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Music

Venus and the Moon Talk Addiction and Family Jam Sessions, Plus They Premiere a New Track

They also premiere their new track "Hungry Ghost."

Photo by Amanda Demme

Ever heard of “galactic country?” Neither had we, which is why we wanted to find out more from the sources. “Galactic country” duo Venus and the Moon is the celestial music project from Rain Phoenix (as in actor Joaquin’s sister) and Frally Hynes. Although the duo was not looking to collaborate in a musical project, Phoenix and Hynes found a perfect musical match in one another.

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We also thought this band was a match for us, and we’re stoked to premiere their first single, “Hungry Ghost” (below)—which is every bit as haunting as its name leads on. Listening to it, you can understand why fellow brooder Cat Power asked the group to support her on tour.

Rain and Frally talked to us about their starry interest, addiction, the musical Phoenix family, and touring with Cat Power.

How did you come up with the name Venus and the Moon?
Frally Hynes: We had both taken a picture of “Venus” and “the moon” and posted it on Instagram within 24 hours, without knowing the other one had done it. It was right when we were coming up with the name of the band. It sounded good and felt right. The funny part is when we named the band, we started feeling the galactic pull of those planets. I’m so the moon and Rain is so Venus. It was meant to be.

Are you guys really into Greek mythology and astrology? Did that feed into the name?
Frally: I’m definitely really into Greek mythology. I’m not into pop astrology, but I am into the way the planets affect us. We’re sort of planetary bodies ourselves as women.
Rain: Maybe we’re being a bit wacky by saying so, but it does feel like something aligned with the stars at the same time for both of us.
Frally: We can choose to pay attention to it or not. I think that when we started to pay attention to it, it started to infiltrate our creative process in a positive way.

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Can you tell me a little bit about “Hungry Ghost,” your first single?
Frally: It’s about addiction in the ways we can become addicted to anything. In this case, it’s an addiction to a person or a relationship. For some reason, I started smoking a year ago and I had never really done this. I thought, “This is kind of harmless.” Suddenly I had this insidiousness and I was like, “That’s it, no more.” Then the more you decide not to think about something, the more you’re focusing on it. The beginning of the song came from that kind of a struggle. Then I realized it was a metaphor for a person I was trying to stop obsessing over. Rain and I worked on it more, and it kind of evolved from there.

How did you end up on tour with Cat Power?
Rain: I met Chan Marshall through a friend. I was doing a project with The Art of Elysium. She came on to curate two musical artists for it. We began talking via email and came and performed as a surprise guest. She surprised the audience with an acoustic song—she flew herself out and put herself up. It was such an incredible gesture. We connected on music and service. The charity is about artists giving back and volunteering. She’s such a good woman with a good soul. Frally actually brought up that we should tour since we’re putting something out. We were thinking about different people to send it to, and I thought to send it to Chan. Her response was very sweet and immediate. She offered to have us join her in Europe, which was an amazing surprise to have in your inbox. It just happened by way of sharing.

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I grew up listening to papercranes. Rain, over the past couple of years, were you working on solo music? Is papercranes done?
Rain: I think it was 2012 that I released a concept record called Three. It was a concept record. I did this big, epic, multi-platform show. To be honest, I knew it was the last thing I was going to do with papercranes, at least for a while. I really enjoyed doing this multi-platform experience to go with this concept record. It was a decade of work that was so rewarding. I had so many different, amazing musicians that I got to work with. That was it. I actually decided to stop playing music, and I run the music department at The Art of Elysium charity now. When I met Frally last year, I got back into it.
Frally: I lured her back into the game [laughs]. I love papercranes; I love every band member I ever had and I think there were about 40 of them. I think it’s time to try something new. I’m really excited to be collaborating on Venus and the Moon. It’s something new, so that’s the direction at the moment.

“oranges and lemons” was always one of my favorite songs from papercranes, and I was so stoked to hear about a new project with you.
Rain: My sister and I wrote that song. Summer and I wrote that song together – I don’t know if you knew that. She’s been a great collaborator.
Frally: Maybe we could cover it.
Rain: Yeah girl!

Do you and Joaquin ever collaborate musically?
Rain: We absolutely have. He’s probably one of my favorite closet musicians. I think that no matter what, when you play music with family, there’s a shortcut language. My sister has written a bunch of songs with me. I respect my family’s musical talents so much. It’s really amazing when you work with family. He’s incredibly talented in many ways, but I always love the chance to jam with him. We’ve definitely had some good jam sessions.

Frally, were you in any bands prior to this project? And how is this different than your previous musical endeavors?
Frally: I had my own solo stuff. I put out my own albums. This is collaborating [laughs]. I was feeling a little like Rain and tired of doing this version of myself. It was a little bit overt, and I’d never tried to collaborate because I felt like I was too bossy or opinionated. With Rain, I’ve never been able to collaborate so easily with someone. We’re just on the same page.
Rain: I concur. We naturally have the same aesthetic. There’s a lot of laughter around it too. It’s been so lovely.

Venus and the Moon will release a seven-inch of their two first singles on November 11. You can catch them live in NYC at Rockwood Music Hall on November 7—and donate to the band’s Indiegogo campaign for their tour with Cat Power here.

Ilana Kaplan is a writer living in Brooklyn. She's on Twitter - @lanikaps.