Cardiff singer sees new band as second chance

By JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer | Wednesday, July 9, 2008 10:27 AM PDT ∞

Jonathan Jones' last band would have been considered a huge success for most musicans. Four CDs in 4 1/2 years, released on real labels. A slot on the 2004 Warped Tour. A million song plays on MySpace.

But the pianist and singer sees Waking Ashland as a learning experience that's better prepared him for success with We Shot the Moon.

"You learn a lot from your first band ---- that band was like a crash course in the music industry for me. I made a lot mistakes, but I learned a lot," Jones said by phone from his Cardiff home.

"We broke up, and I kind of went through a period of indecision ---- do I really want to do music again, do I really want to start from scratch again?

"Music won out ---- at the end of the day, I couldn't see myself doing anything else. I still felt I had some more songs to write."

So last September, Jones began assembling a new band.

"I'd known some of these guys from various walks of life ---- Trevor (Faris), the drummer, we'd always wanted to be in a band together but the timing was never right. Paul (Wheatley) wanted to be in this band called Sherwood, but they'd already filled the position ---- so they gave him my number, and it just kind of worked out.

"It all just kind of naturally came together; it was meant to be."

In addition to Faris on drums and Wheatley on guitar, the band includes Adam Lovell on bass, with Jones again playing keyboards and singing.

Growing up in Cardiff, Jones took guitar and then piano lessons as a kid.

"We tried guitar, but the guitar didn't seem to stick. So my mom thought the piano would be a good idea. I credit my mom, because I wouldn't want to practice, but she'd sit there and make sure the lessons of the day were learned.

"Obviously I fell in love with it."

Taking the lessons he'd learned in Waking Ashland, Jones said he had a road map when founding We Shot the Moon.

"There was definitely a vision I had that I wanted to accomplish, so we'd get together and I'd talk about other bands that I liked, and the direction I wanted to go. And we'd sit there and try to capture it. We are aware of what we want to say as a band."

Asked to describe the band's sound, Jones said, "Energetic power pop."

"We Shot the Moon is a good soundtrack to your summer ---- with lots and lots of piano," he said, laughing. "It's for everyone. Our general audience is 14- to 18-year-olds; that's mostly who we get at our shows. But all the parents are there with their kids, so it kind of transcends that."

With the pending release of their first CD, "Love and Fear," Monday night at SOMA, Jones said the band's members (who range in age from 21 to 28) are prepared to invest wholly in their new enterprise. No one is married, and all have jobs with enough flexibility to allow them to tour, he said.

"That's kind of the beauty of where we're at now ---- we have no commitments, so we're able to tour full time. If you're going to make it, you have to drop everything in your life and just go for it."

The CD is on the Militia Group label, and interestingly, Jones said the band had a record deal before there was a band. When news spread that Waking Ashland was splitting up, the owner of the Militia Group called him, Jones said, and at a meeting in L.A., "pretty much right on the spot, he signed me."

But while having a recording contract led to the quick formation of the band, Jones said he'd already committed to his future in music before he had a deal.

"Right before I got signed by the Militia Group, I went out and bought a 15-person passenger van and trailer to force my hand.

"I knew I really wanted to keep going with music. It was my way of really committing."

We Shot the Moon, with A Change of Pace, Houston Calls

When: 7 p.m. July 14

Where: SOMA San Diego, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Suite I, San Diego

Admission: $10

Info: (619) 226-7662 or somasandiego.com

Web: myspace.com/weshotthemoon

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