Interview: 2017 Must-Know - The Big Moon

London four-piece The Big Moon - Juliette, Soph, Celia, and Fern - played 738 gigs in 2016 (some of them supporting The Japanese House in America). An astonishing figure, which is even more impressive when you consider the fact they are still yet to even release their debut album, 'Love In The 4th Dimension' (out on April 7th).

MUST-LISTEN: 'Cupid', 'Formidable', 'Silent Movie Susie'.
YOU WILL LIKE, IF YOU LIKE: Courtney Barnett, Wolf Alice, Dum Dum Girls, Best Coast, Hinds, Angel Olsen, Sharon van Etten, Jenny Lewis, Haim.

COUP DE MAIN: How does your songwriting process work?
THE BIG MOON - JULIETTE JACKSON: I usually noodle and hit things in my bedroom until something sounds alright, then we all get together and turn it into something that makes sense.

CDM: Do you write your lyrics specifically for the songs, or do you write poems or prose and then evolve them into song-form?
THE BIG MOON: A bit of both. I have a notebook that I carry around and am constantly adding to. Little odd turns of phrase or funny things that people say all go in there. But then sometimes you have a nearly finished song and you have four syllables left to fill and it takes like a week to think of what words to put in.

CDM: Lyrically, what's your favourite song that you’ve written?
THE BIG MOON: There's a song called 'Something Beautiful' that I'm pretty happy with. It’s about turning into a monster during the creative process when really you're just yearning to make a beautiful song to immortalise someone, longing for the perfect way of explaining how someone makes you feel. I also love 'Eureka Moment' and the line, "You could have been the voice of your generation, but you never had the nerve."

CDM: What do you think is the difference between a good song and a great song?
THE BIG MOON: A good song is like a trip to a theme-park. A great song is like a trip to a theme-park where you meet the love of your life and fall over and break your leg and it's Christmas day. A great song has its own life-force, like a ball rolling away down a hill, it belongs to everyone.

CDM: At what age did you write your very first song ever, and what was it about?
THE BIG MOON: When I was 12 I wrote a song about how the ear receives sound. The first line was, "Air particles are made to vibrate and pass on lots of wave motion," and the chorus was "the ear drum viiiiiibrates."

CDM: What do you hope for people to take away from listening to your music?
THE BIG MOON: I hope people can take it to their hearts in the way that I've taken my favourite music to heart, and attach memories and reflexes to the songs, and either get really excited or really annoyed when it comes on the radio.

CDM: Love (or the absence of love) seems to be a major theme in your songs. Do you think love is the strongest human emotion?
THE BIG MOON: I think jealousy is stronger - jealousy can make you completely mental, whereas love makes you crazy in a sort of wafty, bubbly way.

CDM: What can you tell us about your upcoming album 'Love In The 4th Dimension'?
THE BIG MOON: It has 11 songs on, and they all have choruses. Just off the top of my head, there are 'oooohs', 'aaahs', 'wooohs' and 'ayayayays', but so far we haven't had any 'bada dahs' or 'li de dies'. There is one sound on the album which I made by playing a triangle with a pillow.

CDM: You’ve got a song called 'Happy New Year' on the album, during which you lament, "But I’m never gonna be this young," which is a very universally relatable sentiment. Zelda Fitzgerald once said: "All I want to be is very young always and very irresponsible and to feel that my life is my own-to live and be happy and die in my own way to please myself." Do you agree or disagree with Zelda?
THE BIG MOON: Zelda sounds like a fun time gal. I pretty much agree with her, I'm a selfish being deep down and I’m always looking for my own pleasure. And it's true, after you’ve said you're never gonna be this young, seven syllables have passed and you're already three seconds older.

CDM: What’s it been like touring with The Japanese House in America?
THE BIG MOON: It was cool to go and tour the U.S. and pretend to be Jack Kerouac for a minute, even if we did arrive three days after the election. We met a lot of people who said they were 'in mourning'. It’s a confusing place right now, but I think live music offers us all an escape and we really enjoyed being there to offer that.

CDM: If you were a country, which song would be your national anthem?
THE BIG MOON: 'Mis-Shapes' by Pulp. That song is so so so good and makes a great manifesto.

CDM: If T.H.E. B.I.G. M.O.O.N. were an acronym, what would each letter stand for?
THE BIG MOON: Tiny Hands Envelope Boobs In Greasy Mitts, Offer Only Nipples.

CDM: What’s on your bucket-list?
THE BIG MOON: I would really quite like to smoke and play cards with a monkey, if he/she consented to doing that with me.

CDM: You’re one of our 'must-know’ artist picks for 2017... who are yours?
THE BIG MOON: The Magic Gang, Abattoir Blues, Trudy And The Romance, Virgin Kids.

Click here to check out more of Coup De Main’s 2017 Must-Know Artists.

Watch The Big Moon perform 'Formidable' live below...