Moonlight Survived is the first and only full-length album by American alternative rock/post-hardcore band Moments in Grace. It was released on compact disc, 12-inch vinyl and digitally by American record labels Atlantic Records and Salad Days Records on August 17, 2004, and includes the single "Stratus", which was pushed to radio stations in June 2004, and music television channels in August 2004.
The album was written from mid-2002 to mid-2003, while the band was still named Postcard Audio, with vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist Jeremy Griffith, guitarist Justin Etheridge, bass guitarist Jake Brown and drummer Brandon Cook. Cook was replaced by Timothy Kirkpatrick in May 2003 and a month later the band was renamed Moments in Grace. Moonlight Survived was recorded over the span of three months, split between June–August 2003 and November 2003, with producer Brian McTernan at Salad Days in Beltsville, Maryland. The recording sessions resulted with sixteen songs, twelve of which appeared on the standard album.
In promotion of the release, Moments in Grace toured the United States and Canada several times between December 2003 and February 2005, accompanied by such bands as My Chemical Romance, Avenged Sevenfold, Finger Eleven, Thrice, Silverstein, Funeral for a Friend, Alexisonfire, From First to Last, Smile Empty Soul, Bayside, Hot Water Music, Darkest Hour, Further Seems Forever, Poison the Well, A Thorn for Every Heart, Steriogram, Thornley, Strata, Brandtson, Planes Mistaken for Stars, The Jealous Sound, Beloved, Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer, Noise Ratchet, Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers, Vaux, Engine Down, Statistics, June, Madcap, The Kicks, Don't Look Down and Decahedron. The band also performed on Van's Warped Tour and at notable festivals like Skate and Surf Festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey, The Fest in Gainesville, Florida and the Millennium Music Conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Composition and recording
Moonlight Survived was written while the band was still named Postcard Audio, with vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and principal songwriter Jeremy Griffith, guitarist Justin Etheridge, bass guitarist Jake Brown and drummer Brandon Cook. On July 2, 2002, shortly after releasing its eponymous debut extended played, Postcard Audio opened for The Liar's Academy and Brandtson at Barnstormer's in Montevallo, Alabama. A month later, in August 2002, The Liar's Academy spent a week recording its extended play, Trading My Life, with record producer Brian McTernan at his Salad Days recording studio in Beltsville, Maryland. While taking a break from tracking, The Liar's Academy guitarist, Matt Smith, was listening to Postcard Audio's extended play when the music caught McTernan's attention. Impressed by Griffith's voice, McTernan, who was then also an A&R representative and artist developer for major record label Atlantic Records, flew down to St. Augustine, Florida to meet with the band and attend one of its shows.
In early November 2002, Postcard Audio began working with McTernan and announced that it would take a hiatus from playing shows to focus on extensive writing for its debut full-length album, hoping to enter Salad Days recording studio in March 2003 (though this was ultimately delayed by several months). By April 2003, the band was nearly done writing its full-length album, having written over thirty songs in the process, and citing influences like Jeff Buckley, U2, Ours, Sunny Day Real Estate, Foo Fighters and Hum. The band recorded demos of the material at Griffith's home studio, The Factory, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, during most of 2002 and the first half of 2003.
In May 2003, Cook was replaced by former As Friends Rust and Culture drummer Timothy Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick was recommended by McTernan, who had heard of the drummer through members of The Liar's Academy's other band, Strike Anywhere; Strike Anywhere had toured twice with As Friends Rust in 2000 and 2001. In late June 2003, Postcard Audio was renamed Moments in Grace; the new name was inspired by lyrics from the song "Drink Deep" by Rites of Spring. The band immediately began tracking thirteen songs for its full-length album, Moonlight Survived, over the span of two months at Salad Days with producer McTernan (though the total number of tracks recorded eventually increased to sixteen during production).