When Montreal band Half Moon Run visited The Current studio ahead of their show at the Amsterdam Bar & Hall in St. Paul, Minn., frontman Devon Portielje said something unexpected about something that inspired him to pursue music.

"About 10 years ago, 2008, I think I saw Yeasayer on The Current," Portielje recalls, "and I was like, 'What is that style of music? What are they doing?' They had this weird drum beat and all these vocal effects and I thought, 'I want to do that.'"

Portielje explains he was simply following a thread YouTube was suggesting to him, but yes indeed, it was through The Current that he found sessions by Bon Iver, Tegan and Sara and others. "I started to be like, 'Oh — so this is indie music!'"

So is he a listener of The Current? "It's a bit of a grey area," Portielje qualifies, "but it certainly was formative for me."

Use the audio player above to listen to the complete session with Half Moon Run.

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Songs Performed

"Full Circle"
"Favourite Boy"
"Jello on my Mind"
The first song is from Half Moon Run's 2012 album, Dark Eyes, released on Island Records. Songs two and three are from the band's 2019 album, A Blemish in the Great Light, available on Glassnote Records.

Hosted by Mary Lucia
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Michael DeMark and Tessa Bloch
Visuals by Nate Ryan
Web production by Luke Taylor

External Link

Half Moon Run - official site

Gallery

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