""
Rebecca Geiger, Reporter/Researcher Editor New York, New York.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 2/23/2005
Band Website: moontanmusic.com
Band Members: Moontan is a "solo artist".
His music comes alive LIVE
--- and on his new record ---
with the help of close friends
and fellow brothers (and sisters) in arms.
Influences: The Beatles, Nirvana, Radiohead, Beck.
Charles Mingus, The White Stripes, Charles Mingus.
Tom Waits, Lau Tzu & Stephen Colbert.
Sounds Like: Moontan
Record Label: Brownhouse Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Moontan named "Best" in 7 catagories on GarageBand.com

Clearly we have a runaway hit on our hands.My song "The Movie",--- which won Song of the Week two weeks ago at ArtistsWeekly.com ---has now won Song-of-the-Day (12/24/06) on Garage Band.com in the Pop...
Posted by Moontan on Mon, 18 Dec 2006 12:37:00 PST

Moontan is Artist of the Week

I'm pleased to say that my song "The Movie" has been voted the Weekly Winner at Artist Weekly.check it out at www.artistweekly.comNext... a grammy?
Posted by Moontan on Tue, 28 Nov 2006 01:26:00 PST

Moontan now available on iTunes

Moontan's new album entitled... MOONTAN... is now available for purchase on iTunes."I listen to it constantly ... This CD is quickly jumping into my ALL TIME favorites. Every song is great and ... th...
Posted by Moontan on Mon, 13 Nov 2006 11:20:00 PST

Moontan does a Sweat Lodge

I experienced a Native American Sweat Lodge for my first time this weekend.(At least it's the first one that "I" can remember).Red hot rocks --- which our guide refered to as "Grandfathers and Grandmo...
Posted by Moontan on Wed, 25 Oct 2006 07:22:00 PST

Hey you! Pick up a copy of Moontan @ CD Baby

So the CD release party at The Knitting Factory went majestically.Friends and Family all represented. The band was right on cue.Spirits were high. So now the challenge is no longer to "get it done",...
Posted by Moontan on Mon, 02 Oct 2006 08:02:00 PST

Release Set for September 13th. Feverish preparation in progress.

The album has been finished since May. The cover art has proved even more grueling a process than I anticipated. But it IS coming together, and I am pleased with the results.Zach must be like, "Dude,...
Posted by Moontan on Fri, 04 Aug 2006 02:01:00 PST

Moontan has Finished recording An album

The new, as-yet-untitled Moontan Album, is finished.It has been a Herculean task, nearly 2 years in the making.It is done. And it is good. (Now for the hard part: Cover Art!)Infinite thanks to Zach ...
Posted by Moontan on Tue, 11 Apr 2006 11:48:00 PST

Going to Kentucky

So I'm in full fledged Mission-Mode. I'm going to Kentucky to record for the album in 2.5 weeks. Got hooked up royally with some studio time. Check out this studio!!! http://www.saint-claire.com/ho...
Posted by Moontan on Thu, 01 Dec 2005 12:26:00 PST