Image courtesy of Half Moon Portrait
The members may not even be old enough to vote, but pop-rock band Half Moon Portrait is beginning to make a name for themselves in the Southern California music scene. Since their debut album Game of Life came out last year, the band has scored multiple licensing deals and radio airplay through Sonicbids, including appearances on The Real Radio Show, Skope magazine radio/TV, and The Indie Authority. Adam Garriott (drums), Daniel Martinez (bass, keyboards), Kyle Ramirez (guitar, vocals, keyboards), and Ari Shiller (guitar, vocals) let us in on how they balance their schoolwork with a budding music career.
You guys are still in high school but have already begun seeing success, especially with some of the music licensing deals you’ve gotten through Sonicbids. How do you manage school and the band?
Managing school and Half Moon Portrait has been very difficult, so our practice time, shows, and recordings have been mainly confined to the weekends. But we make it work, and we work through the impossible.
Who are your influences as a group?
Our musical influences span across a variety of genres, which includes artists such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Dream Theater, Stevie Wonder, Bruno Mars, and Sublime. All these influences affect how we approach our writing style and what we aim to create as artists.
Being in a group with other creatives means there’s bound to be tension when it comes to musical ideas. How do you navigate your songwriting process?
Each band member has strong individual opinions when it comes to writing original music and making decisions for the band, so there's sometimes tension in our group, but our friendship and mutual love for music is able to get us through these issues. We are constantly growing and becoming closer as a strong band and group of friends.
When can fans expect to hear new music?
With college approaching for three of us, composing more music has been scant due to SAT testing and filling out college applications. Hopefully, once we have more time, we can go back to doing what we love most: writing music.
What has been your favorite gig you’ve gotten through Sonicbids?
Sonicbids has helped immensely in getting our music licensed to radio and TV. We don't think we could have done it without Sonicbids. It was a whole new learning curve for us in terms of exploring opportunities available to musicians, let alone young musicians. Getting these opportunities has been the biggest feel-good accomplishment for us.
What advice would you give to other musicians your age who are trying to balance school and begin a path in music?
Improve communication so that everyone is on the same page in the band, and coordinate way ahead of time to make sure that everyone in the band is ready to work hard to achieve common goals.
