Moon Walker (above) is scheduled to play Rumba Cafe with opening act Similar Kind Wednesday. Credit: Madison McConnell
From the tender age of 10, Harry Springer knew music would be a guiding force in his life.
“For maybe five years or so, I was just obsessed with getting as good at the guitar as I possibly could,” Springer said. “And then I kind of became more interested in being in a band and writing music, so I constantly played around locally in Colorado with bands I would start with my friends.”
Moon Walker — originally a rock twosome — became a solo act for Springer when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Since then, Springer said he has been creating songs from the ground up and playing shows whenever possible. The first leg of his inaugural national tour is set to conclude Wednesday at Columbus’ own Rumba Cafe, he said.
Springer said he is routinely inspired by musical greats such as David Bowie, The Beatles and Talking Heads while experimenting with Moon Walker’s sound.
“I can’t imagine there will ever come a day where they aren’t still blowing my mind,” Springer said.
COVID-19 proved to be a turning point for Moon Walker. Though Springer once considered himself a guitar player first and foremost, he said learning the basics of at-home music production was life-changing.
“My approach to the point of music, and why I do music and what I enjoy about music, everything just changed as soon as I kind of figured out how to make music for myself,” Springer said.
Now Springer likens his songwriting and producing efforts to painting — every record is a blank canvas. Released in October 2022, Moon Walker’s most recent album, “The Attack of Mirrors,” is an aggressively abstract work bristling with synthesizer sounds, Springer said.
A May 2023 single titled “American Dream Come True” is the newest addition to Moon Walker’s discography, Springer said. He said the track unabashedly critiques staunch defenders of capitalism and grind mentality.
“They themselves are absolutely throwing all their time — the only resource that we cannot get back, the only resource that we cannot barter other things for — away,” Springer said.
Connecticut-born, five-piece indie pop group Similar Kind is set to open for Moon Walker Wednesday. Formed in May 2018, the quintet is frequently compared to Paramore and The Strokes, lead singer Julia Breen said.
“Most of our discography up until now has just been individual songs here and there that have all very different influences and often are spearheaded mostly by one member of the band,” Breen said. “It’s kind of just us playing around to find our general sound that we haven’t quite found yet.”
Breen said Similar Kind’s brand-new single, “Too Tired,” which is partially influenced by popular rock band LCD Soundsystem, is on the setlist for Wednesday.
“It takes itself way less seriously than anything we’ve ever done,” Breen said. “I’m excited to see how people take it.”
Having played Rumba Cafe in the past, Similar Kind is eager to return, Breen said. They said the Columbus crowd’s energy level was a notable highlight of their previous touring experience.
“We did this thing in our set where we would have the audience vote between a few songs and then we would play the song they voted for,” Breen said. “It was always somewhat of an awkward thing because no one would feel like they were allowed to speak in that moment, even though they totally were. At the Rumba Cafe show, literally everyone was shouting different things.”
Unlike Similar Kind, Springer has never graced the Rumba Cafe stage. But the impending concert has been a long time coming, he said.
“The enthusiasm from Columbus, as far as every date that I’ve announced so far, was really unmatched,” Springer said.
With Columbus’ show being the tour’s last, Springer said he wants to give a performance that is equal parts skillful and explosive.
“I’m going to go so hard knowing I don’t have to sing anytime soon,” Springer said. “And I don’t have to reserve any part of me because the next tour will be, like, October. It’s going to be really special.”
More information about Moon Walker and Similar Kind’s upcoming show, including ticket prices, is available on Rumba Cafe’s website.
