Moonpools & Caterpillars was a Filipino American rock band based in California. The band was most popular in the 1990s. They released three albums commercially, The Pink Album (self-released), Lucky Dumpling (1995, Elektra Records), and 12 Songs (self-released). Lucky Dumpling was produced by Richard Gottehrer, who has also worked with Blondie, The Go-Go's, and Judybats. Moonpools & Caterpillars was based in Los Angeles and played many nights at the Whiskey-A-Gogo, where The Pink Album was recorded live. Lead singer Kimi Ward Encarnacion is known for being very energetic on stage. Jay Jay Encarnacion gave Moonpools & Caterpillars their distinct guitar sounds, which varied from ethereal chorusing to large, wall-of-sound distortion. Bassist Tim DePala and drummer Gugut Salgado were the other two members of the band.
The band was featured in the movies The Baby-Sitters Club (1995) and Wish Upon a Star (1996).
Lucky Dumpling
1995
MOONPOOLS & CATERPILLARS
Kimi Ward Encarnacion ,Jay Jay Encarnacion ,Tim DePala, Gugut Salgado
[
Enjoy]
Track listing 1. "Hear"
2. "Ren"
3. "Soon"
4. "Trampling Rose"
5. "Colossal Youth"
6. "Summertime"
7. "Heaven"
8. "Sundays"
9. "Traveling Song"
10. "Buick"
11. "Koo Koo Koo"
12. "Jubilee"
13. "Crazy Old World" | nWu Bonus"Cool"(Twelve Songs 1998)
"Martians" (Twelve Songs 1998)
"Ooh Ooh Ooh" (Twelve Songs 1998)
"Polyester" (Twelve Songs 1998)
"Highwire" (The Pink Album 1995) |
Biography
![](//web.archive.org./web/20231124111609im_/https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-evK-X7UOuNk/TXw6OAiv-iI/AAAAAAAABvE/vhSu5Eh4FM8/s320/moonpools-and_caterpillars.jpg)
The Glendale-based Moonpools and Caterpillars were one of the most successful bands of Philippine ancestry and released their only major-label album, Lucky Dumpling, in 1995 through Eastwest/Elektra. The strong debut was produced by Richard Gottehrer (Blondie, Go-Go's, Judybats, and Jeffrey Gaines) and Jeffrey Lesser (Lou Reed, Barbra Streisand) at Bearsville Studios. Moonpools and Caterpillars were popular mainstays of the Los Angeles scene, especially on the Sunset Strip. Lead singer Kimi Ward Encarnacion had the voice and stage presence of Natalie Merchant, Bjork, and Gwen Stefani. JayJay Encarnacion brought an amazing combination of guitar sounds to the group and was influenced by U2's the Edge, 10,000 Maniacs' Robert Buck, and the Smiths' Johnny Marr. Bassist Tim DePala and drummer Gugut Salgado made up a dynamic rhythm section. Moonpools and Caterpillars have accurately been compared to Belly, the Cocteau Twins, Edna Swap, Alanis Morisette, the Cranberries, Velocity Girl, Tuscadero, Blake Babies, the Darling Buds, Liz Phair, and Veruca Salt. In spite of album sales that disappointed Elektra, Lucky Dumpling was a critical success and Volkswagon licensed multiple songs for the Jetta debut ad campaign (especially "Hear"). The band's song "Summertime" also was used in Disney's Baby-Sitters Club. Moonpools released The Pink Album in 1995 through Nobu Records. A third disc simply called Twelve Songs was for sale the night the group disbanded in 1998. Moonpools and Caterpillars were a phenomenal band that was vastly underappreciated. In a fair, just world where good taste reigned, Moonspools & Caterpillars would be household names.