Readers of the RN&R may be familiar with Casino Hearts, helmed by former Reno resident Jacob Rubeck—who has since gone viral and reached the Billboard charts with his band Surf Curse. Casino Hearts persisted into recent times, with releases as recently as 2025.
Now, Casino Hearts is out; American Moon is in.
Rubeck and Forest Holter, both members of Casino Hearts, are the duo behind American Moon. The new sonic adventure is one filled with fuzzy and dreamy riffs, overdriven lead guitar, reverb-y twang and haunting, ethereal vocal performances. Their debut EP, Swim Above Ground, released on April 10, is a six-song seance of twee pop tunes, shoegaze sound baths and even some folksy-soundscapes.
You can catch American Moon on Monday, April 27, at the Holland Project.
During a recent phone interview with Holter and Rubeck, they said American Moon was born because they were no longer “gelling” with their previous music partner.
“We changed up the lineup, and it’s been great,” Rubeck said. “The best thing … is it’s me and Forest focusing on what we want to exist, and what we’re happy with. We’re kind of in our own world, which is wonderful. There’s no second-guessing anything. There’s this good intention of wanting to just write songs that feel good to the both of us.”
Added Holter: “I’m very excited. We really are just doing whatever we want. We’re just being self-indulgent, is the honest truth.”
Rubeck said he adores his creative partnership with Holter.
“A lot of the times when we’re writing songs, it’s stuck in my head afterward, and I’m so thankful for that,” Rubeck said. “… I’ve listened to a lot of these songs over and over and over again on walks for hours and just being like, ‘I’m so glad I got to make this with Forest.’”
Crafting music with someone else can truly be an amazing thing, but not every partnership results in good vibes and great songs.
“Collaborating with people, I always find it beautiful,” Rubeck said. “You really can find a truth and honesty between friendships through music.”
Rubeck mentioned Nick Rattigan, with whom he formed Surf Curse in Reno, back in 2012.
“With Surf Curse, I have this great, long-lasting friendship with (Nick) Rattigan, and I thought I could never have that with anybody else,” he said. “As it turns out, working with Forest felt almost the same. There’s a belief in each other that true magic can come from these things. Because you care about somebody a lot, or you’re on the same page with somebody, ideas just come true. … Magic happens between people when there’s trust.”
Holter said she’s also a firm believer in this duo’s dynamic capability.
“I had collaborations in the past, and I’ve had other ones since I started writing music with Jacob, and I’ve learned that there’s a lot of intimacy in it,” Holter said. “Sometimes you’ll be thrown into situations with brand-new people where you want to collaborate and just can’t. Maybe sometimes it’ll happen, but it just can’t be forced. It takes an actual friendship or some kind of connection, and I have that with Jacob.”
“Shoegaze” is an umbrella term that can be applied to the hazy sounds spread throughout American Moon’s discography. The duo said that their musical output, in all of its genre twists and turns, is meant to break the stereotypes surrounding shoegaze.
“Something that really haunted us during Casino Hearts was there were these two old guys in Washington, D.C., who were complaining to us about how there wasn’t a wall of sound that they were expecting, and it was the most annoying thing in the world,” Rubeck said. “We both were just like, ‘I want to do something to not have this conversation ever again.’ In that moment, it was like we were being greeted by these two guys who felt the genre needs to be something, and that it has to be a wall of sound if you’re doing this thing. We were just like, ‘Let’s pivot and make something that’s minimal as hell, and not think about doing all these things,’ because I think it just really complicates everything.’”
Beneath the heavy sonic vibes is a raw approach to connection.
“I think a lot of these songs are simplified and more in tune with being human,” Rubeck said. “They feel like they’re more from our heart than the intentions of wanting to be a part of whatever the hell’s happening with music nowadays. Everyone wants to sound like something else, and our hearts are with ourselves. We just want to make things that make us happy.”
One of the most human aspects in American Moon’s music is the yearning, melancholic lyrics. Take these, from “Have I Said Too Much”:
Have I felt too much
Was it just a crush
Tell me is this love
Still my heart is breaking for the thousandth time
I wanna run but all that I can do is cry
Or, from “Starry Nights”:
Vinnie Van Gogh cut off his ear
And I understand the act
After 33 years
Cause there’s so much noise I don’t want to hear
And there’s too many days that bring you to tears
“I definitely think of images when I hear sounds or melodies,” Holter said. “Sometimes a story happens, and that influences the words.”
Holter’s form of synesthesia may be the key to the group’s quick songwriting ability.
“Sometimes I’ll send Forest a song, and she’ll write (lyrics) immediately,” Rubeck said. “I live in New York, and she lives in Southern California, and I’ll send her the songs, and I get the song back, and she already has lyrics to it. It’s just unbelievable what she comes up with.”
Added Holter: “It’s like surfing. If the right wave comes, then I’d hop on it, and then it’s done.”
Rubeck is ecstatic to return to Reno to see family and friends.
“Every time I go to Reno, I go and get a Magpie coffee and I pick up the RN&R, because that’s what feels like home to me,” Rubeck said. “I look at it, I see what shows are happening; I’m seeing how everyone’s doing. The RN&R has been a part of my life for years. I love you guys over there, and I just love Reno. I grew up in Henderson, Nevada, but being in Reno the times that I’ve been and the friends I’ve made, I call it my home—my true home. It’s great playing at the Holland Project again; it’s great being able to come to that beautiful city. I think it’s, like, one of the greatest places on Earth, and it means a lot coming back.”
Holter is equally excited to head to Reno.
“I’ve only been there one time, when we played Holland last year,” Holter said. “I felt something sacred in the air, and I thought it was beautiful.”
American Moon is set to perform with Mo Dotti and Fine Motor at 7 p.m., Monday, April 27, at the Holland Project, at 140 Vesta St. in Reno. Tickets are $17.58. For tickets or more information, visit hollandreno.org.