Allan Moon
Encyclopedia
Allan Moon (born January 6, 1976) is a Canadian / Israel
i Artist, Poet, Singer-Songwriter and Producer.
, Canada
and grew up in New York City
. In 1992, Moon emigrated to Israel
and settled in Tel Aviv
at the age 17. He currently lives in the Galilee
region of Israel.
poets. His poetic style was very raw, druggy, containing many sexual innuendos, often compared to William S. Burroughs
.
In 1997, Moon published his first book of titled Word Felon, a collection of poems from 1992–1996 which he had been performing with. The poetic style of Felon, was language deconstruction, broken rhymes and freestyles, which were undoubtedly inspired by his growing up in the rap
culture of 1980s
New York City. Most of the poems’ dealt with a dark portrayal of underground big city culture, drugs, sex and personal alienation, through the eyes of a lost boy. After Word Felon, Moon focused on mixed-media art experiments; combining art
, photography
, graphic design
and poetry
. These works would finally see light in 2002 under the project title: Phoetry, Moon’s coining for Photo & Poetry.
Phoetry was published as a book which coincided with an art exhibition
of the same name. The book contained poems and their visual interpretations, in the form of photographs, graphic designs and sketches. The exhibition ran in two galleries in Tel Aviv from 2002 through 2003, and it featured “blow-ups“ of the visuals in the book. While the poetic nature of Felon came off as adolescent and confused, Phoetry found Moon more mature and reconciled. The poems were colored with love, relationship and a new found affection of nature.
His first musical release was a 5 song demo in 2006 which included Song of the Wind (that would later be his signature song) and a hidden tracked acoustic cover version to Billy Joel
’s Uptown Girl
. The demo paved the way to his first full length album Song of the Wind.
Song of the Wind was released in 2008 and saw Moon’s songwriting as a direct progression from his poetry coupled with country life. The album was characterized by acoustic guitars and Moon’s soft, almost breaking voice, reminiscent of Neil Young
. The album received favorable reviews, the magazine Americana UK compared his writing to that of Nick Drake
and John Martyn
.
The album featured Uri Brauner Kinrot (Boom Pam
) on electric guitar and Yogev Samina (Tippa Irie
, Alexander O'Neal
, Carroll Thompson
) as recording engineer.
In 2009, Moon released two very different singles from Song of the Wind and from each other. The first single Do Your Dance was a foul-mouthed night-club account, released under pseudonym CANPO Moon’s electro-folk alter ego. The song, which Moon had written several years earlier, was treated to an electro-dance backdrop by musical producer and co-writer Ziv Familia.
Later in 2009, saw the release of The Art of Rolling, produced by Tamir Muskat
and Adam Scheflan. Muskat is the founder of acclaimed gypsy rock band Balkan Beat Box
.
Following his debut release Song of the Wind in 2008, Moon was called upon as musical producer for Yuval Banai
’s 4th solo album Me’ever Le’Harim (Beyond the Mountains). Banai is lead singer of Israel’s premier rock band Mashina
, a multi-platinum selling act who’s been active since the early 1980’s. In Me’ever Le’Harim, Moon took Banai in a new musical direction, towards folk and Americana, lap-steel guitars and stripped down productions.
Moon is credited with writing 3 songs on Banai's "Me'Ever Le'Harim" and 2010 will see the release of Boom Pam
’s third studio album, on which Moon is credited with writing 2 songs: Light Up and U R Mine.
Allan Moon and the Stars
Though rarely performing live, Moon maintains a longstanding relationship with his band members (aka The Falling Stars) who appear on his recordings and occasional live shows. The Stars are Uri Brauner Kinrot on Guitars, Uzi Feinerman on Guitars, Adam Scheflan on Bass and Ram Gabay on Drums. Individually and collectively, they are also members of the bands Boom Pam
, Firewater
, Eatliz
, Balkan Beat Box
, Pezz, The Ramirez Brothers, The Fluorescents and No Regrets For Our Youth.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i Artist, Poet, Singer-Songwriter and Producer.
Geography
Moon was born in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and grew up in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In 1992, Moon emigrated to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and settled in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
at the age 17. He currently lives in the Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
region of Israel.
Poetry
Upon arriving in Tel Aviv, Moon broke into the English language poetry scene, organizing and participating in readings and underground performances reminiscent of the Beat GenerationBeat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
poets. His poetic style was very raw, druggy, containing many sexual innuendos, often compared to William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
.
"...Moon's poems are authentic photographs of written experience as a kind of sustained ecstatic fictional, (auto)biographical experience. Moon sort of milks an orgasm in his best poems, and leaves the technique floundering for a philosophy. His work contains none of the moral/linguistic imperatives of Bernstein, nor the violent ejaculations of Burroughs, and in it's own right becomes a poem distinctly his own." - by Elazar from a preface to ARC 15 - Journal of the Israel Association of Writers in English'
In 1997, Moon published his first book of titled Word Felon, a collection of poems from 1992–1996 which he had been performing with. The poetic style of Felon, was language deconstruction, broken rhymes and freestyles, which were undoubtedly inspired by his growing up in the rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...
culture of 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
New York City. Most of the poems’ dealt with a dark portrayal of underground big city culture, drugs, sex and personal alienation, through the eyes of a lost boy. After Word Felon, Moon focused on mixed-media art experiments; combining art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
and poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
. These works would finally see light in 2002 under the project title: Phoetry, Moon’s coining for Photo & Poetry.
Phoetry was published as a book which coincided with an art exhibition
Art exhibition
Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
of the same name. The book contained poems and their visual interpretations, in the form of photographs, graphic designs and sketches. The exhibition ran in two galleries in Tel Aviv from 2002 through 2003, and it featured “blow-ups“ of the visuals in the book. While the poetic nature of Felon came off as adolescent and confused, Phoetry found Moon more mature and reconciled. The poems were colored with love, relationship and a new found affection of nature.
Music
In 2002, Moon moved out to the Galilee region in Israel and turned his focus to songwriting. His musical background began as a child learning saxophone in the NYC Conservatorium, later moving on to play guitar and keyboards which had accompanied early experiments with spoken-word and music.
“My first instrument was the saxophone. It was in the 80's and it seemed like every song had a sax solo (and also BowieDavid BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
started out playing sax.) But, I had to carry it around mid-Manhattan to my teacher's place, and when I started smoking I just couldn't play it or lug it anymore “ – Allan Moon
His first musical release was a 5 song demo in 2006 which included Song of the Wind (that would later be his signature song) and a hidden tracked acoustic cover version to Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
’s Uptown Girl
Uptown Girl
"Uptown Girl" is a song written and performed by musician Billy Joel, first released in 1983 on his album An Innocent Man. The lyrics describe a working-class "downtown man" attempting to woo a wealthy "uptown girl." The single peaked at #3 on the Billboard charts in the US, and #1 in the UK,...
. The demo paved the way to his first full length album Song of the Wind.
Song of the Wind was released in 2008 and saw Moon’s songwriting as a direct progression from his poetry coupled with country life. The album was characterized by acoustic guitars and Moon’s soft, almost breaking voice, reminiscent of Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
. The album received favorable reviews, the magazine Americana UK compared his writing to that of Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
and John Martyn
John Martyn
John Martyn, OBE , born Iain David McGeachy, was a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a forty-year career he released twenty studio albums, working with artists such as Eric Clapton and David Gilmour...
.
"...Very straight ahead, personal, even disturbing at times. I liked "Song of the Wind" a lot. It's such a sad song, delivered so delicately. The images of loss are really poetic, and each one tells a complete story in two lines. Very strong stuff ..." - David KahneDavid KahneDavid Kahne is an American record producer. Kahne started his musical career as a working musician and then became notable for his role as in-house producer and engineer at 415 Records, the first American new wave music label, and for his subsequent roles as Vice President of A&R at Columbia...
– Producer
The album featured Uri Brauner Kinrot (Boom Pam
Boom Pam
Boom Pam are an Mediterranean surf rock band from Tel Aviv.Tel Aviv based band Boom Pam was formed in 2003, plays a mixture of Mediterranean, rock and surf music in a format of a unique power trio consisted of Electric Guitar, Tuba and Drums...
) on electric guitar and Yogev Samina (Tippa Irie
Tippa Irie
Tippa Irie is a British reggae singer and DJ from Brixton, South London.He first came to prominence in the early eighties as an MC on the South London reggae soundsystem Saxon Studio International....
, Alexander O'Neal
Alexander O'Neal
Alexander O'Neal is an American R&B singer. He is best-known for the songs "If You Were Here Tonight" and "Fake", and the duets with Cherrelle, "Saturday Love" and "Never Knew Love Like This".-Biography:...
, Carroll Thompson
Carroll Thompson
Carroll Thompson is an English lovers rock singer, best known for her work in the 1980s.-Biography:Thompson sang in school and church choirs as a girl, but initially studied for a career in pharmacy. In the mid-1970s, she began working as a backing singer at several recording studios after...
) as recording engineer.
In 2009, Moon released two very different singles from Song of the Wind and from each other. The first single Do Your Dance was a foul-mouthed night-club account, released under pseudonym CANPO Moon’s electro-folk alter ego. The song, which Moon had written several years earlier, was treated to an electro-dance backdrop by musical producer and co-writer Ziv Familia.
Later in 2009, saw the release of The Art of Rolling, produced by Tamir Muskat
Tamir Muskat
Tamir Muskat is a musician/producer-engineer who was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel as son of a Romanian immigrant. As a teenager, he was already a prominent rock drummer and percussionist...
and Adam Scheflan. Muskat is the founder of acclaimed gypsy rock band Balkan Beat Box
Balkan Beat Box
Balkan Beat Box is an Israeli musical group founded by Tamir Muskat, Ori Kaplan of Firewater and Big Lazy, and Tomer Yosef . As a musical project they often cooperate with a host of other musicians both in the studio as well as live...
.
Following his debut release Song of the Wind in 2008, Moon was called upon as musical producer for Yuval Banai
Yuval Banai
Yuval Banay is an Israeli musician, best known as the lead singer of the influential Israeli pop rock band Mashina.-Personal life:Yuval was born on June 9, 1962 in Tel-Aviv to Yossi and Ilana Banai...
’s 4th solo album Me’ever Le’Harim (Beyond the Mountains). Banai is lead singer of Israel’s premier rock band Mashina
Mashina
Mashina are an Israeli pop rock band which was active from 1984 to 1995, and then again from 2003 to the present. The band is considered by many to be Israel's most important and influential rock band...
, a multi-platinum selling act who’s been active since the early 1980’s. In Me’ever Le’Harim, Moon took Banai in a new musical direction, towards folk and Americana, lap-steel guitars and stripped down productions.
Moon is credited with writing 3 songs on Banai's "Me'Ever Le'Harim" and 2010 will see the release of Boom Pam
Boom Pam
Boom Pam are an Mediterranean surf rock band from Tel Aviv.Tel Aviv based band Boom Pam was formed in 2003, plays a mixture of Mediterranean, rock and surf music in a format of a unique power trio consisted of Electric Guitar, Tuba and Drums...
’s third studio album, on which Moon is credited with writing 2 songs: Light Up and U R Mine.
Allan Moon and the Stars
Though rarely performing live, Moon maintains a longstanding relationship with his band members (aka The Falling Stars) who appear on his recordings and occasional live shows. The Stars are Uri Brauner Kinrot on Guitars, Uzi Feinerman on Guitars, Adam Scheflan on Bass and Ram Gabay on Drums. Individually and collectively, they are also members of the bands Boom Pam
Boom Pam
Boom Pam are an Mediterranean surf rock band from Tel Aviv.Tel Aviv based band Boom Pam was formed in 2003, plays a mixture of Mediterranean, rock and surf music in a format of a unique power trio consisted of Electric Guitar, Tuba and Drums...
, Firewater
Firewater
Firewater is a US indie rock group founded by Tod A. in 1995. He describes them as a"wedding band gone wrong".After Tod left his previous group, Cop Shoot Cop, he quickly regrouped and formed Firewater to explore the styles of music Cop Shoot Cop had only hinted at, including klezmer, cabaret, ska,...
, Eatliz
Eatliz
Eatliz is an Israeli alternative/progressive rock supergroup formed as the serious outlet of Guy Ben Shetrit of punk rock band Infectzia in 2001. The band is known for its internationally awarded animation music videos and for reinventing itself in every live show, where the stage is a playground...
, Balkan Beat Box
Balkan Beat Box
Balkan Beat Box is an Israeli musical group founded by Tamir Muskat, Ori Kaplan of Firewater and Big Lazy, and Tomer Yosef . As a musical project they often cooperate with a host of other musicians both in the studio as well as live...
, Pezz, The Ramirez Brothers, The Fluorescents and No Regrets For Our Youth.
Discography
| Title | Format | Year | Label | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEMO | EP | 2006 | Songbird | Allan Moon |
| Song of the Wind | LP | 2008 | Songbird | Allan Moon |
| Yuval Banai / Me'Ever Le'Harim | LP | 2008 | 8th Note | Allan Moon |
| Do Your Dance / CANPO | SP | 2009 | Songbird | Ziv Familia |
| The Art of Rolling | SP | 2009 | Songbird | Tamir Muskat & Adam Scheflan |