Name: Moonpools
Members: Marcie Nyffeler (vocals/ guitar), Jasper Nyffeler (drums), Francesco Vona (keyboard), Matthias Gusset (guitar), David Blum (bass)
Nationality: Swiss
Current release: Moonpools' new single "Never Mind" is out via Young and Aspiring.
Recommendations: Marcie: I recently stumbled across Erin Hanson’s paintings online. So much texture and colour. I can’t pick a single piece of hers, but I especially like the way she paints the sea and sky.
And I’ve been listening to Bleach Lab’s album Lost In A Rush of Emptiness pretty much non-stop for the last few months.

If you enjoyed this Moonpools interview and would like to keep up to date with the band and their music, visit them on Instagram, Soundcloud, and Facebook.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

Marcie: It depends on the music I’m listening to and what setting I’m in (physically and mentally). I mainly listen to music when I’m out and about or on public transport. That’s usually more of a passive listening, so not much happens apart from a light headbanging or shoulder-shimmy every now and then. When I’m at a concert it’s very different. I give the music my full attention and let it take over me.

I don’t think I see colours or shapes, I have had more physical reactions in the past, like goosebumps, lightheadedness or simultaneously hot and cold sensations throughout my body. And of course the streams of tears haha.

At shows I mix it up, I usually like to watch the musicians play, but sometimes I’ll close my eyes and just feel.

Entering new worlds and escapism through music have always exerted a very strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to listening to and creating music?

Marcie: Writing music is definitely a sort of escapism or a way to deal with things. There’s a lot I find easier to sing than to say. That form of release is cathartic. But I also just really enjoy playing music with friends, being able to share those experiences.

When listening to music, I’m most drawn to songs that either tug on my heartstrings or I find sonically interesting. I enjoy songs that make me think “Wow, I feel that.” or “Wow, how did they come up with that?”.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience?

Marcie: I joined a band at a relatively young age and was able to garner experience performing and recording. I was also lucky to be making music with people who were highly motivated, that pushed me out of my comfort zone. I definitely didn’t have the courage to do any of that by myself.

I was able to grow a lot through it all and I don’t know if I’d be where I am now without those experiences.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

Marcie: At that age I was in my first band alongside our keyboarder Francesco. We played a lot of gigs around our hometown and had loads of fun. I also enjoyed going to concerts and seeing friends of mine or local bands play. And I remember hogging the family computer and spending hours on Youtube discovering songs and just being engulfed by the feelings they would trigger.

My relationship with music was a big part of my identity, and that hasn’t really changed. The biggest difference is that I take it more seriously now.

How would you describe your own relationship with your instrument, tools or equipment?

Marcie: I’d say we’re still just getting to know each other haha. I’ve never really taken the time to research different guitars, pedals or amps. I’m lucky that Matthias, our lead guitarist, is really into different sounds and pedals and I’ve borrowed some of his gear.

I’d say my voice is my main instrument. I have more control over it and therefore can use it more freely and confidently. I think we’re on good terms.

Matthias: I like them a lot (especially my guitars) but they’re also replaceable. After a while, I find a flaw in almost all of my pedals and guitars. Then I temporarily banish them to a dark corner of our band room and happily discover them again after I’ve forgotten what the flaw was.

The Boss OD-3 is an exception to that rule hehe.

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?

Marcie: I think it’s something intrinsic. Everybody has some form of desire or urge to create. Whether it be music, writing, or a delicious pasta sauce.

I like to write about experiences I’ve had, whether they’re mundane or life-changing. It starts off with an impulse and I see where it goes from there. Usually when I have pent-up feelings about something, I start playing the guitar and just see what happens or what words come out of my mouth.

I’ve also dreamt melodies and have used them in songs before. But more often than not they’re really bad or I can’t remember them when I wake up.

Are you acting out parts of your personality in your music which you couldn't or wouldn't in your daily life? If so, which are these? What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music?

Marcie: It’s very important to me that I’m authentic and true to myself with the music I make. I try to apply that to my daily life, too.

My lyrics are quite personal though, I’m more vulnerable when writing music than I usually am in my day to day. And I guess I also come across as more extroverted on stage than I actually am “in real life”.

I suppose that’s also my approach to making music; A mixture of authenticity, vulnerability and just going for it.

If music is a language, what can we communicate with it? How do you deal with misunderstandings?

Matthias: Stories and emotions. The shoegaze genre has a very open feeling to it that can be received in many ways. In addition I try to compose the melodies and harmonies of the songs to be familiar yet intangible.

So if people feel something very different to what I felt during the process of writing, I’m totally fine with that. If someone refers to Metallica regarding our music because there are also distorted guitars, that case is lost.

Making music, in the beginning, is often playful and about discovery. How do you retain a sense of playfulness and how do you still draw surprises from tools, approaches and musical forms you may be very familiar with?  

Marcie: It’s not alway easy, but not being afraid to make mistakes helps. Just trying stuff out, and if it doesn’t work then it doesn’t work and you can move on.

Mixing a bunch of different, contrasting influences can also be interesting, like singing an old school, crooner-esque melody, but accompanying it with distorted, shoegazey guitars.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

Marcie: I love the sound of cicadas or crickets chirping. It reminds me of our holidays when I was a kid. I also love the sound of the sea.

But there’s not a much better feeling than when a cat decides to sit on your lap and starts purring. The way they’re musical doesn’t just lie in the fact they’re rhythmic or have a melody, but also that it’s an expression of something, like a reaction, feeling or a movement.

There seems to be an increasing trend to capture music in algorithms, and data. But already at the time of Plato, arithmetic, geometry, and music were considered closely connected. How do you see that connection yourself? What aspects of music do you feel can be captured through numbers, and which can not?

Matthias: I think different areas of music can be captured to a very high level, but only to create a superficial classification.

The magic of music I like starts where different feelings and genres collide in a more or less subtle way. I think this cannot be understood by an AI at the moment.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

Matthias: There’s a critical moment when writing song-defining arrangements or finding that one melody, which makes a song complete. Then I try not to focus on learned strategies or musical rules but rather on letting go of control and the pressure of trying to write something extraordinary. Most truly memorable ideas find their way to me when I don’t force them to happen.

For me this approach is very applicable to other situations in life.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

Marcie: I can become overstimulated by too much sound. Actively listening to or analysing everything you hear is tiring.

I find silence very important to be able to appreciate sound. The silence in between sound is what gives it depth and meaning, and vice versa.

Do you feel as though writing or performing 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?

Marcie: For me, it goes back to the sentiment that everyone has some kind of urge to create. It’s about unfolding something within, either doing it for yourself or to share with others around you. To connect with something within yourself or others.

And everyone has their own medium I suppose. My music is very personal to me, and I never started making music with the intent of sharing it with anyone. But I’m able to share a vulnerability in my music, and the connections made with people through it are very special.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

Marcie: I wish for artists (in all industries) to be properly compensated for their work, especially as art and technology are becoming more and more intertwined, and in some people’s perceptions, interchangeable.