Moon For Two isn’t just another bedroom indie project—it’s a deeply personal and ever-evolving sonic journey.
The man behind the moniker is a one-person powerhouse, balancing life as a self-taught musician, full-time nursing student, and water polo coach, all while squeezing in late-night recording sessions.
His latest work, including the introspective and atmospheric ‘Plane Ride,’ showcases his DIY ethos and a relentless pursuit of raw, unfiltered sound.
In this interview, he chats about his creative process, the joys and struggles of home recording, and the unexpected origins of his artist name. Oh, and a little spoiler—there’s a proposal on the horizon. Dive in as Moon For Two breaks down his world, one chord at a time.
HAPPY: What are you up to today?
MOON FOR TWO: Today was quite busy! I did some chores, held a tutoring session for a couple hours, went to the gym, ran errands, cooked dinner for my family, and now I’m answering these questions! And after this I’m going to study and work on an upcoming release.
HAPPY: Tell us a little bit about where you are from, what do you love about it?
MOON FOR TWO: I’m from Whittier California. It’s a comfortable suburb fixed between Los Angeles and Orange County. I love where I’m from because I’m close to tons of attractions, places, cultures, and environments.
I’m 12 miles from Disneyland, 14 miles from Downtown LA, 19 miles from the beach, and 35 miles from snow on the mountain. And then San Diego and the desert are only a couple hours away! I’m lucky to have access to so much diversity here, especially with the variety of amazing foods.
HAPPY: What inspired the name “Moon For Two,” and how does it reflect your music?
MOON FOR TWO: To make a long story short, my older sisters started calling me Moon Moon because of the 2013 meme, “Moon Moon the Wolf” (read here if you wanna know the history of it).
They then taught their kids to call me Uncle Moon Moon and that’s just been my nickname ever since. Anyways, I thought of this nickname and began to use it for inspiration. After some thought I came up with Moon for Two!
This gives a nod to my Moon Moon nickname, but doesn’t sound like an exotic dancer or the wolf meme haha. Moon for Two has a personal meaning but also invokes a sense of nocturnal pondering and bonding with someone you love.
HAPPY: Can you walk us through the creative process behind “Plane Ride”?
MOON FOR TWO: I wrote the piano chords for this song while I was on a return flight home from a work trip. I was using Logic Pro X and was just typing them out with the keyboard piano. Once I got home, my ideas just spiderwebbed from there. I added the rhythm guitar and the airy pads.
My favorite instrument on this track is the drums. It’s one of the preset drummer sounds on Logic and I added effects to make it crunchy and sound so sick. After adding each layer I set the structure and changed the chord progression a bit halfway to keep it exciting.
The lyrics were one of the last things I did for this song. I actually had to sit on it for several months because I was stumped on lyrics and I couldn’t get my voice to sound the way I imagined it. But after some learning and patience, I finished! And now it’s on display.
HAPPY: How has your experience as a self-taught musician shaped your sound and approach to making music?
MOON FOR TWO: Because I’ve never been formally educated on playing instruments, recording, mixing, or mastering, it has taken a long time to get to where I am.
I’ve spent hundreds of hours watching youtube tutorials, reading articles, and experimenting with sound. My writing and creative process has been altered many many times as I figured out how to do this.
I’m still working on it haha. My goal is that the music I create sounds authentic, not super processed, and down to
earth. Not learning music theory or having lessons on technique allows me to express my inner thoughts, feelings, and vibes without the bias of what is considered “proper and correct” in the music industry. If what I end up with sounds cool to me, that’s all I care about.
HAPPY: What role does spirituality or personal growth play in your songwriting?
MOON FOR TWO: It mainly plays a role in how I write my lyrics. I am an active Christian and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and spirituality shapes the core of who I am.
Writing about it helps me process elements like my testimony, experiences, and inner struggles I have. I don’t want to make the lyrics too brazen and/or preachy.
So, I try to incorporate spirituality into analogies and stories that can be interpreted in different ways. This allows me to express myself, and allows the listener to hear what speaks to them.
HAPPY: Recording in a bedroom studio has become a hallmark for many indie artists. What’s the most rewarding (or challenging) part of that setup for you?
MOON FOR TWO: The rewarding part is that my studio is available 24/7 at no extra cost. When inspiration comes I can get to work right away. But, if I wanna take a break, it’ll still be there when I want it to be. It’s all mine!
The challenging part is the lack of space for instruments and gear, funds to buy quality equipment, and knowledge to actually know how to use it all properly! But, I’d say having a home studio is more rewarding than challenging.
It’s so fun to acquire new skills, get more gear, improve workflow, experiment, and experience the innate satisfaction of creating something.
HAPPY: Your EP Poster Boy was a significant milestone—how does it compare to the direction you’re heading now?
MOON FOR TWO: That’s a good question because I am still figuring out which direction I want to take next. In my sights I have projects lined up that bleed more into grunge, midwest emo, and alternative rock regions that are less upbeat and poppy.
But, on the backburner I also have projects that are more organic, folky, and singer-songwriter. So, for now I think I will focus on the former, and then work on the latter closer to summertime. This EP overall gave me the confidence and momentum to keep going and keep creating.
HAPPY: When you’re not making music, what else are you into?
MOON FOR TWO: I have lots of other hobbies and interests. I enjoy going to the gym, baking, cooking, painting with watercolor, playing games with my family, playing and coaching water polo, thrifting, napping, and doom scrolling on instagram reels. I keep myself entertained pretty well.
HAPPY: What’s coming up?
MOON FOR TWO: Like mentioned before, I am working on some more dark washed music. I am also a full time nursing student, working at a hospital, and serving in my church’s local bishopric.
Sadly my priorities don’t always include music. However, music is always on my mind! Like my girlfriend, who I will be proposing to in the next year or so ;)
HAPPY: What makes you happy?
MOON FOR TWO: There are too many things to write about that make me happy, so I’ll keep it on the topic of music.
Being able to meticulously create a combination of sounds and words that evoke a spectrum of feelings and ideas and broadcast it to a world audience and have real people, though few, enjoy what I made, makes me happy.
Or simply put, creating, makes me happy.
