BILLBOARD MAGAZINE interview

REAL AUSTRALIAN "SURVIVOR" MAKES HER MARK ON MUSIC INDUSTRY by Athena Schaffer, U.S.A

 Dreams of stardom are elusive even to lifelong residents of "music industry cities" such as New York, Los Angeles, or Nashville. But imagine having that dream sparked while growing up in the Australian wilderness. The cards would seem to be stacked against that person. But Australia's Gilli Moon did just that, and beat the odds.

Not only is she a successful singer/songwriter and visual artist in her own right, but she also owns a record and publishing company: Warrior Girl Music. Gilli Moon is currently doing a series of one-offs (not a full scale tour yet) to promote her newest album, "Temperamental Angel", of course on the Warrior Girl Music label. The live dates officially began with the cd release launch at The Mint in Los Angeles. Moon's band, affectionately known as The Blue Warriors, includes Ric Craig on drums, Gordie Germaine on guitar, Jeff Dean on bass, and Evan Beigel on keyboards. And with a road crew of two extra people, that brings the total entourage to about seven people. Moon describes her live show as an "emotional ride". "It's full of energy," Moon explained. "It's a combination of full-on rock: energy, action, and rather heavy. Then it sort-of cuts to a complete silence: quiet ballads where I'm on the piano. Then it peaks again. It's very emotional, going with the 'Temperamental' theme. "We're incorporating my artwork into the show; I do painting. I actually studied art for four years; I didn't study music. (Well, I did study music in that as a child I played classical piano.) But when I went to college I studied visual art. I do a lot of visual work on the internet. So, I'm bringing my paintings, which are full of vibrant colors and very expressionistic. I'm going to be positioning them around the stage, and also I'll be painting onstage."

As the 'Temperamental Angel" live dates go on, a collection of these paintings will accumulate. And will be auctioned. These paintings are the only FX Moon is using onstage, outside of lighting provided by the venues where she appears, since most of the venues provide state-of-the-art, world-class lighting. Moon arranges a lot of her own bookings, but Toni Koch at Warrior Girl Music helps as well. Warrior Girl Music and California-based Experience Entertainment Inc. entered into an exclusive distribution agreement for the US. Four years ago, Moon also founded the organization Songsalive!, a non-profit organization supporting and promoting songwriters, with chapters now in Sydney and Los Angeles. There are workshops and showcases for members, as well as cd samplers of members' music. Moon herself conducts a workshop the first Sunday of every month at the Hot Wired Cafe’ in the Los Angeles area.

Moon taught herself music under candlelight and solar energy in her wilderness home, and had played classical music since age 4. By age 16, she was tackling lead roles in musical theater including that of Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz". She migrated to pop music by age 19, and made her television debut in Italy. In 1997, she moved to Los Angeles, where she released her debut album, "Girl in the Moon". Moon shares her diary of her past four years in Los Angeles on her blog