London based trio Calling All Astronauts are an electro goth punk act, who have an array of material tucked nicely under their belts, with other work underway! The trio got together to disclose the matters of themselves, their music, and what the future has in the works for them.
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
David B - Vocals.
Paul - Bass.
J - Guitars.
J and I (David) formed the band after bumping into each on a petrol station, we had been in seminal rap-metal band US:UK together years earlier, J had gone on to be in Caffeine and I wasn’t making music anymore, we just thought we’d have some fun, we drafted in Kristi on bass and Andy on drums, Andy then went to Cambodia so I taught myself to program drums, Kristi then left to have a baby just as we released our debut album "Post Modern Conspiracy" so we have Paul a call, as he had been in US:UK with us.
2. What’s the origin of the band’s name?
We’d always wanted to be Astronauts, NASA were advertising, we applied but didn’t get in and we thought this was the next best thing!
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
We are all in West London, to be honest there isn’t really a scene on this side of the city, plenty of wine bars and gastro pubs, but not much in the way of grassroots live music, for the bigger acts we have established venues, but all the small gigs have gone.
4. How would you describe your style?
We take influences from goth, punk, synth pop, industrial, drum and bass, metal, post punk, EDM and mash it all together, making something quite original, but hopefully accessible.
5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
We’ve had 2 albums, "Post Modern Conspiracy" and "Anti Social Network", 12 singles, 2 EP's, so far, people should expect something quite dynamic, and eclectic, we are not one of those bands that just write the same song over and over.
6. Do you have any new music in the works?
Yes, we have a new EP out on March 30th, we fancied doing something different and have recorded four cover versions of songs that have influenced us. We have been receiving a great reaction to it so far, we’ve been getting lots of radio play on all the tracks, we’ve done a drum and bass meets metal version of Gary Numan’s "Are ’Friends’ Electric?" a striped down atmospheric version of T-Rex’s "Metal Guru", A rocking version of David Bowie’s "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)" and an industrial version of Deep Purple’s "Smoke On The Water".
7. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?
We were going to play festivals this summer, but my wife and I had a baby in August and I’m Daddy Day Care, so it’s probably not going to happen on the live scene this year, so we are concentrating on writing our third album.
8. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
We are happy to continue to make what we consider to be great records, we are not mainstream, we don’t expect to ever have a hit record, I’m not saying a hit wouldn’t be nice, but you have to be realistic about these things, DIY bands don’t get daytime radio.
9. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
We are on every streaming site, Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music etc, the same goes for all the download sites, we have a very busy YouTube channel that people should subscribe to, we are always putting new videos up, and occasionally set-ups of YouTube tutorials :) like "How To Make Microwave Popcorn" and "How To Make A Cup Of Tea" hehehe.
10. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
That we make all our music in our lounge, and that you don’t have to spend a fortune in studios to bake fantastic sounding records.
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