A long, Strange trip

Set to play a show at Wicked Moose Bar and Grill on Saturday, Strange Daze is a group on the rise. The band just finished recording its latest album and is currently deciding between label offers.

We caught up with guitarist and main songwriter, Eric Moudry, 36.

How did Strange Daze get started?

We started in the little town me and the singer grew up in, Olivia, Minn. We just got together with a bunch of friends; we just felt like playing music. It kind of grew from there. This band’s been together for 15 years. For about the last 13 years, we’ve played a hundred-plus shows every year.

Will this be your first trip to Rochester?

We’ve played at Kathy’s Pub many times and we played the North Star way back in the day.

How would you describe your sound?

Just a straight-ahead rock band with a lot of passion and soul and energy. We’re not too heavy and we’re not too mellow. Straight-ahead rock. We’ve always played original music with covers.

What can people expect from a Strange Daze show?

We’re a real fun, energetic band. We’re not a band that sits around. When it comes to covers, we’ve got music pretty much everybody likes. We’ll play our own music, too.

What is the one song in your catalog you’d like to hear fans yelling out requests for?

Probably the song "Beautiful."  It’s kind of like a power-ballad. It’s helped us get to where we’re at now and it’s been played on radio and stuff. It’s opened up a lot of doors for us.

Can you give some details about your forthcoming album?

We just recorded our new CD in Nashville, Tenn. The last two years we’ve been recording with Chris Henderson, guitar player of Three Doors Down, and Bobby Capps of .38 Special. We took three trips to Nashville. Kirk Kelsey, who mixed our album, is the sound guy for Three Doors Down. He was Creed’s sound guy until they broke up.

Is that in stores yet?

We are waiting to decide if we are going to sign with a couple of offers that we have. We’re not printing anything until we figure out which deal we want to go with. We have two old CDs out, but, unfortunately, they’re both sold out.

So, if people want to hear Strange Daze, they have to go to the show?

Yeah, pretty much right now (laughs).  You can check the older albums out on strangedaze.com. We have a Facebook page and we’ll update that when our music is going to come out.

Where do you want to go from here?

If we can play our own music and take care of our families and house payments and all that stuff, if we can make a living playing music — that’s making it big to us. When it comes to signing a deal, we want what’s best for the band and our families. A lot of people think that if you sign a record deal you’re a millionaire right away; it just doesn’t work that way anymore.

Are you guys all family men?

Yep. All of us have kids and are married ... except for the drummer.