Interview: Blastoff with Dexter and the Moonrocks
The “Western space grunge” band sat down with Afterglow to talk about “Dexter’s Laboratory,” beer showers, and their latest single, “Space Invader.”
Written by C.S. Harper
Photos courtesy of Chloe Barney
Hailing from small-town Abilene, Texas, Dexter and the Moonrocks is a group of self-described “sad space cowboys” who have skyrocketed to fame thanks to their viral TikToks and earnest country-rock fusion. Consisting of lead vocalist James Tuffs, drummer Ryan “Fox” Fox, guitarist Ryan Anderson, and bassist Ty Anderson, the group released its debut single, “Couch,” in 2021 and quickly stole the hearts of y’allternative misfits.
Afterglow recently spoke with James and Fox to learn more about their elusive name, rowdy live shows, and upcoming songs.
Afterglow: Y’all have a running gag about your name, Dexter and the Moonrocks, even though no one in the band is named Dexter. I’m curious how y’all got started and got your name.
James: Yeah, I was chillin’, and I thought the name Dexter was really cool ‘cause I watched a lot of “Dexter's Laboratory” as a kid. And that's just kind of what we went with.
Fox: And the beautiful thing about it too is we have that space theme, which I liked that some people have started to use too — if you kind of look at the scene, like the space cowboy scene — but we can never overuse it, because it's in our name. And that's kind of cool. I really like that part of our names. We can always have that space cowboy kind of vibe, and it worked to our advantage.
Y'all are known for making “Western space grunge” music. For readers who aren't too familiar, how would you describe this sound?
Fox: My favorite shorthand — because I'll tell people “Western space grunge,” and they'll be like, “I have no idea what that means” — and so I kind of just like to go, “Take any grunge band from the ‘90s and just pretend they were country. And then just put that in your head and try [to] mesh that.” And that makes a lot of sense to people. And it's kind of just, taking some of the Southern cowboy roots, and then just making it a little more hardcore or alternative… just mixing, you know, [the] Texas red dirt that we all were raised around and the ‘90s rock, and dad rock and grunge, and mixing it together in a very cool way. Because we have, you know, a country guitarist, I play very hard rock drums, and James has a very spaced out, beautiful, alternative way he sings. And so it kind of all just meshes together into that.
What are some of your influences and how did y'all find your sound?
James: I think we all grew up on all the great ‘90s bands, like Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, Radiohead, all those bands. And then, you know, nowadays we all listen to a lot of really cool indie music, and we also all love country music. So I mean, we listen to all types of music, but we all grew up on that ‘90s grunge mainly.
Fox: Yeah. And I think we just play music that we love. …I think a year ago, I was super into Colter Wall, Tyler Childers, and Turnpike Troubadours, and we were listening to that, and that's the style of drums I was playing. And I was like, “We should do a ‘Kate McCannon’ cover.” And then the boys were like, “That's a great idea.” And now I'm listening to more old Dave Grohl songs, Kings of Leon, and Arctic Monkeys. It's kind of shifted, and we play music that we're listening to and that we love, and we kind of make music for ourselves. It's worked out pretty well so far, I guess.
Your latest single, “Space Invader,” definitely showcases your fun, grungy attitude. What was the process of writing and recording the song like, especially now that your music listening has shifted over time?
James: I knew I wanted to write a song about aliens. I mean, the second that we started practicing the song, we knew it was gonna be [an] in-your-face jam. And it all just came together really well, especially when we were recording it.
Fox: I remember the first time I ever heard it was in August. James had just gotten done dog cussing me because I had taken the couch — no pun intended — I had taken the couch to sleep —
James: I was sleeping on a loveseat.
Fox: [laughs] Yeah, it was like this recliner that didn’t recline all the way, and so half his feet were hanging off the bed. And we had just woken up and he was like, “I hate you. How did you convince me to take this?” And I was like, “It looks so comfy. I wanted you to sleep there.” And there was an old Strat on the wall that I just kind of pulled off — because he told me he had a new song — and I was like, “Here, just play it.” And he started playing it. We sat down and we kind of arranged it. And then we had a gig that night in Buda at Buck’s [Backyard]. So we took it there, and Ryan and Ty being the ever-talented musicians that they heard it the first time and went, “Okay!” And we just played it for the first time right there, played it that night. And it clicked really well. And the sound guy came up to us, and he was like, “Who are you guys again? I'm sorry.” That was a really cool moment where he was like, “That was an amazing song.” And I was like, “Well, we just wrote it, so thank you.”
What’s it like navigating being TikTok microcelebrities while having a band and day jobs?
Fox: It was crazy. We played a show in Waco at The Backyard and did really well. And there was like a line. Normally we go over to the merch table and we’re like, “Oh, we'll sign a few autographs and talk to a few people.” We were there for like an hour and a half. And the line just did not get shorter. And people just kept — yeah, it was crazy.
James: Yeah, we were taking pictures and signing stuff for like hours.
Fox: Yeah, it was. But I mean, it was a super awesome experience. It was just one of those things where it's like, this is our life right now. This is insane.
That's awesome. What do you think is the appeal of your music that makes so many people line up at your merch table?
James: I mean, I think it's a mix of a really unique sound and really good marketing.
And you know, [the fans are] not going to stay if they don't like the music. I think just how different we sound is refreshing for people, and it makes people want to show their friends. You know, if you find something that just sounds really different and new, you want to show your friends and stuff like that, and it's just been working out for us.
Fox: Yeah, refreshing is a really good word. ‘Cause I feel like there's not a lot of — because you look at on the one hand, you have all the country people kind of becoming rock, but it doesn't feel like true rock. You know what I mean? It almost feels like you know how in the ‘90s, you went from country to stadium country, and then there's that weird early 2000s era? I feel like that's kind of happening with rock, where it's like, country to rock. It's not like true rock, it's kind of like stadium rock, if that makes sense. And this kind of feels new and it feels real too. I think it feels real because the whole marketing strategy is just us being genuinely nice people, if you just think about it, because I will die before this band stops responding to everybody's DMs, on Instagram where people that talk to us are … the reason we get to play music. And so we're real with our fans, and we're making real music. I think that connects with people. Because it's like, ‘Oh, this isn't just some band that's writing songs to make money … like these people feel these things’. And it's real. And I think that's what connects with people.
What’s it like being so unconventional in the music industry?
James: I think it's just cool [that it’s] us making whatever noises that we want to make. We never think, “This is what the fans want to hear,” or “This is what's gonna get us a lot of new fans.” It's just literally just — we sound like what we want to sound like. And that's the coolest part.
Fox: Yeah, and … whether we're playing for 100 or 100,000 people, I think it's gonna be the same thing. It's going to be the same four genuine dudes up on stage, just, you know, looking at each other, and having fun and cracking jokes, and talking to each other on stage [like] we always do. Because, you know, that's all it is, you know, that's how it started. I think the minute that goes away, the minute the allure of the band goes away.
Your shows are known for their punkish sort of nature. What can fans expect from your shows, especially the upcoming show at The Marc in San Marcos?
James: The Marc is going to be nice. They can expect really loud music. They can expect probably beer showers potentially.
Fox: Someone got my signature tattooed on them. That was a really wild experience to wake up [to] on a Sunday. So normally, I don't respond to DMs directly after the show because I'm tired and I want to go to sleep, and it's like 60 of them, and I'm like, ‘I don't have the mental energy to do this.’ So my girlfriend was driving me back home, and I was looking through all the DMs and I was just responding, and then one dude just sent a picture of his ribcage, and it was just my signature. And I could tell it was because I had just gotten a tattoo that night after the show. One of the girls from The Wall had come to the show and tattooed me. And I could see the red irritation of the tattoo, and I said, “No way you just did that to your body.” And he said, “Uh huh.” He's like, “I want to get the rest of the band members’ [signatures.]” and I was like, “You're insane but I love that.” People are diehard.
I love how you have this really passionate community.
Fox: Yeah, we had people from like Florida and Ohio. One dude quit his job and was like, “Screw it. I'm quitting my job,” and then he drove down for the weekend. Someone flew from Idaho, I think. Like it was crazy to hear everybody that showed up and stuff.
Let's take a quick trip down memory lane to your breakout single, “Couch.” It really has a lot of the melancholy sound of grunge classics like the Foo Fighters’ “Aurora.” What do you think made a more downtempo song so popular?
James: I think it's relatable, and it's very easy to listen to. And it's also really short. So sometimes I'll listen to it and be like, I will run it back, that was like two minutes long.
Fox: I do that a lot, too. I think it's that riff.
James: Yeah, the riff; it just immediately catches your attention, and it's really easy to listen to.
Fox: James is being humble. It's a testament to James. James, and Ryan, and Ty, who sadly cannot be here right now because they're quite literally — I think Ryan is decorating concrete. He got home at like 11 o'clock at night and had to wake back up at six. And then Ty’s on a rig right now. And so, I think it's a testament to all them, and how Ty produced it, and the solo that Ryan did. Because Ryan played the drums on that; I wasn't in the band yet when they recorded that. And Ryan played drums on a piano in that song. The drums are like from a piano, like him playing piano drums.
Fox: But I mean, it's simple. It comes back to — I mean, it's just real. It's what James was going through at that time, and the riff’s real, and it's nothing crazy. It's not trying to pander to someone and be like — I'm not trying to throw shade on anybody, so I'm not trying to quote any direct lyrics, but you get what I'm saying. It's genuine. And I think that I think it just connects with people. And that's kind of who we are. We're just some sad space cowboys that are getting a little less sad every day.
James: Still sad, though.
Fox: Still very sad. Still cry ourselves to sleep every night.
What’s in store for Dexter and the Moonrocks’ future?
James: We're still going to try to be releasing consistently, you know, every month or so. And, you know, we definitely plan on hitting the road harder than we ever have in 2023. So even if you don't live in Texas, you can have a chance to see us hopefully this year.
Fox: I talked to my mom, I was like — which is crazy, because I'm 21, I'm the youngest in our family. And I was like, “It's kind of crazy that all my older siblings have, you know, they have husbands, houses, all that stuff. But they haven't bought any new cars yet themselves.” And I was like, “The band is literally about to buy a van. ‘Cause we have to go on tour.” And I'm like, “This is the weirdest experience in my life.” And they're like, “Well, congratulations.” But we've got a new song called “Birds and the Bees” coming out after this sometime, and then maybe an album. I don’t know. It's gonna be fun to hit the road, and hopefully a lot of songs are gonna come out of that. And yeah, we're excited.
A song on the birds and the bees — can you tell me more about that? It sounds interesting.
Fox: Basically, it was a song that the boys were really kind enough to — ‘cause I can't sing, and so I kind of come to James and I'm like, “Hey, I have these lyrics. And I have this structure of a song,” but James has to be the one that kind of finds the melody and makes it his own. And Ryan does a really great job — like I wrote this very simple basic riff and he spiced it up and made it really beautiful. But it's this song kind of about — it was this girl that I met — and I won’t say where ‘cause I don't want to call her out — but I kind of realized she did not like me when she was sober. And that kind of sucked. And so it's kind of like, you know,
“Talking about I've been thinking about you, me, the birds and the bees and how they're going extinct.” And kind of just going through that. But anyway, we'll see when that comes out. I'm really hyped for “Space Invader.” That's going to be a phenomenal song, James crushed it, and the boys did a great job. So it's gonna be really, really cool for that to come out. And then, for us to hopefully be on tour and write some songs and maybe record and release some new stuff and kind of just keep doing it and see how big we can make this thing go.
Absolutely, I think you're gonna make it really big! Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Fox: We love our fans. If you come to a show, we definitely want to meet you. And come see us at The Marc on the 10th at San Marcus and go stream “Space Invader” out on Friday.
You can follow Dexter and the Moonrocks on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok and stream their music on Spotify and Apple Music.
This interview has been minimally edited for clarity and length.