Name: The Big Moon
Members: Juliette Jackson, Celia Archer, Fern Ford, Soph Nathann
Interviewee: Juliette Jackson
Nationality: British
Current release: The Big Moon's Here is Everything is out via Universal. They are also currently on a 2023 UK/European tour:



If you enjoyed this The Big Moon interview and would like to stay up to date with the band and their music, visit their official homepage. They are also on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter.

The Big Moon's current press images were shot by El Hardwick who is also a music artist in their own right. Read our El Hardwick interview for their thoughts on a wide range of topics.



Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

Inpiration comes from all over the place, music, books, conversations, dreams, even stupid little things like text messages, tiktok, peoples t-shirts. There's not really an off-switch!

I get so excited when I read a sentence or a lyric that describes a feeling I had never noticed before. I think books and poems especially manage to do that in a way that feels very powerful.

For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

I have to really work to write songs. I love it when I have finished something but I have to really psych myself up to actually sit down and do it. It can sometimes take a lot to believe that the things you want to say are worth saying to anyone.

There is some luck involved - a lot of writing is just plonking away on notes until something sounds good. So theres definitely an element of randomness. But I guess I have also spent years learning and practicing to be able to provide the space for the right kind of luck to happen!

Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?

I make very detailed demos and usually have a clear idea of how exactly the production should eventually sound.

But I try to start the process in different ways, on different instruments, in different places, trying to find things that feel fresh to me.

When do the lyrics enter the picture? Where do they come from? Do lyrics need to grow together with the music or can they emerge from a place of their own?

A mixture of both. After writing with so many people over the years I've learned that pretty much all songs are written by someone making silly vocal sounds over some kind of chords until the sounds turn into words.

But I still feel mortified whenever someone overhears me.

What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

I like lyrics that tell you something you haven't heard or articulated before, but you have felt. Then it also has to fit on the melody in a way that feels smooth and musical … Thats where it gets challenging!

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

It always feels divine like you are discovering it, like it's coming from some otherworldly place … But I think that place is really just a part of you you don't speak to much.

Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

I can agree with that. It does often feel like there is only ONE chord that can follow a certain progression. Or like a beat has to go a specific way and that is it and you cant fight it.

Instinct I guess?

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

I do get lost in it. It's actually the best feeling when you snap out of it for a moment and realise you have been writing for 4 hours and you forgot to eat or pee and you have no idea where you have been

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?

I actually hate refinement and evaluation and much prefer the initial sparky phase when you make a demo and sing it for the first time. I think too much refinement actually kills a song and definitely kills the emotion and instinct in a vocal take.

Most of our new album Here is Everything used the vocal takes from the original demos, sung when I was actually feeling those feelings.

But it applies to the whole recording, you have to be careful not to kill a song with perfection.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

The process of finishing an album and mixing and mastering and releasing it and promoting it can take so long and be quite draining …

So when we finish something I usually spend about 6 months thinking I hate music and avoiding my guitar until something or someone tickles me somehow and I always get the urge back.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I'm sorry did you actually just compare writing music to making a hot drink? LOL this is such a good question!!

I think there can be beauty in mundane things, but there’s no element of performance or vulnerability or empathy in a nice coffee. A coffee won't give you goosebumps like ‘Let It Go’ from Frozen will.



Anyone with a kettle can make a drink they like. But writing music takes fucking balls.