Interview: Moon Valjean, of Punk Rock Machine, ‘Can You Feel the Punk Tonight’

Having crossed each other’s paths in 2007-08 while on the Warped Tour, Moon Valjean and Tim Convy became friends. After Convy moved back to St. Louis, Valjean helped him get into radio and the two struck up a friendship. Little did Valjean know that several years later, the two would be working together to create ‘Can You Feel the Punk Tonight,’ and ‘A Punk Rock Christmas’, both shows featuring Disney Classics in a reimagined punk rock style.

“It was so much fun to do,” Valjean said in a recent interview. “It was like a fully, legitimate all ages show!”

Valjean admits that the band, comprised of members of Greek Fire, Ludo, Goldfinger and more, was keen on making the show all ages. Afterall, the supergroup, known as Punk Rock Machine, is comprised of musicians who are also parents.

“We met a lot of kids whose parents brought them to their first rock show,” he said. “It was a safe environment. They knew there wasn’t going to be cursing, and the kids would show up and know a majority of the songs.”

Admittedly, the band was quite proud of being the first rock show that a lot of the kids in attendance would be seeing.

“The honor of being someone’s first rock concert was like, wow, what else can we develop,” said the Rizzuto Morning Show co-host. “We can do something that spans all ages. Parents can use it as an opportunity to bring their kids to their first concert. And what better thing than Disney classics?”

After deciding on a name of the show, putting the band together, adding a horn section, and even more, the dream became a reality over the Christmas season.

“It was exactly what we dreamed of it being,” Valjean said. “It was really special.”

Valjean said his experiences at an early age as a day camp counselor and directing Kirkwood and Manchester’s day camp programs, prepared him, in a way, to perform in front of kids and not worry about embarassing himself.

“One thing I learned was that in order to be in a leadership role for my counselors, I had to be a completely crazy person,” he said. “I just didn’t care about being embarrassed so I could make the kids comfortable. If somebody is making a fool of themselves, then the kids are embarrassed about making a fool of themselves.”

Along with making a show that will be a safe environment for kids, the group also realizes that the show must also entertain adults.

“That’s where the real pressure actually is,” Valjean said. “I’m naturally more practiced at entertaining kids, because I’m a big kid myself. Cartoons are my favorite. I watch cartoons that my kids don’t even watch.”

Just like with shows past, the band will perform two shows in a day. May 11, the family matinee will begin at 3 p.m. at The Pageant. Later on in the evening, at 8 p.m., the second show will occur.

Valjean admits, the matinee is not as loud as the evening show.

“We intentionally had the volume down, just a bit,” he said. “Because, it was probably like 50% kids and it felt like fewer people were in there, so the energy is a bit different.”

But the 8 p.m. show was a little more amped up than the matinee show.

“The band was a bit looser beccause we already had a show under our belts from earlier in the day,” Valjean said. “We did a couple of modifications, so there was definitely more energy in the room for the 8 p.m. show.”

To be clear though, more energy doesn’t equate to rowdier.

“The energy is definitely cranked,” Valjean said.

So, as the spring/summer concert season starts to heat up, ‘Can You Feel the Punk Tonight,’ is a show for the entire family to enjoy.

“Our goal is to do the exact same thing a Disney movie does,” said Valjean. “What’s the brilliance of a Disney movie? It’s that kids love it, and parents love it.”

Tickets for ‘Can You Feel the Punk Tonight’ are still available by visiting the link below: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/06006025A1D12627