New chapter in Luana Moth saga

On a late-night walk in Gimli in 2016, musician Tony Mazza discovered a mysterious poem on the ground, penned on a loose sheet of paper.

Written on the back were two words that would become the centre of his obsession for the next decade: Luana Moth.

The poem eventually inspired him and his sister, Giovanna, to form a progressive electronic music duo of the same name, centred on the concept of a girl called Luana Moth who mysteriously vanished in Lake Winnipeg after a supernatural encounter.

Mazza initially started letting his imagination run wild with who Luana Moth could have been and started writing music around her story, but he was unable to find someone to work with on the project.

Mazza said while he and his sister — who is 12 years younger — both took an interest in the poem when he first found it, it was a number of years before she fully got involved with the music; he wasn’t aware of her talent when the project first started.

“I didn’t know she could sing until I saw her at a school play and she blew us away,” he says.

Even after witnessing her hidden talent, Mazza, 35, didn’t know if she would be interested in his project, but over the years she slowly became more involved and now plays a big role in the band’s lyrics, imagery and merchandise.

The band uses old camcorders and theatrical stage outfits to create dreamy, supernatural visuals heavily inspired by director David Lynch (Mulholland Drive, Twin Peaks). The stage props, social media posts and outfits all reflect a vintage feel, resembling old relics which carry a mysterious history.

He describes the band’s sound as a weird intersection between electronic dance music and progressive rock, with Mazza playing guitar and synths and Giovanna, 23, adding soaring vocals. Over time their songs have only become stranger, but at the same time will be easier for audiences to dance to, he says.

The siblings will debut new music Saturday at the Park Theatre for the first time since their self-titled album was released in 2022.

“I think it’ll be quite surprising,” Mazza says.

He and his sister spent endless hours working on the new material, and the songs will be tweaked throughout their eight shows over the summer to be perfected further.

“I feel like we did a lot of growing. It was a really fun and exciting feeling for the both of us,” Mazza says.

This time around, the songwriter pushed himself to write more intuitively, compared with the more pre-planned and calculated approach of the first album.

Mazza says he and Giovanna have always been close but never worked creatively together before Luana Moth; the project has forced them to put their minds together and consistently work in proximity with each other.

“It’s evolved our closeness,” he says.

Luana Moth officially found its footing after the first album, when the duo started booking more shows and decided they need to play as much as possible, he says.

After Saturday’s show, Luana Moth’s next performance will be at Sidestage, 700 Osborne St., on July 16 with Juno Award-winning Toronto band Kazdoura.

tiago.resko@freepress.mb.ca