The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

Music to haunt your summer: Haunted Summer will bring ethereal sound to Gabe’s May 8.

Music+to+haunt+your+summer%3A+Haunted+Summer+will+bring+ethereal+sound+to+Gabe%E2%80%99s+May+8.

For many, the dream of touring the country and playing music for an adoring public alongside a loved one remains confined in the realm of fantasy. The two members of Haunted Summer, however, have realized the dream.

Haunted Summer will bring its spring tour to Gabe’s, 330 E. Washington St., at 9 p.m. May 8. Rugged Little Thing, a bluegrass/folk band from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, will open.

Comprising wife and husband Bridgette Moody and John Seasons, Haunted Summer blends elements of traditional pop music with wild electronic sounds and orchestral strings courtesy of the constantly rotating cast of members who tour alongside Moody and Seasons. Their sound is ethereal and uplifting, while being just a little bit eerie.

Moody and Seasons met several years ago in Los Angeles, growing closer over the course of a decade of playing shows with their respective bands. Part of the same crew of touring musicians, the duo’s long lasting friendship eventually turned to romance.

“We both come from musical families and grew up playing or singing, so it has always been something that drives us in life,” Moody and Seasons said via email. “It was an unruly path to get to this point where we are really writing the music we want to write, but there is no better feeling.”

When they started playing music together as Haunted Summer in 2012, they left behind two established acts in favor of blazing a new trail. Fortunately, luck was on their side, landing them a gig at the Troubadour in West Hollywood just three weeks after they released their first demo.
That show provided the needed spark; they went on to tour with such groups as Polyphonic Spree, Coeur De Pirate, and Taken By Trees, each built just upon demo work.

Those demo tapes and their subsequent début EP, Something In The Water, were fueled, in part, by the desire to take intimate, lo-fi songs written primarily for themselves and transform them into something much bigger and more accessible.

“We just went in knowing that we wanted to create honest and genuine music for ourselves, and we end up bathing in a 20-minute sound bath,” Moody and Season said. “The sound — it’s just how we think.”

Seeing themselves both as writers as well as musicians, the duo is also driven by their passion for telling stories.

“We are very inspired by artists who focus on storytelling and the raw emotions of humanness,” Moody and Seasons said. “Jonathan Richman, Daniel Johnston, and Patsy Cline to name a few. We like to write songs in the most basic manner like this and then create the world of sound that the song lives in.”

Haunted Summer hopes the momentum will carry it to its upcoming album, summer festivals, and tour. Building a career in music can be a frightening prospect, but they take comfort in facing it together.

“We’ve always considered ourselves incredibly fortunate to be able to spend our lives together in this way,” Moody and Seasons said. “Sometimes, the sacrifices you both have to make can be daunting, but knowing we’re in this together keeps us strong.”

MUSIC
Haunted Summer, Rugged Little Thing
When: 9 p.m. May 8
Where: Gabe’s, 330 E. Washington
Admission: $6

More to Discover