The East Central Indie Fest was an Indie music festival for the city hosted by East Central Independent School District on April 11th, 2025 in the South Western part of San Antonio. Join videographer LongLostShowz as they delve into the experience with performers Nate & The Moon Band and learn what the fest was like!
SHOWZ: So! How did y'all first hear about ECIF?
NATE: We heard of it from our guitarist's friend that goes there, he told Noah (our guitarist) about the info and gave him Mr. Mize's info to pass along to me and said we should try to get them to put us on. So I texted him and after a brief conversation they invited us to join the bill. Shout out our guy Bentley for the hook up fr
SHOWZ: Nice! Cool networking. How was it? What made ECIF unique to other shows y'all have played?
NATE: It was absolutely AMAZING. I went into it with low expectations tbh from what I saw on socials from last year's ECIF and the fact it was a school function I wasn't sure if students would really turn out or be live, but when I showed up around the middle of the first band's set I was surprised by how packed and active the festival was.
SHOWZ: Nice! Cool networking. How was it? What made ECIF unique to other shows y'all have played?
NATE: It was absolutely AMAZING. I went into it with low expectations tbh from what I saw on socials from last year's ECIF and the fact it was a school function I wasn't sure if students would really turn out or be live, but when I showed up around the middle of the first band's set I was surprised by how packed and active the festival was.
NATE: The thing that made it unique was the fact that all the kids there were so interested in what was going on. Like they were there to enjoy all the music and bought into the hype for it. A lot of our show depends on the crowd being into it and having fun with us and everyone there was just super enthusiastic which we thought was very cool, you don't always get crowds like that especially for the type of music we play. Like a few weeks ago we had a big show and although the people gave us a lot of compliments and stuff, they were standing still and not quite as into it as everyone at ECIF was. It was just a really good crowd
SHOWZ: What are some of the benefits as an artist to play a festival?
NATE: I think sometimes you get the chance to be exposed to a wider audience and people are more willing to give you a chance at a festival like this. Like if someone was there for the festival as an overall event rather than just going to see one band they liked on a standard event, they're more likely to go into the other sets with open minds cuz they're there for the vibes and to take in everything. Like we had a lot of people say they'd never heard of us until that day but they gave us a shot and we're wanting to jump, clap, and yell when they probably wouldn't have come out to a show if they were to just see our name on a flyer, but many said they'd be interested in coming to more shows in the future so it gave us a great platform to reach more people and build our base.
SHOWZ: That's good! I'm glad it put y'all out there more! So, speaking of good energy from the crowd, do you have any highlight crowd interactions in mind?
NATE: There's a lot lmao idk where to start. We covered "don't let me down" as our 1 cover and the crowd freaked out, especially this one guy who started jumping and going crazy for the whole song. He was into it already but this made him absolutely lose his mind and that's always fun. So many people were just having fun, jumping, dancing and yelling which you love to see.
NATE: There was one part where someone from one side of the stage yelled "I LOVE YOU NATE" and this other guy from the other side yelled " LOVE YOU MORE"
NATE: And after the set we got swarmed as soon as we got off stage for autographs and pictures and merch. We signed all sorts of posters, papers, shirts, some dude's calf, this other dude's DS. We've never signed so many autographs or taken so many pictures with people after the sets as we did that day, I swear for the next 2-3 hours people were coming up to our merch booth for signatures and pictures.
NATE: It made us feel good 'cuz it let us know these people genuinely loved what we were doing so we made sure to express our appreciation for them as well.
SHOWZ: Yes I'm sure it was very rewarding for all the hard work y'all put into what y'all do!
NATE: We put a lot of effort and thought behind our shows to try and bring the crowd into it so I'm glad they liked it as much as they did.
SHOWZ: Yes I'm sure it was very rewarding for all the hard work y'all put into what y'all do!
NATE: We put a lot of effort and thought behind our shows to try and bring the crowd into it so I'm glad they liked it as much as they did.
SHOWZ: Yes! So speaking about behind the shows, any backstage highlights? Or how was networking with the show runners and meeting other bands?
NATE: I didn't get to talk to as many of the other artists as I'd originally hoped because of how many people were coming to talk to us and do all that but I did have some good convos with the Girl Next Door, Joe The Band, and INOHA who we have a little bit of history with from the past before they blew up so it was cool getting to see them and talk with them again. I usually try to talk to every band on the bills we play but I just didn't have the time to step away from the merch table. We knew two members of Joe The Band before the show cuz of their other band they're in, shoutout Toadstools they go hard, so I made sure I got to say what's up to them and talk with them for a bit. We were actually playing with them the next day at Toda Spooky's birthday show so we got to hang with them and see their show on back to back days which was cool. We also got to talk with Mr. Mize a bit. He loved our show and said they would definitely invite us back for future events/festivals so we've made a new friend for future shows
SHOWZ: Alright nice! It sounds like it was an awesome experience as performers and a fun professional experience as artists! For those unfamiliar with yall checking out this interview, what song do you recommend they check out from yall first?
NATE: I think "Don't You Wanna See The Earth" is a great one to start with, it's this chill melancholic song but has a banging guitar solo and does a good job capturing our true old school "garage rock" feel that we go for. "Living" is also one we love and it's [a] more upbeat and is also really well recorded. I think they're a good mix of roughness but clarity and are good places to start with our catalogue. We've recently been working on some higher quality recordings too, Ik our early projects are quite rough and unprofessional but that's all about to change
SHOWZ: Ahh well that's just how it starts sometimes! Y'all sound like y'all are on a great path to continued success. I know I'm looking forward to the future for y'all!
NATE: Thank you so much! We're always aiming for bigger and better and have some cool stuff planned so hopefully it works out well for us
SHOWZ: I'm sure it will!
Nate & The Moon Band are an Indie band from the San Antonio/Austin area. You can find them on their instagram @nateandthemoonband, and on their Spotify @NATE & THE MOON BAND
