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Issue date: 2/1/07 Section: Entertainment

Some people dream about being rock stars, but former DBCC students Matt Wall and John Sutliff, along with family and friends, are working hard to make that dream a reality.
They are members of Radon Moon, Daytona Beach's progressive indie-rock band. Featuring Matt Wall on the vocals, accompanied by his brother keyboardist Daniel Wall, lead guitarist Shea Crawford, bassist Josh Hartz and Sutliff on drums, the band's goal is creating a sound people haven't heard before.
And fans say they've had great success towards that end.
"We have been fervently writing catchy tunes with a hint of melancholy insanity, synth lines to make you dance and vocal melodies to make you sing along. Radon Moon creates a sound like no other and quite possibly could be your new favorite band," the band's biography states.
Steadily gaining popularity in Daytona Beach with sets of fast-paced, synthesizer-induced rock at local venues such as the Seabreeze Coffee Connection Radon Moon has built quite a following.
"I really love those guys," DBCC student Kaylin Chrisley says. "I can't figure out why they haven't been signed."
This is a question pondered by many of the band's followers. Since utilizing Myspace.com to share its music with the world, the group has developed an impressive fan-base of over 2,000 Myspace users and has had more than 10,000 hits. Their self-produced debut album, "She Was the Sun," was completed this year and is available for purchase at all Radon Moon performances.
Before Radon Moon, the Walls and Sutcliff worked on an earlier project called Wrestling Shadows, a heavier rock band that fell apart due to creative differences with former bandmates as well as their desire to edge away from the heavy blend of metal and hardcore.
"Wrestling Shadows took shape while I was just coming off of a rough ride" says Matt Wall, "I saw the stage as a place to release all my feelings and angst on the crowd. So that's just what I did."
Wall decided to back away from the hardcore genre when he realized there was "nothing new to do musically." His discovery of The Beatles was also influential in the creation of Radon Moon.
Currently Radon Moon is on a hiatus from playing frequent shows in Daytona and Orlando as the band begins work on its sophomore record, which it hopes to record this year.
"Radon Moon doesn't just mean music to me," says Sutliff. "It's not just a group of guys playing rock 'n' roll. It is a community of friends and family dedicated to each other and the making of original tunes that challenge the brain as they make you dance."
Sutliff adds that Radon Moon is not limited to just the five people on the album or on the stage. "Radon Moon is a melting pot of beautiful minds, musicians and artists. Radon Moon means more to me then just a drum set, keyboard, guitar, bass and microphone. It is love, hate, good, evil, and everything in between."
The band can be heard at http://www.myspace.com/RadonMoon.

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