Lunar Intruder & ‘Outerworlds’

Words by Hannah Powell. Images provided.

Today Lunar Intruder dropped their second EP, ‘Outerworlds’. A week before the release, bandmembers Cam Buyers and Matt Genet talked ‘Outerworlds’, humble beginnings, and interplanetary sound. 

Introducing Lunar Intruder. Hailing from the middle of the South, the band features Cam Buyers on vocals and guitar, Matt Earle on lead guitar, Tom Spillane on drums, and Matt Genet on bass. I ask the two what the band is up to. 

“We have just finished our second EP, and we’ve just been writing heaps of songs – new songs, better songs,” Matt says, “We’ve found our sound”. 

Releasing their seven-track EP ‘Outerworlds’ today, Cam explains what the collection is about. 

“Every song is an exaggeration, I guess,” he says. “[Certain things] are always kind of small, but in our heads, it’s always kind of exaggerated.” Sound-wise, Matt describes it as interplanetary. Think a sci-fi romance in space. 

Their recent singles ‘Angel’ and “Ready to Know’ certainly reflect that.

It’s a sound different to their first EP. Matt describes ‘Solar Hangover’ as a sound where they were trying to be a band that they weren’t. Trying to do the “backyard band kind of thing”, they missed how they were feeling. Taking a more alternative psychedelic direction, they’re making songs they feel better connected to. 

As students at the University of Canterbury, the band came from humble beginnings. When Matt put the word out on the TuneSoc noticeboard to see if anyone was keen for a jam, he and Cam were already in other bands. Two years later, and the four-piece have won Battle of the Bands, played UC events Summer Stein and Tea Party, and hosted a handful of memorable backyard gigs. It was never meant to be anything serious, Matt tells me, but it’s turning out for the best. 

“We just kept going, and here we are.” 

Supporting a handful of bands in the local scene, you’ll see them both on stage and in the crowd. Playing with the likes of Mako Road, The Butlers, There’s a Tuesday, The Raddlers, and Castaway, they did a nationwide tour with Kimono earlier this year. Still feeling like they have ways to go, they’re grinding their way to get out there. They’re one to watch this year.

With a backyard gig in the works to celebrate ‘Outerworlds’, keep your eyes peeled. It’s not over yet - the neighbourhood Spacemen say EP number three is what’s next.