Celebrating ten years together, New Jersey’s Above the Moon continue to redefine their sound on There Is No Arrival Vol. 2, a five-track EP that arrives with purpose and focus. The band blends raw punk intensity with melodic indie sensibilities, creating a record that feels immediate, ambitious, and personal.

Fronted by Kate Griffin, whose vocals have always been both commanding and expressive, the EP demonstrates the band’s ability to marry urgency with nuance. From the opening track to the closing moments, the collection reveals a group comfortable with its identity yet unafraid to challenge itself creatively. Each song contributes to a broader narrative of presence, connection, and the passage of time, reinforcing why Above the Moon have remained relevant and compelling a decade into their career.

Formed in Madison, New Jersey, in 2015, the band has spent years honing a reputation for authenticity, live energy, and a refusal to rely on gimmicks. Over the past decade, Above the Moon have released multiple EPs, an acoustic project during the pandemic, and a full-length album in 2023 recorded entirely in their home studio. Their music draws from punk, shoegaze, singer-songwriter craft, and pop influences, resulting in a sound that is unmistakably their own.

With There Is No Arrival Vol. 2, the band not only celebrates its past but also looks forward, offering a snapshot of where they are creatively today. The EP is concise but layered, capturing the band’s signature energy while allowing space for reflection and subtlety. It sets the stage for our conversation with Kate Griffin, who opens up about the EP, the band’s decade-long journey, and what it means to continue evolving without losing sight of who they are.

How has your perspective on music and songwriting changed since you first started the band in 2015?

Kate: In 2015 we were coming together from vastly different experiences. In regards to songwriting, to get things off the ground, I was pulling from a pool of songs I’d written on my own or with previous bands.  Musically, we were each pulling from what we’d done before, and what we were listening to at the time. We’ve been at this for a decade. We’re different people now with different things to say. We have different musical influences, so things have changed a lot. 

In regards to our perspective on music and being in a band, when we started, we were experienced enough to get the ball rolling pretty quickly and we spent a ton of time playing out in local venues – sometimes 3x a month, or multiple shows per weekend. Since then we’ve realized that burning the candle at both ends isn’t worth it, and we’ve spent a lot of time finding a balance between writing, recording, releasing music and playing out that works better for us.  Now we’re working smarter, not harder.

There Is No Arrival Vol. 2 has a mix of urgency and reflection—how do you decide when a song should lean one way or the other?

Kate: We let the songs decide.  Since we started writing we’ve always put out the songs that feel the best to play, and oftentimes they’re released as they come.  Our songs are all coming from a place of catharsis, so if we’ve got a lot of high energy, angry sounding stuff, it’s because that’s how we were feeling when we wrote them.  We try to balance that out in the track listing, moving things around to create a more well-rounded listening experience, but we never try to fill in a space with a “happy” or  “somber” song, we just write them as they come.

Can you describe a moment during the making of this EP that felt particularly pivotal or transformative for the band?

Kate: Writing and recording the last track, When We’re Gone, felt different than the other songs we’ve released. I think a lot of that is because we can all relate to the lyrical content.  I typically write from personal experience, so while the guys are usually in on the vibe or the energy, they may not identify exactly with what I’m singing about. But When We’re Gone is about being in a band, about the frustrations and hardships that come with it.  I can remember when I finished singing the scratch vocal for the recording, John, who is admittedly not a “lyrics guy” asked, “Wait, is that song about us?” It is! It’s about this band and every other band we’ve ever been in.  I think we play that one a little differently because we all relate to it.  I also got the guys to sing on it, too, which makes it stand out as well.

How do you balance personal storytelling with creating songs that resonate broadly with listeners?

Kate: I’ve found that the artists I admire most are able to write in a way that is specific enough to sound unique, but broad enough to be relatable. I try to be just specific enough so that for me, the emotional release is satisfied – I feel like I’ve expressed the feelings I needed to, but I’m careful about the words I use, because that’s a big part of what makes the songs relatable to others. One of my favorite things is when someone tells me what they think one of our songs is about.  A lot of times, it’s not at all what I was thinking or feeling when I wrote it, but I’m a believer in that a song means whatever you think it means, regardless of the artist’s intent.

What’s the most unexpected influence that shaped the sound or mood of this release?

Kate: Something I didn’t realize until the songs were finished and released was that all 5 songs either use the word “survive” or explore the concept of some kind of death.  I wasn’t consciously writing about death, but I didn’t realize how much I was thinking about other kinds of loss or finality in the last year.  That really surprised me, and I think it has a huge influence on both the sound and the mood of this EP.

Above the Moon has maintained a strong DIY and authentic approach—how do you keep that spirit alive in the studio today?

Kate: Over time it’s actually become easier, because we’ve learned so much.  When we started, we’d have to save up money and schedule time to record at professional studios, but since our LP Mine Again (2023) we’ve done all of our recording in-house at Shawn’s home studio, Bottle Hill Recording.  He is a total gear-head and over the last 10 years has been paying close attention to our recording sessions, on forums, doing research, building his home studio and now we have everything we need.  

Shawn: Being able to record ourselves has its pros and cons. The benefit is we’re not on a strict timeline and can experiment more. The downside is leaving things open ended can often lead to second guessing yourself. 

This year we recorded and released the most music we ever have between these two EPs and a cover of David Bowie and Queen’s Under Pressure for a compilation. It’s been freeing to record when we want and how we want. It’s allowed us to experiment and add harmonies, synthesizers and percussion without having to worry if we’re on the clock. 

How does the dynamic between band members influence the creative direction of your music?

Kate: This is cool to think about. Most of the songs usually start with Shawn and myself, we’re very open and able to bat ideas back and forth to create the structure of a song. We’ve been doing it since day 1, so our line of communication is strong and wide open.  Additionally we go see live music together a fair amount, we like a lot of the same bands and are always introducing each other to new music.  I think that influences our collaboration and creative direction a lot.  As our rhythm section, Kyle and John are very connected. More often than not, during a practice they’ll collaborate on a section of a song without even discussing it. It’s like they’re reading each other’s minds. Kyle is my brother, and while he only joined us in 2021, I’ve been surprised with how in-step he and I are when it comes to the arrangement of things.  A lot of times if one of us makes a suggestion, the other was thinking of that or something along the same lines.  All of these mini dynamics contribute to the whole.

Has celebrating a decade together changed the way you approach risk-taking in your music?

Shawn: I think being together this long has allowed us to be more honest with each other and collaborate more. When we first started I think we all were a bit hesitant giving feedback or tossing out ideas. Now it feels like the complete opposite! When we get together everyone puts their stamp on the song and we often will try things from different angles until the song feels right. We’ve had more than a few songs over the years that we tried different ways but never felt they landed and that’s ok too. We’ve learned when to push things and when to let the process naturally happen. 

Are there any songs or ideas from this EP that pushed you outside your comfort zone?

Kate: For me it’s Sirens, specifically the vocals.  For years in previous bands I was always told I was too quiet, so when we started this band I made it a point to be loud.  I think for a while I thought that meant singing as powerfully and hitting as many high notes as I could, but with these last two EP’s and with Sirens in particular, I wanted to play with both my lower register and my head voice, trying to balance out the quiet and loud moments to generate more emotion.

Shawn: Top Five was a tough one for me. I wanted to create tension in my playing that matched the lyrics so that one definitely was one that pushed me a bit. 

John: Top Five pushed me. I tried to put parts together that matched the vibe of the song. I wanted to put drums on there with little subtleties baked in to each verse and chorus..so if you just listened to the drums only for a couple seconds, you could tell where you were in the song. I try to do that in most songs, but this one was extra!

Kyle: I would say When We’re Gone definitely pushed me outside of my comfort zone. It’s one of the few songs we have that features all of us on vocals, and I am not much of a singer. I’d much rather hang in the background and let my playing do the talking for me. When the idea was initially conceived, I was not too thrilled by it. However, regarding the feel, vibe, and overall meaning of the song, it works perfectly and adds so much to the EP as a whole!

What emotions or experiences do you hope listeners carry with them after spending time with There Is No Arrival Vol. 2?
Kate: The songs are all about different things, but I think they all fall under the theme of overcoming.  I hope that whatever hardship it is people are identifying with when they listen, they’re also feeling the defiance, the persistence and perseverance, whatever it is they need to push through.