Cody Jasper and Mitch Micoley met at a rehearsal studio between a metal chop shop and a strip club called the Blue Zebra in North Hollywood.
Micoley had flown Jasper out looking for a singer for the band Moon Fever.
“The band was there, and it was pretty much ‘Hi, here are the guys, here’s the mic. Let’s go,’” recalls Jasper. “And we fucking rocked it.
“And then it was like, ‘When are you moving here?’”
Micoley says he knew Jasper was his guy from the first song.
“I looked at the guys, ‘This is the dude we’re looking for, no question,’” Micoley says.
In a year that has forced the masses to stay indoors because of COVID-19, Moon Fever has utilized that time to refine their sound.
ED Magazine spoke with Jasper and Micoley about Moon Fever’s single “Cocaine”—which comes out on Friday, Dec. 4 but is available early through StripJoints Music. The pair also touched on the Austin music scene, meeting music heroes and how music has served them during the pandemic.
ED: How has your writing and recording process changed since COVID?
JASPER: It’s been pretty good for us. We both moved to my hometown and we got a living room we can play music in. We were just rehearsing with the band, staying inside. He’d send me a track/idea he came up with; I could be in my living room and send him back a vocal idea. We were just making music the whole time. That’s what we’re doing now, recording it in California.
MICOLEY: I think we got up to 30-some work tapes and picked the best nine we thought we wanted the whole next record to sound like. It’s turned out really good.
ED: Have you turned to music even more this year with the COVID pandemic as a means of escape, stress/boredom relief, etc.?
JASPER: We’ve been chasing the dragons the whole time — anything we can do to play a show, or bring the band together, we do it. We went to Denver and made a video and rented the Oriental Theatre and did a show for ourselves. Anything we can do to make us feel like we’re doing something musically, we do. It’s been fun, and we’ve gotten really creative.
ED: Cody, how would you compare the music scene in Austin to LA?
JASPER: Austin is one of a kind for sure. I think Austin has some of the best players in the world, it sucks they don’t go anywhere else, but there are some hidden gems out there. LA is just the big dogs, where you always have to be on your best behavior, or worst like me and Mitch. They’re two different things. Austin is kind of becoming like an LA, but the roots of Austin I resonate with because I’m from Texas. They’re two different animals, both beast.
ED: What’s been the most memorable performance Moon Fever has had to this point?
MICOLEY: Whisky a Go Go was so sick, a super iconic place. It’s so cool, you’re playing on the stage the Foo Fighters, the Doors, everyone’s played on.
JASPER: As soon as we got rolling, the world stopped.
ED: What’s the most awestruck you’ve been meeting a fellow musician? Why?
JASPER: I met Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains in Hollywood. I lost my shit. I was a huge Alice in Chains fan, he was a rock god. It was bad ass. I was like ‘Come to my show.’
MICOLEY: I was at the Arlington Guitar Show when I was 16 or 17 and I met Eric Johnson. He was playing through this Dumble (amplifier). I remember just watching and being like ‘Oh my God, I don’t even know if I could ever be that good.’
“We’ve been chasing the dragons the whole time — anything we can do to play a show, or bring the band together, we do it. Anything we can do to make us feel like we’re doing something musically, we do.” — Cody Jasper
ED: How excited are you to perform on Dec. 3 after a year that’s seen shows canceled or moved online?
MICOLEY: I am unbelievably excited. I cannot wait to get on a stage again. I’m so hyped. It’s going to be incredible.
ED: StripJoints services DJs at gentlemen’s clubs nationwide, so, in your words, why would “Cocaine” be a good choice to play at a gentlemen’s club?
JASPER: Because the song was created at a strip club, the music video was filmed at a strip club and the strip club world needs a new rock and roll song to dance to. Micoley: And this is the one!