While students frequently visit the Malibu Inn, this past Saturday night it was more packed than usual. More than a hundred bodies were crammed into a dark room to hear the two Pepperdine talents set to play that night. Audrey Reed warmed up the crowd with her original songs and a few covers. “The best part of the night though, was when Lady on the Moon came on and the crowd went wild,” sophomore Monica Perez said. As a teaser to Saturday night’s performance, Lady on the Moon performed at Wednesday convocation. It was the largest crowd that they had ever played in front of and both Alex Keating and Buchanan Westover were nervous — something neither of them normally experience.
Westover plays the guitar and does the vocals while Keating plays drums. At convocation, they performed as a two-person act, but at the Inn they had two more members; one was Keating’s friend from Las Vegas, Jason Corpuz on keyboard, and the other was Westover’s brother Sam Westover on bass. They have played shows together before in Las Vegas and if anything serious were to happen in Lady on the Moon’s future, both Corpuz and Westover would be included.
Both have been playing their respective instruments for quite a while. Keating began playing the drums at six years old when his parents got him a First Act drum set from Toys R Us. Eventually, he began taking lessons and developed his skills. In contrast, Westover is a self-taught guitarist. He got his first guitar at five years old and learned by reading tabs and playing simpler songs, gradually increasing the difficulty.
At first, both Keating and Westover were just friends who had musical talents. They met fall semester of their freshman year in Eaton Hall, but it wasn’t until spring semester that Lady on the Moon was created. Keating said it happened while in the car on the way to the movies, when he turned to Westover and asked, “Why aren’t we doing anything?” It was a simple start to a great duo.
Their style embodies alternative rock with reggae undertones — an upbeat chill. They draw on their enjoyment of Coldplay and British rock. Since there are only two main artists for now, they are able to focus on their vocals and harmonies. This was shown at the convocation event where Westover focused on vocals and played his guitar and Keating concentrated on percussion.
Westover writes the majority of their music. Recently, he has been writing about peace and harmony through nature. He said that he also has songs about “going for a girl and being nervous, but I’m really trying to move toward writing deeper music.”
They have only recorded a demo, but those who are eager to check out Lady of the Moon’s music can browse their YouTube channel, listen to the media player on their Facebook or check out their Sound Cloud. Keating says that they “want support from Pepperdine,” which was evident on Saturday night, and they hope it will continue.
In the future, they hope to get signed by a label and continue producing more music, but before they can do that Lady of the Moon needs to outlast Westover going to Lausanne, Switzerland for an IP Program. They both agree that it won’t be a hindrance to their success and view it as a hiatus. Westover said he “is going to use that time to write more lyrics and hopefully come back with more inspiration.” Despite this delay on the road to musical success, Keating and Westover said that when Westover gets back from Lausanne, they will be “guns blazing” toward the future.
