MOONS IN RETROGRADE

“My rusty bones consume me. While brittle thoughts exhume me.“

In the northern shadows of Flensburg, where Baltic winds carve their quiet hymns through stone and sea, musician, producer and multimedia performance artist Kara Kuckoo has summoned her otherworld into being. Under the moniker Moons in Retrograde, she has not merely created music—she has constructed a dark, immersive realm where nightmare and neon intertwine, where ritual bleeds into circuitry, and where the body itself becomes both altar and artifact.

Her debut album, The Third Side of the Coin, released in November 2025, unfolds like a divided soul: Anima and Animus, two mirrored chambers of the same haunted heart. It is an album in two halves, yet bound by one lifeblood—dark alt-electro and hyperpop entwined with trip-hop’s slow-burning seduction. Echoes of Heilung, IAMX, Nine Inch Nails, and The Birthday Massacre move like distant constellations across her musical cosmos—yet what rises from the dark is entirely her own creation.

Born in the United States and once the voice of Cleveland’s dark electro-industrial outfit In Winter, Kara’s path has never been linear. There were stages shared with underground icons, tours through America’s industrial arteries, and the spectral trip-hop landscapes of Azure Noir. And then—silence. A decade swallowed by self-doubt and reinvention. A decade where pigment replaced microphones, where body-paint became both armor and altar.

When isolation descended during the pandemic, she returned to the guitar—not as “only a singer,” but as a reluctant architect of her own sound. What began as fragile acoustic sketches mutated into something far more visceral: “Nightmare Trip-Pop splattered in body paint.” She merged flesh with frequency, transforming herself into both canvas and conduit.

Then came illness, invisible and invasive. Mold hidden within walls forced her to abandon even the paint that had become her skin. What might have been an ending became another metamorphosis. Confined by physical limitation yet driven by relentless will, she built a new realm: an Avant-Goth universe of handmade masks—one forged entirely of teeth—cosmic mirrors, blacklight constellations, and distorted vocal incantations. If her body imposed boundaries, her imagination tore them open.

Kara Kuckoo does not retreat from adversity; she alchemizes it. Each setback becomes scaffolding for a darker kingdom. Each fracture reveals another facet of the coin.

Now, with The Third Side of the Coin released, Moons In Retrograde stands poised at the threshold of her next transformation—fluid, unyielding, and luminous in the dark. Like water, she adapts. Like the moon, she wields hidden tides—and carried on that flow, we join Kara Kuckoo in conversation, entering the dark, immersive universe she has conjured.

Dark tides blessings to you, Kara. At Peek-A-Boo, we are delighted to drift along hidden streams into conversation with you. Moons In Retrograde is a project I’ve come to know with great delight, but before we turn our focus to your moniker, I’d love to get to know the musician behind it. Could you tell us a little about yourself, and how you first began making music?

First, thanks for having me. It’s a pleasure to chat with you at Peek-A-Boo.

My name is Kara and I am multidisciplinary artist. I have dipped my toes into many mediums over many decades trying to piece together my own puzzle and to use my voice through my art. I have always moved back and forth between music and visual arts and creative writing. As a child I won awards for writing but then began exploring art as I got older and at the same time I was learning to be a drummer. It wasn’t until I started drumming in a band and doing backing vocals that I discovered my love of singing and songwriting. I was a singer for a few garage bands while I was studying Arts and Crafts. There have been moments where I completely focused on music and other times where I completely focused on art. So I guess I can say I began making music with my first drum set I bought when I was 14 years old. It’s kinda eye opening to look back at my journey and who I am now. I can see how I have collected knowledge and craft which I use today in my performances as a dark artist exploring decay, mortality, liminality and transformation.

Would you say Moons in Retrograde is the result of those long-collected puzzle pieces finally converging—an avant-goth dreamstate of pop-noir music and immersive dark art through which you can fully embody your voice?

Absolutely! I used to try and compartmentalise my skills and at one point I asked myself why…and that is when I started bodypainting myself and creating music videos together with body paint, but that wasn’t the final picture either. I think it was after releasing The Third Side Of The Coin that I saw the full potential of how I could combine art, music, poetry and performance art all together, and in a way that feels totally cohesive to the aesthetic and emotions. I’m happy to be where I am right now. It feels like stepping into success.

As a multidisciplinary artist, navigating music, visual arts, immersive performance, and creative writing, whose guiding lights have ignited your path across these realms? Which artists, bands, or creative figures have most influenced you along the way?

Without any hesitation, I can say Heilung is the first inspiration. Musically, they use their voices in ways that fascinates me and that pushed me to go beyond my boundaries vocally. Their use of breath as percussion interested me immediately because I studied breath work for over 3 years and it felt absolutely fitting for me. I also love how they have the stage props and the actors to support the story they are telling. Its not just a concert, it is storytelling and a ritual. I also want to tell a story through different artistic mediums and they have really inspired me.

The next would be Le Pustra. He is an actor, singer and performance artist I have seen several times in Berlin. He is known for his Weimar-Cabaret inspired show called Kabarett der Namenlosen. I have seen him perform many times but the Kabarett der Namenlosen was one of my favourite and one of the most inspiring acts I’ve seen. It was dark art, 1920s, drag culture, gothic subculture, avant-garde 20s fashion, and storytelling through multiple artists. It remains one of the most impactful shows I’ve ever seen and it has inspired me to create a show that is more than just a concert. It is a dream of mine to work together with him one day.

Your moniker, Moons in Retrograde, is intriguing. What does it mean, and how did you come to choose it?

In short it means to review and reflect on emotions but I will explain. When I was growing up my mother worked as a professional astrologer, so I grew up learning the esoteric meanings of planets and understanding my own astrological chart. I have something called a ‘bucket chart’ and the moon is the handle, meaning everything is directed through the moon. So I was always fascinated and connected to the moon.

In astrology the moon represents emotions and if a planet is in retrograde then its a time to reflect, pause, review what that planet represents. Retrograde means that the planet appears to move backwards in the sky, but the moon actually never goes retrograde. However, I find myself often reflecting on the past, on different versions of myself, on my own emotions and how human emotion affects the world like a multiple ripple effect, like a cosmic dance. So I came up with Moons In Retrograde: to reflect on emotion.

Picture this, Kara: for an imagined, never-seen-before film project, you are asked to bring Carl Jung’s universe of archetypes, Anima, and Animus to life. However, you have to choose whether to do this through visual art, bringing it to life with enchanting hues, or through music, letting harmonic auras speak. Which journey will you embark on?

What a difficult question! Sometimes I ask myself if I had to choose between losing my sight or my hearing which I would choose. I never really come up with an answer until I think about living life in pitch black, which scares the living dookie out of me.

The question also inspires me to create such a performance but a blend of all the layers you mentioned.

Do I really have to answer this? I will try and view this as a ‘choose your own adventure’ book, and will make a very practical answer based solely on experience: visual art.

Turning now to your music: before the release of your debut album in November 2025, several singles had already begun shaping the world of Moons in Retrograde — from The Rotten Tree (2022) to later releases like Haunted, Cardboard Coffins, Lamented Dreams, and Jeepers Creepers. Looking back at those songs now, do you see them as individual experiments, or were they already pieces of a larger puzzle that would eventually lead to the album?

I see most of these first songs like remnants of an older version of myself that needed to be expressed. When I first started writing music for Moons In Retrograde all of this old pain started to emerge and I always just roll with whatever waves hit me, and thats what needed to come out. Art and music can be a form of therapy and whatever comes is what needs to be seen. I can look back at those songs and I know exactly what they are about even if I didn’t fully understand it when I wrote them. Art helps me to process, reflect, understand and let go. However, the last two singles, Lamented Dreams and The Lost are like an interlude that eventually becomes the album. I would say they are even a part of The Third Side Of The Coin. I considered including them actually but in the end it was just production costs that kept them off of the album.

And then, in November 2025, The Third Side of the Coin was released. The album explores truth as the gatekeeper of transformation and the natural yet paradoxical dualistic state of the universe. What drew you to build the record around the opposing forces of Anima and Animus?

My art and music is mostly based on the emotional struggles within my inner world. In my previous music projects a lot of that focus was on emotional pain due to relationships and relational issues in general. During the time I was not making music I became very introverted. I started to focus on the outer world and the stillness of my own inner world; being in nature, watching people and just observing. During my “hermit phase” I became interested in Jungian psychology and existentialism but also Shintoism/Buddhism and astrology. Well, in essence I have a deep longing to understand the meaning of it all and everything seems like a contradiction to me. I am neither good nor bad, dark nor light and yet I am both and everything in between. We live in a world of ‘us vs them’ but when you dissect the individual they are made up of layers, yet we label and demonize our fellow humans. I tried to see myself through the eyes of those I have hurt and of those I have shown great love. There are infinite versions of me within the perceptions and inner universe of everyone I have every encountered. Well, I could continue to ramble on about this topic for hours. It occupies the majority of my thoughts. I see the dogmatic polarisation growing everyday and it evokes so much emotion in me that the only thing I can do is try to understand it all. The truth of our existence is unattainable but what we do with our lives is within our power, and if we try to remain present and compassionate we will realise we aren’t that different from one another. I realize my answer is a bit all over the place but in the end I can say that I wanted to make a point with the two sides. There is a natural state of duality but what we experience as human beings here on earth does not seem natural. Making conscious choices to understand the other side, to empathise and to see that the answer lies in that liminal space, The Third Side Of The Coin.

In terms of style, the album — and your music in general — feels like a dark cocktail of genres such as art pop, avant-garde, dark pop, synthpop and gothic rock. You’ve also described it as Nightmare Trip-Pop, all filtered through your own unique artistic lens. Would it be too bold to call it Kuckoo-Wave?

I love it! Not too bold at all. I like the thought that my music has a distinct sound and style that is authentically me. My grandfather used to tell my mother that I march to the beat of my own drum. I think that beat is definitely my own and I’m proud of that. So yeah, Kuckoo-Wave!

To close our conversation, what lies ahead for you and Moons in Retrograde? What can we expect in the future?

Well, I’m releasing a remix EP with Daniel Thielman very soon. Probably in April this year. I have some new music I’m working on and plan to release this year as well. I’ve also reconnected with my old music partner from Las Vegas, Kielen King and we plan to write some new Azure Noir songs. But what I am really looking forward to is playing shows. I absolutely LOVE performing and I’m creating something like Avant-Goth Theater..or at least I hope thats how people see it. I want to give people a show that tells a story, takes them on a journey and which reflects all the facets, just like the music. I’m currently trying to book some small festivals and I’m hoping to get onto a tour as a supporting artist. I’m ready and excited for whatever comes my way.

Kara, thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions for Peek-A-Boo. It has been a pleasure stepping into the world of Moons in Retrograde with you. Is there anything we can wish for you and your project in the future?

Until the tides meet again!

Yes! That my passion never fades, that my creativity never dies and that I continue to meet kind and wonderful weirdos in this world. The world is full of artists and I wish for everyone to find their inner artist and express it unapologetically. Thanks so much for our time together and to Peek-A-Boo for giving me this spotlight.

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Hayley CLX
30/03/2026