moonstone. on Sad-Pop, MoonFest, and Building a World Worth Showing Up For

SNQLX: “Sad-pop” is a term you coined for moonstone., emotion as the lyric, momentum as the instrumental. When you’re writing, which comes first: the feeling you need to move through, or the sound you want people to move to?

GRACIE: Usually the sound comes first, and then the feeling through lyrics. I’m always writing lyrics about things that are happening in my life or have happened – it’s a form of journaling for me. So I always have lyrics to add to any instrumental that’s written! I like getting a feel for the instrumental before piecing vocal melodies and lyrics, it gives me a good idea of how I should contrast the instrumentation. 

SNQLX: There’s a real tension in the band between the weight of what’s being said and the energy of how it’s being delivered. Do you ever wrestle with that — the fear that a danceable beat might let people off the hook from actually feeling the lyric?

GRACIE: I definitely wrestle with it. There have been cases where I scrap vocal melodies and lyrics because it contrasts against the instrumental just a little too much. But there is a feeling of catharsis when moving your body to live music. Dancing and scream-singing along at a concert with your friends is a spiritual experience, it’s a form of release. So I think our listeners are absorbing the emotional weight of my lyrics whether they know it or not, especially in a live setting.

SNQLX: Lucas, you produce everything from the home studio. When Gracie brings you a lyric that’s exposing something real, what’s your instinct as a producer — do you want to cradle it or push it somewhere harder? How do you decide?

LUCAS: My number one goal as a producer is to make the artist feel comfortable. If someone feels comfortable recording with you (especially vocals) there is going to be a lot more vulnerability in not just the lyrics but also trying out different melodies and ideas. Since it’s our home studio where everything gets done I think Gracie has the advantage of coming into the recording sessions with that vulnerability already existing as opposed to me having to create that safe space for other artists that pay me to produce them. I tend to let Gracie do her thing with lyrics and melodies for the most part because She is extremely talented at making our lyrics emotionally fulfilling while keeping them catchy and memorable.Typically if anyone has an idea my ideology is push it as far as you can go and then lets dial it back as needed. I do give my input but it’s more things that help the words/melodies/adlibs flow better and make the song more fluid as a whole.

SNQLX: A self-titled record is a declaration. You’re putting your name on it and saying: this is us, this is what we stand for, this is who we are right now. What had to be true — about the music, about each other — before that felt like the right move?

GRACIE: We wanted to be sure we stayed true to the unique sound we’ve created. We do genre-bend on the album – especially moving from a track like “Sixteen” to “Just Another Day” – but we’ve kept several elements the same; driving basslines, electric guitars, dynamic vocals and a lot of push-and-pull in each song. Individually, we all have pretty diverse music tastes, and I love that we take from all of our inspirations to keep things interesting! That was super important to us going into this album. 

SNQLX: 13 songs is a full world. Was there a moment in making this album where the record surprised you — where it became something you didn’t expect or plan for?

GRACIE: It was a super last minute decision to add on our bonus track, “Mama.” In 2024, my mom came to me in secret with a poem my stepfather had written about his mother who passed away several years back. She asked if I could write it into a song and have Lucas record it for him. We threw it together and gifted it to him for Father’s Day – he was so touched. He told us that it was “our” song and we could do whatever we wanted with it. Flash forward to 2025, we were putting the self-titled album together, and it felt like something was missing. I suggested to Lucas that we add on “Mama” as a bonus track.

The track is super raw, I recorded the vocals all in one take. You can hear the metronome playing in the background in some places, and at the very end you can hear our dog Claire (RIP) barking in our backyard. But that made it that much more sentimental and emotional to us, even if most don’t know the context. We surprised my mom and stepdad by playing the album on vinyl, they had no idea we would add the song to the album. It just made the album feel so much more sincere and personal for me. 

SNQLX: Is there a song on this album that you privately consider the truest one — the one where the finished version is the closest to what the feeling actually was?

GRACIE: I think “Just Another Day,” “Not As Present,” and “Conversations” feel like moonstone. Like, those songs are really good representations of our unique sound. They’re ambient, but still electric; poppy but still rock. And I have a really strong connection to the lyrics and meanings behind them. 

SNQLX: What’s the record or artist that help shape the band that people would never guess from hearing you?

GRACIE: Paramore are obviously trailblazers in the alt-pop/pop-rock scene. We take a lot of inspiration from them and all of us grew up listening to them. The Cranberries, Blondie, The Cure all deserve to be mentioned as well! We love the dynamic range in their songs – some songs are more ambient, some are electric and punky, some are dancy and poppy. 

SNQLX: Gracie, your voice is soprano — built for range and power. But the emotional register you write in often lives in a much quieter, more internal place. Which vocalists showed you that those two things could coexist?

GRACIE: The first vocalist I really paid attention to was Dolores O’Riordan from The Cranberries. She could do it all. “Zombie” is so gritty and she had such an edge to her voice. But then “Linger,” “Dreams,” and “When You’re Gone” were so lilty, breathy but still soaring. If you can’t tell, I love contrast. I love the impact from singing a line really soft and breathy to a full mix-belt. She did that so perfectly.

SNQLX: As a band — not just individually — is there a record that all five of you have a shared relationship to? Something that functions almost like a reference point you can speak to each other in?

GRACIE: When we first started, “After Laughter” by Paramore was definitely a starting reference point for us. We knew we wanted the same balance between pop and rock. I feel like we’ve created our own sound now and we don’t use a lot of full-albums as references, but sometimes we’ll find individual songs and use them as a reference for production. 

SNQLX:  Five people making music together means five different relationships to the same song. How does a moonstone. track actually get finished — who pushes it, who pulls it back, who’s the last one to let go?

GRACIE: Lucas writes everything instrumentally – usually he’ll start with a rough idea for guitar, bass and drums and send it to everyone to see who vibes with it. From there, each member will add their own elements, I’ll track scratch vocals, then we’ll all record final tracks and Lucas will get to work adding finishing touches, mixing and mastering. It’s really nice to have one primary songwriter instrumentally, it keeps our sound consistent while still allowing everyone to add their ideas. And it helps that Lucas works in the studio full-time, he’s always either writing or mixing.  

SNQLX: Ram and Charis — you’ve been part of building something that has 30,000 people following it now. What does the band give you that a solo project, or a different band, couldn’t?

RAM: For me, it gave me a 2nd chance, before moonstone. fully became a thing in late 2022, I was ready to quit music all together, I felt defeated with music. So when Gracie and Lucas started the band and asked if I wanted to be a part of moonstone. , 3 years later, doing the things we’ve been able to do, is a blessing, it gave me that 2nd chance to be back on stage performing and doing what I love most. 

Not only that but being with moonstone. 

It also has given me a community to be a part of, this band is much more than just 5 musicians playing songs together, we’re a family and I gotta really give that credit to Gracie and Lucas for building our community and bringing people together.

CHARIS: The community that we’ve built is so priceless to me and I definitely don’t take for granted the connections that I’ve made through moonstone. since I’ve joined. The idea of playing bass in front of crowds has been my dream for a long time but I had absolutely no idea how to pursue it to the level I wanted. Joining the band felt like everything I wanted just fell into my lap and I can’t imagine feeling as supported as I do if I joined a different group of people or tried it on my own.

SNQLX: Connor, drums are often described as the emotional spine of a song — the thing that tells the body how to respond before the brain catches up. How do you approach that for a band whose whole identity is about making people feel something and move at the same time?

CONNOR: I can’t say I’ve ever thought of drums as the emotional spine of a song, that’s an interesting take. I mostly try to make the drums groove just enough, weave through the rest of the material, and not sound out of place. Physical reactions in the audience like jumping, swaying, singing along, etc are signs that I’ve helped make the band sound better, which over many years I have found to be the most impactful way a drummer can contribute to a band. I focus a lot on little things, like how the snare sits, how tight the hats are, where the kick accents fall. This can totally change the feel of a song – however, in my experience, people don’t really notice the drums, they just feel the experience of the song and react to it (which is the goal!).

SNQLX:  You’ve talked about moonstone. as a safe space for misfits. MoonFest 2026 is a whole event built around that world — that’s not a band testing the water, that’s a band that fully believes in something. What do you get back from this community that can be more powerful than what you give?

GRACIE: We’ve received so much support from our community since day one. We’re all a bunch of misfits, we all come from diverse backgrounds, and I feel that we were accepted into the Dallas community with open arms. Nothing beats a hometown show, surrounded by your best friends, family and biggest fans. And we’re so inspired by all of the fellow artists here in Dallas. There are so many hardworking, driven musicians here that don’t always get the recognition they deserve. The least we can do is offer them a platform to show off their talent, and give our friends and fans a chance to celebrate local art in an inclusive space! MoonFest is a chance to give back the support we’ve received and spread it to other artists and show appreciation for our fans. 

SNQLX: There’s a difference between music that belongs to the people who made it and music that belongs to the people who needed it. Where does this album sit for you — and does that feel like a loss, a gift, or both?

GRACIE: Absolutely both. I needed this album on a personal level. I’ve heard from fans how our music has impacted them and how they relate to my lyrics, so I hope it’s been a gift for them as well. 

SNQLX:  The album is out. The release show happened. MoonFest is on the horizon. What’s the version of moonstone. you’re building toward that you haven’t said out loud yet?

GRACIE: We are constantly discussing how to keep the momentum going and elevating things. We want every release, every tour opportunity, every local headlining show to be better than the last one. We’re working to dial in our sound even more than before, both live and recorded. Because we know we have the potential to support huge artists and gain a following nationally! We’ll keep pushing and elevating whatever we need to until we get there. We believe in ourselves and work on the band like it’s our full-time job. 

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Reading Gracie’s answers, you get the thinking — careful, deliberate, deeply aware of what this band is and what it’s still becoming. But there’s another version of her that lives in the room, in the moment, in the laugh that breaks through mid-sentence. That’s the version waiting for you in the video. Pull up a chair.