Interview to Barney from FOOL MOON - A DAL finalist (Hungary for ESC 2014)

''a cappella is a valid and competitive style in contemporary pop''

Hello Barney,

First, thank you for your time and agreeing to answer these questions for eurofans in the OGAE Rest of The World LATIN AMERICA Club.

OGAE RoW LATIN AMERICA- How did you know each other? tell us about the beginning of Fool Moon.

Barney -Fool Moon was formed over a decade ago back in 2001, when five young men, who were and are friends indulging their common passion for choir music by singing in various choirs, decided not only to sing classical music a capella (in choirs), but also try making pop music without instruments.  

OGAE R.L.A.- The ''a capella'' style, is not very comun in this kind of competition, Why did you decide to participate in A DAL and try to get the ''Golden Ticket'' to Denmark?

Barney: Most a cappella bands are cover bands performing their own a cappella arrangements of well-known songs, and this is what Fool Moon has been doing since the group was formed. Fool Moon is a versatile group with members who don't only just sing, but make arrangements and write original songs too. Following the excellent response to the first original song of Fool Moon – written by members Gabor Molnar and Gergo Racz – the band felt it's time to take one step further and enter ESC with another original a cappella composition. We aimed to make something radically new in pop a cappella to show that a song without instruments could be just as entertaining and valid as any other contemporary pop song. 

OGAE R.L.A. - What is the most difficult to deal with, playing this style of music? 

Barney: In a cappella, there are no instruments that provide reference either for beat or for intonation. It is a very delicate style that requires great skill, interaction and lots of practice. To perform a song well all members need to hear one another.  

OGAE R.L.A.- What was the inspiration for ''It can´t be over''?

Barney: After his debut appearance as a songwriter at last year's Hungarian round of the Eurovision Song Contest, young composer Máté Bella decided to participate in the event this year too. He aimed to select a unique and vocally unquestionable artist and it was Máté's manager, who finally drew his attention to our group, as Fool Moon is regarded as one of the most innovative groups in the Hungarian pop scene and our established international career made us a perfect candidate for this international contest.

At the very first meeting it already became clear that collaborating with a composer outside the band would be an exciting project for Fool Moon also. Composer and band member since 2004, Gergő Rácz, who is more than familiar with the band's potential, soon became involved in the composing process, and the song is the yield of their joint creative efforts featuring a number of special effects ranging from body percussion to beatbox. Two experienced stage lyricists, Attila Galambos and Vajk Szente also joined the project.

Therefore, all was set to produce a fresh, original pop hit, which demonstrates that acappella is a valid and competitive style in contemporary pop.

OGAE R.L.A.- If you win, would you like to have any musical instrument with you on stage for ESC?

Barney: The short answer is NO. :-)

The slightly longer answer: we're an a cappella group and we intend to keep this song instrument-free also.  

OGAE R.L.A.- How much do you think your music could impact in ESC?

Barney: In Hungary, the response of the public and the jury to our song has so far been immensely positive. People find it very interesting that a "complete" pop sound can be achieved without instruments and because of this our song is considered very special and unique. We feel these characteristics would also prevail in the international ESC round too.

OGAE R.L.A.- Would you include Latin America to promote your music?

Barney: By all means yes! The farther and wider our song gets the better! :-) 

OGAE R.L.A.- What's next after A DAL or ESC?

Barney: At the moment we're focusing on doing our best at the final round of A DAL. Our future plans include making a video for "It Can't Be Over" and we have more original songs in the pipeline. 

OGAE R.L.A.- A last message for your latin fans...

Please give all our "latino" fans out there big hug on behalf of FOOL MOON!

The Hungarian audience has been introduced to "latino a cappella" at our yearly international Fool Moon Acappella Festival in Szeged, Hungary: In 2008, we invited the Cuban a cappella group Vocal Sampling. We hope one day we'll get a chance to meet our "latino" fans in person!

OGAE R.L.A. - Again, thank you for joining, we wish you the best and good luck.

Barney: Thanks a lot!

OGAE RoW Latin America
is a division of OGAE Rest of the World