Meet the Croatian-Indian from Los Angeles who made moon music history
- by croatiaweek
- in Entertainment
Brayden Pierce (Photo credit: Cameron Postforoosh)
A Croatian-Indian musician residing in Los Angeles has made history with the moon landing of his music.
In a historic moment marking a significant milestone in the intersection of music and outer space, the Lunaprise Museum proudly announced the successful lunar landing of Brayden Pierce’s “Capture the Moon (MOOON.PARTY Mix)”.
Not long ago, all of Brayden Pierce’s music recordings were destroyed in one fatal rainstorm. He thought music was over for him, but The Moon had different plans:
On February 22, 2024, Brayden Pierce and his song “Capture the Moon (MOOON.PARTY Mix)” made history as the first music artist with an electronic dance song to land on the moon as part of SpaceBlue’s curated archive on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, coinciding with NASA’s monumental return to the moon after over 50 years.
This groundbreaking initiative, a time capsule of humanity’s creativity and innovation, sets Brayden Pierce alongside 222 legendary artists like Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, and Elvis Presley, whose digitized recordings were also placed in the Lunaprise Museum. The digital museum is designed to withstand the test of time on the moon for a billion years, ensuring “Capture the Moon” will resonate forever.
About Brayden Pierce
Brayden’s Croatian heritage is from his mother’s side of the family.
“My mother was born in Zagreb in the early 1940s. Her mother was from the Zagorje region and her father’s family we’ve traced back to the Samobor area, with another ancestral line tracing to Vienna. As WWII raged on, her father, Franjo, was quite active in speaking out against the war and thus made him a political target. Towards the end of the war, they had to flee. In the chaos and confusion, Franjo got separated from his wife and children. It’s a harrowing story, where my mom, her younger sisters, and their mom ended up in a refugee work camp run by the Soviets,” Brayden tells us, before continuing.
“My mom would often tell us stories about how they drew pictures of food and pretended what it tasted like. By the grace of God they managed to get out and eventually reunited with my grandfather. He ended up getting a degree in forestry which led to him taking a job in Brazil while they awaited their green cards to come to the US. After a 17 year wait, they came through Ellis Island and became citizens and eventually made their way down to St. Louis Missouri. My mother and her two sisters attended Washington University, a top university in the country and managed to get all As while still learning English.”
Zagreb Image by wirestock on Freepik
Believing that this was close enough to a ticket to American dream of freedom (while waiting for a green card), my grandfather got a job managing the conservation of rainforest in Brazil and so they all went to São Paulo Brazil for about 17 years at the age of around 20 while John F Kennedy was president. They came through Ellis Island and became citizens and eventually made their way down to St. Louis Missouri, my mother and her two sisters attended Washington University, a top university in the country and managed to get all As while still learning English.
My mother, an art teacher of 40 years, was very fond of sharing all aspects and parts of Croatian heritage to us, and made sure that we knew as much as possible. Her favorite love was sharing the all kinds of Croatian sweets, which derived from an Austrian flare, black forest cakes, multi-tiered cakes (which looked more like artpieces), almond cookies, and more … basically every holiday, it was a feast of sweets. And man, she loved her coffee – a true Croatian pastime.
She did not spend time in having us learn Croatian, a bit Americanized, and throughout my adult years realized that is something I wished was different. Eventually, I do hope to gain dual citizenship as my brother actually gained Croatian citizenship. My brother is here in California with me.
Brayden Pierce (Photo: Supplied)
I have not been to Croatia yet but I hope to someday soon and tour the motherland. It is my goal someday to live there and buy some property. That being said, I do not actively listen to Croatian music I would say the closest to Croatian music would be Croatia Squad which is a house music project .. and and quite frankly I don’t even know if they have any cultural connection to Croatia other than name ha ha.
As a lifelong music artist, Brayden is a true polymath, excelling in singing, multiple instruments, DJing, songwriting, producing, and mixing. Despite his impressive achievements, including sold-out shows in Los Angeles, songs with millions of plays, and performances at major festivals,
Brayden has remained largely under the radar. In response to the challenges of navigating the digital music landscape, Brayden took an entrepreneurial approach and created Soundromeda, a revolutionary music entertainment platform. More than 2 years deep in Soundromeda’s development, Brayden’s platform evolves the traditional music listening experience by transforming songs into dynamic songworlds infused with magical game design, providing artists with a fresh canvas to showcase their creativity and be discovered in a crowded digital space.
Brayden Pierce live (Photo: Supplied)
Through Soundromeda, Brayden seeks to unlock new value for music and empower artists to connect with audiences in innovative ways, bridging the gap between technology and creativity for a more immersive future of music consumption.
Capturing the Moon
Brayden kissed being a music artist goodbye in 2022 when his laptop and hard drives were destroyed in one fatal rainstorm, taking all of his music with it. That is, until he teamed up with designer and artist Kelly Max a year later. Brayden made a special ‘Modernist Edition’ of his song “Capture the Moon” for Kelly’s “Modernist” Art Series (a collection now archived on the moon).
Brayden originally wrote “Capture the Moon” in 2011 as an ode to the old Latin saying “Carpe Diem (Seize the Day)”, encouraging the listener to live life to the fullest in each moment and achieve your dreams before our time on this planet is up. The song reincarnated at least 6 times in all of Brayden’s music projects, ending with Kelly’s urge for a more dance floor-ready version: the ‘MOOON.PARTY Mix’.
MOOON.PARTY: A Festival Fusion of Music, Art, and Space
Electrified by their collaboration, Brayden Pierce and Kelly Max co-founded MOOON.PARTY, a powerful entertainment venture aimed at redefining the festival experience. This innovative brand seamlessly merges art, music, and space exploration, offering audiences an unparalleled immersive experience with exclusive space content. MOOON.PARTY sets a new standard in global festivals, inviting attendees to engage with art and music in a new way. Brayden says, “Where humans go, art is there to define us. Embracing the moon’s view offers a beacon of hope for humankind to see past our differences and open our eyes into compassion and kindness. MOOON.PARTY is more than a celebration. It symbolizes a new chapter for human culture existing beyond Earth.”
(Photo: Supplied)
“Capture the Moon (MOOON.PARTY mix)”: A Historic Release Inspiring Generations to Dream Beyond The Lunaprise Museum, curated by Dallas Santana (Founder of SpaceBlue), handpicked Brayden Pierce’s transcendent track, “Capture the Moon,” in early 2023, cementing his status among 222 artists chosen to be archived on the moon for a billion years.
The Lunaprise Museum landing not only signifies the establishment of the first museum beyond Earth but also serves as a beacon of human creativity and ingenuity. Leveraging patented technologies and blockchain authentication, Lunaprise pioneers a historic disruption in space tech, offering collectors rare, verified assets linked to twin digital files stored in the lunar museum.
(Photo: Supplied)
As Brayden Pierce’s “Capture The Moon” becomes a moon anthem, Soundromeda pioneers a new era of space-themed music entertainment and MOOON.PARTY redefines the global festival scene, Brayden Pierce will forever be the first-ever EDM artist to land on the moon with his music and immortalize his artistic voice in the cosmos. Reflecting on this monumental project, Brayden expresses profound gratitude, stating, “To have ‘Capture the Moon’ play among the stars is a dream realized.”
