Mr. Moonshine

Mr. Moonshine is a 4-piece alternative rock band from Long Beach, California with a fearlessness to explore the bizarre. Brothers Anthony Pedroza (vocals, bass, guitar) and Andrew Pedroza (vocals, synth), Daysmel Muniz (guitar), and Ternell Cooksey (drums) embrace the often-uncharted territories of music, which lends itself to the band’s alluringly dark sound and theatrical mentality. 

Mr. Moonshine formed in the summer of 2012 while Anthony, Andrew and Daysmel were in New York City performing the rock opera, LOLPERA, which Andrew wrote. LOLPERA ran for two weeks at the Lower East Side’s Theatre 80, which is also home to former Prohibition speakeasy and now absinthe specialist, William Barnacle Tavern. “After a euphoric night at the absinthe bar, we wrote our first song, ‘Comfort Me With Absinthe,’ based on that night,” says Daysmel. 

“Comfort Me With Absinthe” is nestled among 11 other moody tracks on Mr. Moonshine's self-titled debut album, which releases March 3, 2015. Aside from it being their first song, “Comfort Me With Absinthe” is truly Mr. Moonshine’s sonic flagship -- a clean, mysterious, beautiful sound that hints at the band’s inherently theatrical nature. The combination of brothers Andrew and Anthony’s contrasting yet complimentary vocals act as the bait that strongly yet carefully pull the listener through a conceptual soundscape of textural and emotional instrumentation.

“This is quite your Frankenstein kind of album,” says Anthony. Mr. Moonshine was recorded throughout Long Beach, California at LBCC Studio B, The Compound, and 3PT Studios. Additional tracking was done at the band’s studio in Santa Ana, CA and Anthony’s home in Corona, CA. The album was produced by Mr. Moonshine, Eric Ross, Brian Frederick, and Antoine Arvizu, and mastered by Brian Frederick. 

The band’s fearlessness carries through to their general attitude of openness and honesty. “The recording process was frantic, scary, and very much a sink or swim mindset,” says Andrew. “The album has a lot of insanity and hope within its molecules, and if you listen closely you can hear us crying in some of the tracks,” he says with a wink. Ultimately though, as the last track “Bend Or Break” suggests, the listener is presented with an album that dances with the ebb and flow, or yin and yang, of light and darkness. 

Mr. Moonshine is quickly becoming a Southern California favorite, having played countless festivals and events such as the OC Pride, Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor, Long Beach’s Zombie Walk, and Long Beach Pride, where they covered the entire soundtrack of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, costumed in drag. Mr. Moonshine kicks off 2015 with a residency at the House of Blues in Anaheim, CA and shows throughout Long Beach and Los Angeles’ Silverlake neighborhood. Fans can expect highly energetic performances that, as Andrew says, “aren’t afraid to get a little spooky, weird and sexy all at once.” Mr. Moonshine is a 4-piece alternative rock band from Long Beach, California with a fearlessness to explore the bizarre.