Led by FlyLiteGemini’s Joe Chamberlin and singer-bassist Casmira Draconid, the Southwest Michigan-based group is touring the state and set to release several new singles. The Local Spins Artist Spotlight.
Gemini Moon: Guitar-driven originals with a harmony-driven approach. (Courtesy Photo)
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When a band’s writing and performing clicks almost automatically, it’s a sign of good things to come.
Take Southwest Michigan’s Gemini Moon, featuring guitarist Joe Chamberlin and singer and bassist Casmira Draconid, who formed the alt-folk/indie-rock group more than two years ago.
“I’ve never found someone so easy to work with while songwriting, traveling, playing live shows or working in the studio,” said guitarist, singer and songwriter Joe Chamberlin, who’s best known in Michigan for his work with the band FlyLiteGemini.
“Casmira is a brilliant and gifted writer and lyricist, and a naturally powerful singer, who has only gotten better through our shows the past couple of years.”
The indie-pop/rock band is a spinoff from Chamberlin’s FlyLiteGemini, a rock band that for years pumped up Michigan venues while releasing three studio albums, with another still to come — one that features Draconid’s vocals.
“We have found writing to be very easy,” Chamberlin said, noting that Draconid’s parents led a blues band, Otter Lunacy, that had the singer aching to be a musical performer from a young age.
Clicking as Writers and Singers: Chamberlin and Draconid. (Courtesy Photo)
Chamberlin said the duo clicked “when Casmira and I realized how well our voices worked together and how easy it was for us to create music together.”
As FlyLiteGemini disbanded after the fourth, still-to-be-released album was completed, Chamberlin and Draconid ramped up their performances and songwriting.
“It’s more expansive lyrically thanks to Casmira’s writing, both in subject matter and complexity,” Chamberlin said in comparing the duo’s work to FlyLiteGemini.
“Our music is more orchestrated, and our vision includes more instrumentation than a traditional four-piece rock band. Our upcoming release features cello on a number of tracks, and one song forgoes a traditional drum kit for percussion from (Kalamazoo musician) Samuel Nalangira. We also plan to incorporate electronic elements, such as drum machines, samples and synths in future recordings.”
As for subject matter, Gemini Moon’s music centers on love and hope, “mental, physical and emotional struggles, and current circumstances of being human and living in the world today.”
The band last year released a three-song live EP recorded at Grand Rapids’ Dogtown Studio, with six more songs set for release by early next year and plans for a vinyl album at some point in the future.
The band does have several upcoming shows, though Draconid is still recovering from a vocal injury sustained while “singing through wildfire smoke” over the summer, so guest musicians have filled in at times for live appearances.
The next slate of shows resumes Nov. 1 at Old Mission Distilling in Traverse City, reflecting the duo’s love of the region and its music fans.
“Northern Michigan has just been really supportive and kind to us,” said Chamberlin. “We have just felt so much love and support for the music we are making that we try to get back to places like Traverse City as much as we can.”
Chamberlin said he even plans to relocate somewhere north of Grand Rapids in coming years “to be closer to the forests and lakes of northern Michigan, and farther from the grind of the cities.”
Gemini Moon also plays Kalamazoo Hilton Garden Inn on Nov. 7, Mash Bar in Ypsilanti on Nov. 8, Alpena Public Library on Nov. 20, Left Foot Charley in Traverse City on Nov. 21, and Kalamazoo’s Bronson Park for the Christmas tree lighting ceremony on Nov. 28, followed by a performance at Zero Bar.
LISTEN: Gemini Moon, “The Road to Azum Bar”
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