Singled Out: Richard E's To The Moon

Keavin Wiggins | 10-30-2023

Richard E just released a new single called "To The Moon", from his forthcoming album, "Opening Scene", and to celebrate we asked him to tell us about the track. Here is the story:

It all started with the phrase, To The Moon, which, when I wrote it, was very popular in the crypto world. It was used by Elon and the digital currency adopters to describe a coin that is suddenly increasing in value.

It's the only song on the album where the music was dictated by the song title. I usually start by writing the music and letting that inspire the vibe of the lyrics, or find some lines that I've already written which fit the rhythm and mood.

So I started with some simple acoustic guitar chords, then added drums and a spare, funky bassline. It was the last song I recorded for the album. I had mostly used our Annabel (lee) (the band I have with my wife) guitarist, Eric Klerks, for the other tracks, but I had just secured the allegiance of my long time jazz guitar pal, Jon Dalton, and I got him over to my place to see if he was interested in adding to the track and things really took off from there. He first added a lovely 12 string guitar line and then proceeded to pull out a screwdriver and draw it over the strings to create a fluid, spacey vibe. When it first comes in it actually sounds like an organ but soon takes off into space. And he, of course, also played the great jazz inflected solo at the end.

Lyrically I wanted to comment on the craziness of the crypto phenomenon, but "To The Moon" is also a phrase that is used in a romantic way, "I love you to the moon". So there is also a reference to a 13th Century Chinese myth about the turbulent relationship between the Goddess of the Moon and the God of the Sun who had their ups and downs revolving around the pill of immortality, but eventually made their peace. It also helps to give the song a more timeless feel. A mix of romanticism and reality.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about Richard here