Bassist Kris Potts touches the keys of the piano as he explains the process of auditioning a new keyboardist for his band.
"It'd be nice if we could have someone play these things," he said placing his hands on the keys. But until then the show goes on with just three - a guitarist, a bassist and a drummer - or what he and the other guys know as Ladymoon.
-á "I picked up a guitar and he picked up a bass," Brown said about Potts. "Some people pick up the guitar and then pick up the bass, but he's always been a bass player." Brown, a Ball State telecommunications graduate, formed the original Ladymoon during high school in 1997. The inspiration for the band's name came from a children's book, he said. "I thought it sounded different, you know?" Brown said. "... Unique." "It's really a rebirth of the group because it's totally different material," Brown said. The rebirth of Ladymoon is what Potts and Brown now describe as jazz, rock, funk and fusion. "We try and mix everything we can," Potts said. "The whole idea of this group is that we want to create popular music that has lyrical content and musical integrity at the same time," Brown said. For some bands, it's one or the other, Brown said. Or none. While McKowen battles a double major, Brown and Potts work by day. At night, they make the drive from Indianapolis to Muncie several times a week, to either practice or play a show. Although they play some covers, Brown and Potts write their own music. Brown writes from experience, he said, while trying to give his listeners an inside and personal viewpoint. "I try to stay away from writing about stuff I don't know about," Brown said. Ladymoon encourages its listeners to be a part of the music, rather than stand back and listen. "That's what makes every show different," Potts said. Perhaps what makes its live show unique, however, is that it doesn't use setlists. "We've been playing together for so long that I usually know where he's going to go," Brown said. "And I usually know where he's going to go," Potts added. The members work off audience reactions, and Brown said if they get a poor audience reaction, then they're most likely playing poorly. "I think a lot of times we play over people's heads," Brown said. "We're trying to find a balance between that." The balance is the appeal the band can make to a mainstreamed crowd and one that likes jamming. Potts jokes he's going to work on his dance moves and Brown might dye his hair more blond. Ladymoon incorporates dissonance and time signatures the audience may not be used to. Because of audience reaction, Brown said the band's second album will consist of all live music. Its first record "LP" is an overview of Ladymoon's music, incorporating rock, jazz, reggae, latin and pop. After funding the album with money from their own pockets, they pressed 1,000 copies which they now sell online and at Karma Records. In the long run, the members of Ladymoon work to gain recognition and build up a following to make their night job a full-time career. "They're workaholics; they're always working," Brown said of other musicians. "That's what record companies want ... a workaholic. "I think if you have an appreciation for musicianship you'll probably enjoy our music," Brown said about the fans. "I think they keep coming out because they know it's going to be different every time."
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