THE CHRONICLE-JOURNAL

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Moon fever

Welcome to the world of Betty Moon, where the light and darkness clash in eternal struggle, sowing seeds of chaos in its wake whence will rise… Oh, all right, so that's not quite what this four-piece band is all about.

In fact, it's a whole lot less sinister than you might think. Why, the woman herself sounds almost child-like as she enthusiastically talks of the "wildness" of touring. "I wouldn't say that's my big motivation," chuckles the otherwise cheery raven- haired woman known as Betty Moon. "I love having fun but I wouldn't say wildness is my big motivation.

"I am a big collector of occult works - art and novels. I think there's a real romance in it that's playful for me and I love drawing upon those things."

So, while Betty Moon - which, for the record, is the name of a good witch - may inspire images of a female Marilyn Manson, the 31-year old Torontonian who heads the band doesn't go into the fog-drenched realm of scary monsters and Satanic worship inder flickering candelabra.

"My stuff's very different from Marilyn Manson," she says. "We're not that obsessed with the visuals of it. I strive to put less emphasis on it visually. I'd rather it be the sound and the atmosphere."

She will, however, accept the label of "gothic rock" when describing her music and the self-produced CD, Stir. The 14-song, 62 minute-long album is a collaborative effort between Moon and a number of musicians, mostly notably Glen Milchem (drummer with Blue Rodeo) and Darryl Fleming.

"I just wanted to write a collection of songs that strongly represented heard musically - lyrically, vocally," she says. "I felt it would be boring just to be heavy from beginning to end. I love more ethereal- sounding songs as well. I didn't want it to be one- dimensional."

While the recording employed a variety of musicians, the Betty Moon touring band consists of drummer Troy Beaver, guitarist Dan Landry and bassist Drew Spurvey. But like Moon, the band is seriously into the hard- edged but teasing music forged from the fires created by Annie Lennox, Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne.

"They've inspired me, although I don't think there's a connection, really," says Moon of these influences. "My stuff is very different from theirs, but I'm influenced by the same sort of thing. I love the romance and the playfulness of the occult. It's theatrical and fun to fool around with."

Indeed, dance and theatre might very well have been her calling. She's been taking ballet lessons since the age of 14, but growing up in a musical family (her father was in a weekend band and her brother was a member of I Mother Earth for three years) steered her in this direction.

She spent a number of years travelling and even played with a band known as Bambi before reinventing herself as Betty Moon.

"I have now assumed the name and have had that name for the past five years, so all my friends call me Betty," she says, laughing again.

"In terms of my music, (the occult's) not really an element of it other than that I love heavier and darker chord progressions and melodies. I tend to be drawn into that niche."

Julio Gomes