JANUARY 2023
REVIEW & INTERVIEW: TWO MILE MOON
A MONTHLY ARTICLE WRITTEN BY JUDE LEWIS, EDITED BY HAYLEY FAJERSKI
Two Mile Moon from Cleveland, Ohio consists of Billy Muscatello (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Evan Mammanan (lead guitar), Torin Bradish (bass), and Jonny Marich (drums). They are a relatively new group formed in August of 2022 and are anticipating their debut album, The Presence of Your Absence, to be released on June 9th. Their third single, “The Curtain”, releases tomorrow, January 13th.
I first met Billy from Two Mile Moon briefly at The Outpost in Kent, Ohio last fall. I didn’t get to catch all of their set sadly, but what I did hear was great. I’d call it a breath of fresh air compared to what I typically hear. Two Mile Moon was exactly what I needed at the time to change my perspective on what I listen to and what I can write.
In my free time, I very rarely listen to anything outside of my comfort zone. I’ll admit for someone so involved in the Northeast Ohio music scene my taste is surprisingly limited. I usually listen to punk/grunge/rock groups. Don’t get me wrong, I love all genres of music, but I used to absolutely abhor anything mainstream or pop or anything too commercial.
After listening to Two Mile Moon’s set at The Outpost, specifically “It’s Been Done Before,” I realized how wrong my views were. Now, “It’s Been Done Before” is by no means a generic pop song birthed by a corporate label, but rather it is extremely catchy and upbeat with excellent production. I think better put, “It’s Been Done Before” was such a dramatic shift from what I typically like that it caused me to rethink what I can do as an artist.
Billy’s vocals are perfectly delivered and the lyrics, while maybe not inspirational to some, mean a lot to me as a musician. IBDB has become my personal anthem of overcoming the limitations of creativity and the discouragement that creation brings. There have been countless times I have written a melody or riff and showed it to Brandon [my best friend], and he would be like, “Wait, dude that’s literally just Weezer” (or something like that).
When these, “aha!” moments turn into brutal realizations of unintentional plagiarism, it’s heartbreaking. Creating original art, whether it be music or any other form, is no easy task. To me creation is a release, it’s cathartic to pick up a pen and my acoustic guitar and write. I think Billy captures this feeling of creation and catharsis perfectly in a breakdown at 2:08,
The joyful act of creating
Writing songs that are nameless
That the world may never see
And if they don't
That's fine by me
I love how Billy’s lyrics express not only the realization but the triumph of pushing through the creative process. Instead of being discouraged by the realization that what he wrote isn’t exactly original he uses it as inspiration to keep trying as shown in the chorus,
Cause it's been done before
All the songs and all the words
And it hurts me to my core
When I find
It's been done before
But all the greatest artists
They came knocking at my door
And they said try
Yeah, they said try
I think it’s a really important message and has inspired me to keep pushing in my own endeavors.
I would even compare the emotional connection I have to this song to songs written by huge artists like Green Day. Specifically, “Jesus of Suburbia” off of their 2004 album American Idiot comes to mind. While obviously different thematically and sonically, both “Jesus of Suburbia” and “It’s Been Done Before” both give me reassurance and confidence , either as an individual or a musician, when I hear them.
I had the pleasure of giving Billy a FaceTime call on his way to practice last night and learn more about Two Mile Moon.
“The saddest songs are the ones you never write.” – Billy Muscatello, “The Presence of Your Absence”
QUESTIONS
Q. How did Two Mile Moon meet?
a. “I met Evan in high school [Macedonia], we weren’t friends until senior year. He [Evan] knew Torin and I met Jonny at CODA up in Cleveland. He saw my open mic set and said, “hey do you need a drummer?” and I said yes!”
Q. How long as Two Mile Moon been together?
a. “We’re actually really new, we’ve been together since last August. This is our fifth show as a group. We’ve been working really hard, I’m actually on my way to practice right now.
Q. How did Two Mile Moon get its name?
a. “It’s pretty random but the commute home from my old job was like a two-mile drive home. I’d often get a good view of the moon, so I just thought “Two Mile Moon” ha-ha.
Q. What’s your writing process like Billy?
a. “Personally, for me, I like to start with the lyrics. I expand on that then go to different melodies. I feel like my song writing process for every 20 songs I write I’ll get one good one. I don’t think it’s quantity over quality; but I think quantity can lead to quality. That’s my method. Quantity can lead to some good stuff but can also lead to some average stuff too.”
Q. Who’s you favorite local artists?
a. “There’s a band that goes to CODA every Wednesday called Prithee. They’re a Cleveland trio that’s very underrated. Their live shows are always insane.
b. “Oh, my friend Alex Scalzo, he’s a solo artist and a great videographer.”
c. “One of my friends from high school is the lead singer for People in The Daytime, they’re a Cleveland based indie funk-pop band. Their live show is incredible and really fun to watch.”
d. “OH, and Gavin Michaels of course but he’s from Seattle.”
Q. How do you meet Gavin Michaels?
a. “Another CODA connection actually, I frequent their open mics frequently. Gavin was playing a cover of a Bob Dylan song and I complimented him on his performance and literally the next day we were hanging out. We just clicked and bonded over My Chemical Romance and a bunch of other different bands.”
Q. How would you describe the Cleveland music scene?
a. “I think the Cleveland scene is really sound. Especially in terms of venues like Mahall’s and smaller ones like CODA. CODA has an open mic every Wednesday. There’s also an open mic bar on the west side called Phunkenship that’s really lowkey. In terms of the music there’s a lot of pop, there’s a lot of metal, the Midwest emo scene is growing a bit, a lot of great indie rock bands as well.”
Q. What’s your favorite local venue?
a. “In terms of memories made and people met, CODA takes the cake. I’ve been there so many times and met so many people there. Arguably, Grog Shop because I love the stage and being able to move around is great. We’ve played two shows there before and it went really well.”
Q. What does CODA do right that makes it your favorite to hang out at?
a. “The people and the energy. It’s really small and intimate. There are always new faces but there’s also some regulars. The scenery is also really cool, lots of paintings and different rock ‘n roll antiques.”
Q. So, Two Mile Moon has never played down here before, but have you been to any of the venues?
a. “I actually went to The Rialto before last February to see People in The Day Time, I’ve also been to Musica and Jilly’s Music Room oh and Bless This Mess.”
Q. What’s been your biggest challenge as a musician, individually and as a group?
a. “As a person, having that balance between paying your bills then coming home and still being able to create and play music. That’s been a struggle recently. Every musician also faces a lot of rejection, that something I had to get used to.”
b. “Hardest thing as band… We’re at a really good spot right now. There were times where we had to set aside our differences and work through some rough patches but at the end of the day we get up on stage and say, “hey let’s play for each other and have a good time.” Overall, there are some creative differences, but our goal is to put on some great shows.”
Q. What’s Two Mile Moon’s biggest influence?
a. “I’d say early 2000’s indie rock, everyone’s favorite band is from that era. Evan’s favorite band is Interpol, Torin’s is The Strokes. That era overall is really big on us. We’ve also been listening to a lot of 90’s too, Pixies and Devo.
Q. What’s next for Two Mile Moon? Any big releases?
a. “Our album is planned for June 9th. Probably release one more single release before then. We’re still working on some mixes and reworking some older songs.”
Interested in seeing Two Mile Moon with Gavin Michaels and Girl Cologne this Saturday? Purchase your tickets here! Doors are at 7pm. This is a show you do not want to miss!
Give Two Mile Moon a listen on Spotify and a like on Facebook and follow them on Instagram.
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