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South Jordan Journal

Local band, Booyah Moon, releases first album

Feb 01, 2018 03:45PM ● By Keyra Kristoffersen

Utah local band Booyah Moon releases their its album in January 2018. (Audrey Livingston)

Booyah Moon, a band comprised of five former Utah Valley University students, released its first album, “Landing”, in January 2018, complete with CD-release party at the Loading Dock in Salt Lake City. 

South Jordan natives Stephen and Tayler Allen make up the band as lead vocals and drums, respectively, alongside Jordan River and Joe Roberts on guitar and Brooke Bolick on bass. Four of the five met as tutors in the writing lab at Utah Valley University while Tayler was also there, studying theatrical design. 

Each member of the band has experience in musical performance, from choir to garage bands to design.

“We all like stories, so that was a uniting factor,” said Stephen Allen.

Stephen Allen, Roberts and River took a class from Rob Carney called “Wild and Angry Lit,” and for a final project, they used their music and writing backgrounds to write a song.

“Our final project for the class was anything we wanted as long as it was relevant,” said Stephen Allen. “[Carney] asked us to perform it at the Conference for Social Change.”

After that performance in the fall of 2016, the three continued to get together, write songs and play music, eventually adding Stephen Allen’s wife, Tayler, on drums and Brooke on bass guitar to become Booyah Moon in January 2017.

“We don’t really have a set sound that we need to hold to,” said Stephen Allen about the lack of concern over creative differences with so many writers. “We like to tell stories or at least have some kind of narrative element in our songs. New is cool.”

The band’s first album, “Landing,” includes seven songs. The first song was chosen to be recorded by sound engineer Stephen Cope, of Provo’s Studio Studio Dada, during what he referred to as Hell Week. During this time, a large number of bands were brought in to record a single song for an anthology album Cope would cut.

“We so enjoyed the process of working with Cope and Studio Studio Dada that we decided to go back there and doing our first album,” said Stephen Allen.

Over a couple of weekends, the band finished recording the other six songs that Stephen Allen and the rest of the band felt were best prepared and described them as a band with so many different points of view and styles.

“We wanted something that was a showcase of a variety of sounds and not seven songs that are two similar,” said Stephen Allen. “Those seven showed the different forms that we have.”

The band, he said, has no shortage of music coming in thanks to having so many writers. The group already has plans for the next track lineup on its second CD; however, since it’s such a lengthy process, the group might take a little while to complete it. A GoFundMe was set up to help fund the cost of producing “Landing.”

“We’re unique but somewhat familiar in a way you maybe haven’t heard before,” he said.

The band released its first music video for the song “Fraidy Cat” on Halloween, and it has plans to continue performing. In 2017, the band played at the SLC Veg Fest and Springville Battle of the Bands. It will be at Kilby Court on Jan. 29, 2018 and performed at the CD release concert on Jan. 22 in Salt Lake City.

“It’s been a lot of fun and we all get along really well,” said Stephen Allen. “It has been crazy, but it’s a good time.”

To find out more about the band and how to buy tickets for upcoming performances, visit https://www.booyahmoon.com/