Moone Records marks 10 years with a two-day Phoenix festival

Moone Records is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a two-day festival on Nov. 11 and 12. Label artists and affiliated acts will perform at two downtown locations starting at 3 p.m. each day.

The label was founded by brothers and musicians Caleb and Micah Dailey, offering a home to bands that may differ in sound or style but are threaded by artfully composed sonic creations, an intersection of innovative instrumentations and sonic beauty.

Moone’s founders knew they wanted to do something special to honor the milestone and got an extra dose of inspiration while doing some shows out of the country.

“Last year, we were doing some house shows, and then we went to Germany, and they were doing what was kind of like a mini festival there – bands would play at different venues throughout the city, and they were interesting, intimate events, they were amazing. We immediately thought that we should do something similar,” Caleb says.

“Micah and I really liked the intimacy of the shows that were part of that event, and the house shows we’d been doing. We started asking bands from different parts of our history – old and new friends – if they’d like to do something like this, and almost everyone said yes, and it turned into this amazing festival,” he adds.

Micah digs in a bit regarding their trip to Germany and the event that helped shape their upcoming celebratory event.

“There was a big event called Alien Disco there that happened for several years – we were supposed to play as part of it. They couldn’t get the government funding they normally got for the event, so they had to shrink it down and go with a more DIY approach. They used a restaurant, a cafe and some other interesting spaces,” he says.

But that was only one part of the charm. “They also mixed their family of artists into these supergroups who did really interesting formats of music they’d never done before. They were celebrating their local community, and it became a reference point for how we wanted to go about this with our own community of artists and friends,” Micah adds.

Attendees will see how this musical community interacts at the Moone Festival. True to form, there will be some formations in bands that are special to the event.

“We will have some artists playing in new formations,” Caleb says, adding that the music they’ll be performing may also take some new twists and turns. “The vast majority of everybody playing is like an amalgamation of recordings and live projects we’ve been a part of over the last decade, and some that we’ve never done a record with, like Califone – but we’re working with Michael Krassner, who is a part of the Califone history.”

The Moone duo certainly don't have to do this event as a way to publicly cement their love of community-building through music and performance. Its inherent presence in the curation of the label is established.

Longtime composer Michael Krassner summarizes the label’s vibe in one sentence: “The whole Dailey family are sweethearts.”

Krassner has been enmeshed in the experimental music scene locally and beyond for decades and fondly appreciates what Caleb and Micah have created.

“I really love the Moone guys. They have a DIY aesthetic that I appreciate. It reminds me of the early days of all the great Chicago labels – especially the early '90s – like Drag City, Skin Graft and Thrill Jockey. Everything feels homemade and well cared for. I am also a huge fan of the music they make. Honestly, I finally felt at home artistically with those guys once I had made the connection. I have an album coming out in Moone sometime in early 2024."

Seth Kasselman will be performing at the festival, and at the time we spoke, he was letting that freeform musical spirit dictate some of what attendees will see.

“I’ve had a few ideas for the festival but haven’t decided on everything yet. This points to how Moone has had such an impact on me. Improvisation has always been an important part of my work,” he says, praising Moone for their respect for each artist’s approach.

A Phoenix native who spent several years making music in Los Angeles before moving back to the Valley, Kasselman found collaborators and friends in this crew. “It took me a long time to find my people in Phoenix. Some of that is me just being stubborn, but meeting all the people circulating around the Moone community completely revitalized my interest in playing with groups again,” he says.

Other festival performers include JPW, Gohne, Lauren Sarah Hayes, Dailey / Mudd and Dimitriam.

Like the house shows and multi-venue events that inspired them, team Dailey is thrilled to use a different spot each day.

“We are pretty sure this will be the only time we’ll get to use the Union Train Station,” Caleb says. The second night happens at the Carriage House at the downtown restaurant Cibo, which has hosted a variety of musicians.

Micah says, “We like trying to find unsuspecting places and creating these unique experiences where the space is just as much a part of the night as the music is.”

Moone Festival. 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11 at the Union Train Station, 401 W. Harrison St., and 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12, at the Carriage House at Cibo, 603 N. Fifth Ave. Tickets start at $35.