Formed by Massachusetts-native, Nick Santino (vocals/guitar), A Rocket to the Moon has proven to fans that the word “predictable” is not in their vocabulary. From crashing weddings to having songs range from pop to country, Nick, Eric (bass), Justin (guitar), and Andrew (drums) show that they have a lot of offer to their fans. Recently, I had the opportunity to talk to Eric “Halvo” Halvorsen about tour life, their CD “On Your Side”, and high school life.
What’s the craziest thing that has happened to you, or the band, while touring?
Once we ran out of gas in the middle of the desert at night, and we’d try to see who could run the farthest in the dark in the desert, which was kind of scary. The same night we also crashed a wedding which was awesome. It’s one of those things that happens once in a lifetime that you’ll remember forever.
How would you describe your sound on “On Your Side”? Is it different from the “Greetings From…” EP?
Yeah, I’d say so. I think “On Your Side” is more pop-orientated and is a more diverse record. There are some songs that are straight forward pop songs that you would hear on the radio with, like, Miley Cyrus and there are some songs that are little softer or have a country twang to them. It has all different kinds of music on it.
What made you decide to become a musician?
When I was in 7th grade, I was hanging out with some friends and they said they were starting a band, and I was like “Oh, well I don’t play anything,” and their dad had a bass, and I was like, “Oh, well, I’ll try that out,” but, I didn’t know how to play so I just messed around for a day or two. This was right before Christmas, and I really wanted to play bass. So Christmas day comes around and I was so stoked and there was this big box underneath the tree. I obviously didn’t know what it was, so I start to unwrap it and it turns out my Mom accidentally bought me a guitar instead of a bass and I was like, “Oh, it’s not what I wanted, haha, but thanks!” So I ended up returning that and buying a bass. Growing up always with my Dad listening to music, my friends and whatnot, and me loving music only seemed fitting for me to start playing.
What was your high school experience like?
It was okay, I guess, haha. I have this super tight-knit group of friends and it was always a group of 12 kids hanging out everyday. We never really tried to go out and party or meet girls. We were losers, haha. We had a band and kids hung out with us or whatever. I wasn’t really too outgoing. I was super small, too, and kind of awkward and I was really uncomfortable with everything, so high school was an awkward experience, for sure.
