Moonroof makes a mark in Indie-Pop music scene

It can pay to sing in the shower.

Philadelphia indie-pop band Moonroof owes its start to Dave Kim ’16 singing in the shower of Luzerne Hall in September of his freshmen year.

The sound attracted the attention of drummer Dan Rendine ’16. “Dan knocked on my door and told me he’d been in a band in high school,” recalls Kim, who was already roommates with bassist Kevin Randolph ’16.

“We started jamming in the lounge,” says Rendine. Jams became gigs as a group called The Big Picture, performing at open mics and parties. At BU, theatre major Kim was a member of the Husky Singers, mass communications major Randolph worked in the Kehr Union setting up events, and exercise science major Rendine took lessons with BU’s percussion professor Gifford Howarth.

After graduation, the band stayed together, renamed itself Moonroof, and began penning upbeat, indie-pop tunes ripe with hooks. Hooks that have earned radio play on Philadelphia-area radio stations Alt
104.5 and WXPN, 3 million streams on Spotify alone, and allowed the group to share the stage with indie
heavyweights The Lumineers, Death Cab for Cutie, and Grouplove.

They’ve been busy through the COVID-19 pandemic, signing with Free Dive Records in October of 2020, releasing four singles, “First,” “Vanilla,” “Sweatshirt,” and “Bored and Numb.” Their EP “Dream State” dropped this past October and debuted as the No. 2 alternative album behind ColdPlay and No. 6 overall on the Apple iTunes Top 200.

“We’re a band that loves to sing about the theme of love, we try to be catchy and danceable. But a lot of the lyrics are about how it doesn’t work out,” says Kim, who notes the writing process is very collaborative. “Kevin uses his basslines as a melody. Dan’s drums work with basslines. Lyrics come last.” Recording works similarly, with drums and bass going down first and working up to the vocals.

YouTube videos, regularly featuring BU swag, are a big part of the band’s marketing with more than 220,000 views.

“We take a lot of time to make our singles pop out,” says Rendine. “Now you need to have visuals. The music and the visuals come together to make the song more memorable.”

“We’re excited to keep growing, and we wouldn’t be where we are without Bloomsburg,” says Randolph. “We can’t wait to come back and play in Bloom.”

The Bloomsburg community will have a chance to see Moonroof live when they play for Husky-Paw-Looza on Saturday, April 23.