INTERVIEW WITH KENZIE COYNE, LEAD VOCALIST OF HELLO LUNA

Hello Luna, l-r: Danny Rodgers (keyboards), Mitch Horn (bass), Kenzie Coyne (vocals/guitar), Michael Neumaier (drums), and Eric Morgan (lead guitar)

 

Today, I'm honored to interview Kenzie Coyne of Hello Luna, a band that is new to me.

JR: Welcome to the blog. How did the band get started? Who's all in the band? And I'm especially curious about how you developed the band's name.

KC: I had been playing as a solo artist and in a couple of bands writing music for a few of years before I started Hello Luna. I started connecting with other musicians and held auditions because I wanted to lean more into rock. My previous projects were folk/ singer songwriter and I was ready to move on to something different. I built up my band after a couple months and we started practicing and playing shows not long after. I came up with the name Hello Luna after spending so many nights staring at the night sky… I realize it sounds cheesy, but as a kid I was desperately searching for answers in the sky. I can recall my mind filled with questions about my faith, God, what I’m going to do with my life as I would stare at the night sky. I had so many questions and I was searching for God. The name Hello Luna means “light in the darkness”. I want my band to be a light for those who are in those dark spaces, questioning like I used to staring up at the sky. 

JR: Since you're from Columbus, I'm going to ask a non-typical-band question: Have you been to the Columbus Zoo? If so, is it your favorite zoo, or are there others you like better? (My wife and I have been to over 40 different zoos including two visits to Columbus; Cincy, Fort Wayne, Chattanooga, and Henson Robinson (Springfield, IL) are our favorites, more so than our hometown Indy Zoo.)

KC: I was actually at the zoo last week. I’m a huge animal lover and I’ve spent a lot of time at the zoo haha. I love the Columbus zoo. The Toledo and Cincinnati zoo are awesome. I enjoyed my time at the Central Park zoo. I’m a huge fan of being able to interact with the animals, so my favorite zoo is probably Indian Creek Zoo in MI. They give you a bucket of food to feed the animals. It’s a tiny zoo, but definitely the closest interactions I’ve had with some animals. 

JR: Okay, back to music. What's your latest release? Also, I love the song "Buried On The Inside;" could you tell us about it?

KC: “Buried On The Inside” was actually a rush job. I was in the studio with my producer writing our EP. The song actually started with that guitar line that goes through the entire song. It’s probably the simplest song I’ve ever wrote and I really pushed myself to not overthink anything about that song. The lyrics are really about my cynical mind. I had the lyric “why does everything happy make me mad” and went on from there. I’ve lived through some long periods of darkness and depression in my life and at that point things were looking up and I was in a good space, but I couldn’t shake the negative outlook I had on life. The song is really about feeling like I’m stuck in a bad dream and not living in the reality that my life had actually gotten better. I never realized how much faith it takes to actually enjoy the good seasons God puts us in when you’ve been living in darkness for so long.  

JR: I'm looking forward to hearing you at the Kingdom Come Festival: you're on the agenda for the SubCulture Stage at Kingdom Come Festival (is it sponsored by Subway? Just kidding). What should we expect from this particular stage?

KC: This is my first year playing KCF, so I’m not sure how much I can speak to the stage overall, but we plan to bring it all and really make a mark with our performance this year. 

JR: I believe Christian rock artists often find themselves in intense spiritual warfare, probably because they're entering the enemy's territory at full volume. What struggles do you face, and what sources do you have for encouragement and support during the times the battle's the fiercest?

KC: I’ve definitely experienced spiritual warfare on my music journey. Most of the time it’s actually hard to recognize. A lot of the torment actually comes from unchecked negative thought patterns or lies the enemy is trying to feed me about feeling not good enough or like I’m going to fail. I noticed the most resistance when I became really transparent about speaking about my past abuse and how my faith got me through that season. I would find myself so low and worn out. I remember going on podcasts and talking about it all and then just feeling like all the energy had been taken out of me. It was so much harder emotionally than I could have imagined. I’m lucky to have an awesome community of other believers around me. I’m part of a small group or (Bible study) at my church Vineyard and they’ve come alongside me through this journey praying and encouraging me in so many ways.  I also have incredible support from other Christian bands that can relate and encourage me when I feel like giving up. 

JR: Thank you for your time. Any webpages or the like that we can keep up with you on? And do you have any closing comments?

KC: Our website is Helloluna.band; you can find our tour dates and merch there. I’m most active on TikTok, but also frequently post on Instagram and our handle is @hellolunaband . We’ll see ya at KCF Subculture Stage Friday at 4:20pm.