By DHYANA LEVEY photo by Jack Bland dlevey@mercedsun-star.com
Last Updated: June 14, 2007, 12:40:18 PM PDT
He's appeared on Howard Stern's "Gay Feud" and "Freaky Feud." He's tackled the Bay Area music scene. Now he's going solo from Merced.
Musician Moon Trent, 36, is releasing his new CD, appropriately titled "Quilt." It is a patchwork collection of his past work with rock, pop/electronic bands and even the holiday solo "Hard Candy Christmas."
"Each one had little bit of success — not enough," he said. "But if you put (the songs) together, it's fun."
His new pop/electronic solo piece "Old School Dance" is the main track on this CD. The song already had some radio play on Energy 92.7 in San Francisco, and was named a "Download of the Week" in the San Francisco Chronicle's Pop Beat column.
Lester Temple, production director at San Francisco radio station Live 105, remixed the song.
Temple worked with Trent about five years ago when he produced the musician's Christmas solo.
"I was just checking his Web site one day and heard this song that I loved — 'Old School Dance,' " he said. "But it was not quite finished. I added some extra tracks ... guitars, keyboard ... to make it more solid."
Trent will have a CD release party on June 23 at Cafe Flore in San Francisco. He will perform at midnight during the Castro-area club's party Pink Saturday.
Can't make the trip to the Bay Area? "Quilt" can be purchased for $5 in about a month from CD Baby.com.
Paul F. Line of Modesto produced and programmed the music. He has worked with Trent on various projects for about 14 years.
"He's kind of quirky — which allows me to have some freedom," Line said. "Moon (Trent) allows me to experiment more than if I was working with someone else. And he has a good voice."
Trent, a Denair native, has lived around California and even England before he settled in Merced about nine months ago.
And, yes, along the way he did the Howard Stern Show — twice.
Trent sent the controversial morning talk show host a CD while he was in the San Francisco band Brown-Star. Howard discussed the album on the air and in 1999 invited band members to appear on the show in New York.
They participated in the game "Gay Feud," which was similar to "Family Feud," but had gay people from San Francisco compete against gay people from New York.
New York won, Trent said.
He left Brown-Star in 2001 to move to England for a change of scene. Around that time he released his first solo single "Hard Candy Christmas."
When he came back to San Francisco in 2002, he joined duo The Visitors Kimberly. The name came from a scene in the television drama "Melrose Place," when a nurse told the character Kimberly that she had visitors.
The Visitors Kimberly played small events, mostly presenting songs that Trent wrote.
"Or weird covers, like Britney Spears' 'Toxic,'" he said. "Stuff you wouldn't expect a guy to do on an acoustic guitar."
In 2004, Trent was invited back to the Howard Stern Show to be part of a similar competition in Las Vegas. It was called "Freaky Feud" and teamed gay people against an anti-gay group.
Trent's team won $10,000.
The Mexican-American singer and songwriter has a long history of supporting music and the gay community.
He moved to Los Angeles after high school before coming back to the San Joaquin Valley to attend Modesto Junior College. There, he realized more activities were needed for gay youth.
He started, on campus, the gay support group Rainbow Generation, and began putting on shows with the Modesto Organization of Bands.
Trent also cofounded the independent "mico-label" timmi-kat ReCoRDS, which produced and complied the CD "Milkshake" to benefit the Harvey Milk Institute.
David Cole, his partner of 16 years, continues to work with him on this label. He moved to Merced with Trent and helped organize the new CD "Quilt."
"With the market being globalized these days, you can set up and get started wherever you are — from Merced to New York," Cole said. "We know people here. It's nice to have a base."
...And finally, feel like chilling in the back yard with friends and listening to music? Man, have I got the show for you. Denair resident, musician and promoter Moon Trent is restarting The Orphanage series (formerly located at the Denair Gaslight Theatre). The first new and improved show will be Saturday at a house party at 4520 E. Monte Vista Ave., Denair. The acoustic backyard show will feature local artists Kid Mud, Rainy Day, Paul F. Line of Pale, Waylon, and Willy T. of The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit. Show starts at 5 p.m. Admission is a $4 donation. By MARIJKE ROWLAND MODESTO BEE ENTERTAINMENT WRITER April 28, 2006
Catch the work of another local on screen as Denair resident Moon Trent will have music from his band, Pale, appear in the indie film "Lulu Gets a Facelift." The project will get a work-in-progress screening at noon Saturday and Sunday at the Roxie Cinema in San Francisco. Find out more at www.lulugetsafacelift.com. Locally, Trent is starting up all-ages rock show at the Orphanage. The busy guy also has begun hosting his own Internet radio show called "Moon Trent's Shuffle Show" from 6 to 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays on Partytown. The online station is run by DJ Belladonna (Sandy Mitchell of Escalon). Check it out at www.partytown.com....By MARIJKE ROWLAND MODESTO BEE ENTERTAINMENT WRITER March 3, 2006
from Danny Nicoletta 19 DEC. 05 "That is so cool that you got a tat wearing pink fun fur... That is a cute pic too... And cuter that you did david’s name on your chest..." see the tattoo "during" shots... here
this page last updated 06 september 2007
