MOODRING are:

Hunter Young  |  Sean Dolich  |  Kalan Blehm  |  Lindy Harter

Forged in a furnace of experience, experimentation and existential crisis, Moodring is an entity orbiting a lone, core ambition: to create music with no ceiling.

 

“I grew up on the alternative bands of the 1990s,” says frontman Hunter Young; “No matter what new interests might come and go, I am forever drawn back to the classic albums of that era; they feel larger than life, not bound to a fad or trend – timeless. That’s what we aspire to with our band, to create songs that can transcend any scene.”

 

Between them, the members of Moodring – Young, guitarist Sean Dolich, drummer Lindy Harter and bassist Kalan Blehm – have a musical rap sheet longer than any of them care to recall. Yet, despite all this musical promiscuity, it wasn’t until May of 2019 that they finally found the vehicle that could carry forth their most authentic creative selves.

 

“We were searching for the sound in our heads,” says Hunter. “In modern life, we all struggle to stop, to be still; I know that there are few things that can hold my attention for very long. But when we are writing music for Moodring, we feel a different level of focus. Once we’d tapped the right vein, the sound just started to gush from us.”

 

Moodring’s Eureka moment came with ‘Gasoline’. A driving slab of rhythm guitars and atmospheric leads topped by moody, ethereal vocals, the song freed the dragon Hunter had been chasing. And, cage unlocked, the songs which comprise debut EP Showmetherealyou burst forth – Moodring was born.

 

“Our band name is effectively a disclaimer,” reveals Hunter, “Moodring is not easily defined; our sound can and will change, morph and evolve, even across the course of a single song. Our identity is genre-fluid.”

 

A deep blue cocktail of shoegaze and grunge, rock and metal, Showmetherealyou is the zenith of many years of trial and error, angst and anguish, at last oscillating in perfect harmony with a collectively unfettered passion and drive.

 

“Lyrically, Moodring is pure teenage angst,” Hunter reveals, speaking of deeply personal vignettes which hint at toxic relationships and cycles of abuse; “When people contact me via the Moodring page and tell me something like, “I relate to this”, I legitimately feel bad for them. I’m like, “Fuck, I’m sorry, I really wish you didn’t.” But, in my experience, that is how human beings relate to each other, through misery.”

 

Originally self-released in early 2021, the Showmetherealyou EP will be reissued August 4th, 2021 via Moodring’s new label home UNFD. Its original tracklist is further bolstered by brand new cut, ‘Empty Me Out’. A thundering attack of discordant guitars over pulsing grooves, built around a soaring chorus refrain, which is somehow equal parts melancholy and triumph, ‘Empty Me Out’ showcases a nastier, darker dimension of the band, as Hunter et al further find their feet, and their fangs.

 

“Empty Me Out is about cannibalism,” reveals Hunter; “It was inspired by the character Gluttony from [beloved Manga and Anime series] Full Metal Alchemist – I found the idea of a narrator with insatiable hunger really intriguing.”

 

Flipping the visuals from Anime to 80’s Hollywood, the ‘Empty Me Out’ music video sees the band’s local Daytona Beach, FL doubling as Santa Carla, CA, in loving homage to the fictional ‘murder capital of the world’ from cult classic vampire flick The Lost Boys.  The clip’s sinister, sultry aesthetic perfectly complements the song’s brooding fury, and indeed, the character of Moodring itself – a sinister, black heart, beating beneath dripping, neon gloss.

 

Your new favourite band exists; now you know what they are, now you know what you are.