Moon
juiceOriginal music from Brisbane.

Douglas Lord and Nigel Kerr form Moonjuice in Brisbane, Queensland, with Sam Vincent on bass and Greg MacDonald on drums. MacDonald played rehearsals and early demos for about six months, then left before the band recorded anything for release; Scott Braid took over on drums. Actor and artist Felicity Mason organised the band’s first photo shoots, including one on the Kangaroo Point Cliffs, and helped promote Moonjuice in its early days. Four months into that lineup, the band were Queensland Rock Awards semi-finalists, and released the cassette EP Only One Way Up, mixed at Vibrafeel with two live tracks from August 1995. That October they played Live Lab, the Sunday afternoon sessions at the Sly Fox in South Brisbane, on the 8th and again on the 29th. Reviewing the first, Susan Jenvey wrote that the band were “fast, furious and funky” and signed off: “They’re good players, and they’re very tight.” Crash & Burn on Mary Street followed on Wednesday 1 November, and on Saturday 25 November the band played Ausmusic’s Australian Music Day at the Sly Fox, billed as “Mun Juice”.

Billed as Münjuice (“pronounced Moonjuice”), the four-piece of Doug Lord, Nigel Kerr, Sam Vincent and Scott Braid became Queensland Rock Awards grand finalists in 1996, after a semi-final at the QUT Campus Club on 4 August. They played the grand final at The Roxy on Saturday 24 August, where Rave’s preview noted that the band “know the score” when it comes to melodic pop songs with catchy riffs. That year they played an acoustic night at the Sly Fox (29 March), the Stafford and Mansfield taverns, the Story Bridge Festival of Beers and The Roxy in Fortitude Valley (25 October). In November they were part of the Gold Coast City Council’s Schoolies Week initiative, with three nights at the Backstage Bar, Doobies, in Cavill Mall. The Gold Coast Bulletin covered the launch in Surfers Paradise, where Mayor Ray Stevens sat in on congas with the “Brisbane band MunJuice”. They closed the year at Chardon’s Corner and the Brisbane Tavern with Lungbutter. In June 1997 they played Wednesday nights at Her Majesty’s Bar in the Hilton Hotel, Queen Street Mall, with The Naked Apes, part of Meta Georgeson’s “NEXT” push for original bands, and two Münjuice clips aired on Optus Vision’s Wired, with Doug interviewed. Other 1997 shows included The Shamrock, The Rat, The Orient, The Pineapple, Crash & Burn and the Sly Fox. On Sunday 8 June 1997 they also played the semi-finals of a separate contest, the Brisbane Rock Awards, at the Melbourne Hotel, the day after their Queensland Rock Awards heat. In the 1997 Queensland Rock Awards they came through the heats at the QUT Campus Club in June to the semi-final at The Roxy on 3 August, where the judges scored them 81 out of 100, praising a “tight and solid sound” and signing off: “Slick. Well done! Enjoyed it.” That put them through to a second grand final, at The Roxy on Saturday 23 August 1997.

On Saturday 28 February 1998 they played their first Brisbane electric show of the year at the Indie Temple, the Embassy Hotel’s free two-stage night, to a packed room. The band recorded a demo CD that year with producer Matthew Stumer. In July 1999 they joined Q Music, and on Thursday 26 August 1999 they played The Zoo in Fortitude Valley. The show was covered in Newsbeat and Whispers, plugged on 4ZZZ and mentioned on 4QR. By the late 1990s the band had dropped the umlaut for good. Münjuice, with its German ü, had proved hard for Australian audiences to read and say, so they settled on the plain spelling, Moonjuice. On Saturday 25 September 1999, back from gigs in Victoria and on the North Coast, they headlined the Orient Hotel with The Naked Apes and BOI & Eskae. By then Julia Kasch had joined as backing singer, and the band were recording at the Dirty Room with Jason “Naut” Gendrolius, who later recorded The Naught Sessions. On Sunday 27 February 2000 they played the Red Cross Live Lab fundraiser at Viva2000 in Paddington, with all door takings going to the Red Cross. Glockenspiel were also on the bill, and a young Pete Murray, billed as Peter Murray and a year before his first release, opened the night. He supported Moonjuice again the following week at the Paddington Workers Club.

First CD EP, released through Psi-Fi Records / MGM Distribution, May 2003. Produced by Caleb James, Nigel Kerr and Douglas Lord; recorded at Psi-Fi Studios, Fortitude Valley. Artwork by Franklin Johnson, Yellow House artist and Doug's uncle. The band launched the EP at The Healer, Fortitude Valley, on Friday 7 February 2003, with The Two Faeries and Asa Broomhall, and made all four songs free to download from mp3.com.au.

Lindsay McKay (known in the US as “Lindz”), originally a drummer and later a renowned guitar technician who has worked with David Bowie, Heart, The Black Crowes, INXS, Superjesus and, more recently, Chris Stapleton, drummed in Bleeding Heart, a band that shared many bills with Moonjuice, including gigs at the Sly Fox Hotel and Van Gogh's Earlobe when Darren Vowles was managing the band. McKay knew the music well. When Kirk Pengilly of INXS was looking for songs for Layne Beachley's project, the connection was made. Manager Sasha Dettori formalised the agreements with BMG. This was before the Daniel Jones sessions.

Kirk Pengilly of INXS selects Moonjuice songs for Layne Beachley's Life in the Fast Layne DVD (2004), released through BMG.

In 2003 “Sure Fire Woman” and “Get Up” from Sero Sed Serio were used in Fox Sports’ extreme sports series, released to 52 countries, and in 2004 three tracks from Take It to Ten were selected for the series as well. The promotional video for The Only One (2004) and the Gentleman Jack DVD (2003) were produced through Michael Hennessy at Film Designs. Douglas Lord also appeared in the Film Designs music video Life Without a Ceiling for Brisbane band Mahala, alongside Jim Cass (Australian Muay Thai kickboxing champion), members of the Odin's Warriors MC, and kickboxers from the Valhalla stables, credited in the film as "Douglas Lord, Rock Star". Douglas Lord co-produced Sero Sed Serio and, with Nigel Kerr and Steve Bishop, Take It to Ten (2004).

Meta Georgeson of Shawthing Entertainment managed Moonjuice for several years, starting with shows at the Stafford Tavern and building to venues across South East Queensland. Her bosses at Shawthing were Darren Clark and D-J Wendt, long-time manager of The Ten Tenors, and she was guided by respected booking agent John Shelley, founder of The Gig Factory. Later, Sasha Dettori handled PR in 2003, and by 2004 the band was managed by Deb Haddelton, formerly of Virgin Music and EMI, with Andrew Wilkinson.

It was Lindsay McKay again who brought Daniel Jones to see Moonjuice play at the Alley Bar, Milton Bowl; Jones took to the band immediately. In late 2005 Daniel Jones of Savage Garden produced the Surefire Sessions EP for Pavilion Musik, Quiksilver's music label. The EP played in Quiksilver stores worldwide with surf footage, and a track from the sessions featured in Quiksilver's 2006 Kelly Slater DVD Letting Go – Kelly Slater: Trials & Triumphs (Pavilion Productions).

Lord and Kerr continue as the songwriting core. Steven Bishop joins on drums, founding member of Powderfinger, later of The Predators alongside Ian Haug and John Collins.

Lord went on to found Digital Dominator, create Authority44™ and co-found OG01™. The music remains part of the story.

"Brisbane rock band Moonjuice have been kicking around since the early 1990s after pals Doug Lord and Nigel Kerr hooked up at Uni to write some tunes."

"In the company of Kings Of Leon and The Sights, Moonjuice bring the sounds of the 70s to a new audience... fully-formed rock-outs in the tradition of The Who and The Stones."

"Equipped with 70s West Coast harmonies and a fine collection of tunes, MoonJuice are set to impress... A top performance from a real class act.", Liam O'Neill

"One of Brisbane's finest rock outfits... shimmering, hook-laden pop rock that conjures memories of everyone from The Stones to Led Zeppelin." Producer Caleb James on frontman Doug Lord: "the bastard son of Joe Cocker and Robert Plant."