Folktronic sibling act Joni In The Moon – aka Joni and Josh Hogan – launch their first album, Sorrow Trees, this Friday, February 7, at the Fly By Night Musician’s Club. Support comes from Rokwell & Groom, Hayley Beth and Sonic Manipulator. We had a quick word with Joni.
Where did you come from? Give us a potted history of Joni In The Moon.
Josh and I are siblings but we didn’t really properly cross into each other’s musical spheres until a few years ago. Josh studied music formally at Uni and overseas and his percussion was a big part of growing up for us. I can’t really read music and didn’t stick to anything formal except singing when I was a kid, and then just kind of stumbled my way into singing in a moody rock band when I was a teenager.
How do you go creating music with your brother?
Because he’s my bro, Josh has a pretty intimate understanding of me and my world and so he has given me a lot of grace these last years. Josh does so many things with his music, writing for theatre and dance companies and doing sound design for opera, films and computer apps – I have learnt a lot from him and he’s the figurative backbone of Joni In The Moon.
How would you describe your sound?
Folktronic world-sample folk-pop. For Josh, he’s deeply influenced by world percussion and world music, as well as the production/arrangement of artists like Björk and Flying Lotus. I’m more into the melody and lyrics side of things, and grew up listening to a lot of Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell, Radiohead, P J Harvey, Jeff Buckley, Björk. My first influence would have to be Loreena Mckennitt, a harp wielding Irish folk singer. Her tape was permanently in our car when we were kids.
What does the rest of the year hold for you?
We launch the album on Friday and we’ve got a few more gigs lined up in the coming months. I play with our pianist Tara John (ex. Schvendes) in a duo arrangement of Joni In The Moon as well and she’s amazing and so much fun to work with, so expect a lot more of those kind of gigs. We’re hoping to get some funding to tour with the big band and go for a few festivals later in the year.
