Interview:God Is An Astronaut

Here it is, the promised and awaited interview I did with the famous Irish quartet called "God Is An Astronaut". As I previously noted in the concert review I wrote, it was scheduled for me to do a live interview with the band, but due to some technical difficulty it had to be postponed and done via e-mail. Either way, I am extremely glad I had the chance to ask the guys some questions, so hope you enjoy the read!

1. First of all, I would like to thank you so much for taking the time for this interview with "Natures With No Plagues". Last night was the first time you were in Serbia as a band, so I am very tempted to ask about your impressions concerning the show.

The show was awesome, it was nice to see all the fans so passionate and giving so much energy back to us, we felt very welcome.

2. This tour is a celebration of your ten year anniversary. What are your thoughts about the tour up until this point?

The tour went very well, the attendances and crowd reactions have been stellar and that is why we chose Eastern Europe to kick off our 10 year Anniversary touring schedule.

3. Turning back and looking at the past, how do you feel about the growth and the evolution of the project? Do you enjoy the band today as much as you did at its birth?

Of course, the ethos still remains the same, to write and release music we love without compromise.

We have been very lucky as we did it genuinely our way, it is an extra bonus that so many people around the world can share in our music.

4. It is a well known fact that your name hails from Clive Barker's "Nightbreed". Were there any other potential names which you were thinking about or was it an instant moment decision? Also, did you find any particular deeper meaning behind this moniker or was it taken just for the coolness factor?

Well there is no religious aspect as some people suggest, we just liked the name and it felt right to make the music we wanted under it. I guess it being both ancient and modern was another factor.

5. The first steps of the band were taken under your own record label, "Revive Records". What sparked this decision?

With the first album there was no interest from record labels etc... so we decided to release it on our own label more or less as a farewell to the music industry. We wanted to release something we genuinely liked and finish on something that we could be proud of. Who knew 10 years later we would be still here and be known all over the world.

6. Thinking about that time, how do you feel about do-it-yourself ethics? Were there any particular merits or flaws which you felt on your own skin due to working under such terms?

I wouldn't change anything, we have direct control over all aspects of the music, artwork etc... Also there is no middle man and we get all of the earnings directly which is the only way to survive these days.

7. Knowledge about your music was, at first, transfered through blog interviews and reviews, so I am interested to ask about your thoughts concerning music and the internet. Do you still browse any particular blogs or websites and do you still appreciate when your name is mentioned? Do you think that things like that still aid the band?

Sure the internet has been the main platform for us, in many ways it has levelled the playing field in regard to the major record companies hold on the industry. We are still an internet band and are of course appreciative of being mentioned on blogs etc... The only downside is that we often don't make money directly from our music, for example in Serbia we have sold no CDs or Mp3s legally or very little, so to take advantage we have to tour, sell our merchandise directly to the fans, I think this is the model of the future.

8. At a certain point, you started collaborating with other record labels for your releases. Was it a tough decision or a natural evolution of the project?

We have licensed our albums to a few record companies at the start mainly for distribution reasons, it was not a collaboration in the true sense.

9. Please explain to the readers the actual music writing process. When you sit down to write an album, do you determine a specific mood of the entire release or do you create seperate songs and then try to fuse them together?

All the songs are written in the studio and built up over periods of weeks and months, this stems from our Dance/electronic background where it was commonplace to produce your own records. All the songs start from a strong melody or chord progression, the melody and mood are paramount in the process.

10. Tell me more about the visual aspect of the band. Do you consider it to be a medium for transfering a more direct message to the audience, due to the lack of vocals? Also, maybe a silly question, but what inspires you the most when you create the videos?

The visuals are there to set the mood in the venue and enhance the overall experience of the show. They are not there for any other reason.

11. Two silly questions coming up. Despite having an extensive number of live shows behind you, do you still have stage fright?

We never really had any stage fright, we have been doing this since the early 90's.

12. If you were just a fan of "God Is An Astronaut", what would be your favorite release?

I guess for me it is "A Moment of Stillness", I just like the ambient nature of the album.

13. I am always intrigued by what my interlocutors listen to in their free time. Do you have any favored releases or bands, both all time and current ones?

Not really, I haven't been listening to anything specifically but we have been listening to a lot of Alice in Chains in the tour van for some reason.

14. There is news circling the internet that you are working on a new album, a release quite different from what you created thus far. Are you willing to share more information about the progress at this point?

Yes so far it will be much more experimental but much more commercial at the same time. There will also be a focus on more vocals, even with some lyrics but not in a lead singer style format.

15. What else does the future hold for this project? Will Serbia ever see you again?

Of course we will be back, most likely 2014 with the new album tour.

16. Once again, thank you very much for this interview and hopefully next time we get to talk in person. Any final message to the readers?

Thank you! to all our Serbian fans and making us feel so welcome, we will be back again!

Gig review: God Is An Astronaut

This review comes with a delay of one entire day, simply because I seriously needed to recollect my thoughts about the event and manage to complete the puzzle which I am about to write down. Judging by this type of intro, you might as well presume that the concert was absolutely spectacular in all aspects imaginable.

As you can see on the poster, the show transpired last Saturday on 10 May 2012. Initially the concert was scheduled to happen in one other venue which had quite a limited number of tickets, which I actually failed to grab for myself. Here I definitely have to give a certain amount of praise to the organizer of the event, called "Resetor booking & promotions", for several reasons. A high number of people were left without a ticket and many others suggested a change of venue, complaints and suggestions to which the organizer reacted rather quick and in a small amount of time, just days before the gig, a new concert place was found and the number of possible attendants drastically expanded. I myself am really pleased with this type of dedication and commitment, especially considering the possible stress they might have faced with changing plans moments before the show. On a side note, the organizer was kind enough to allow me press access to the concert and even managing to arrange for me to do an interview with the band. Sadly, due to some technical difficulty the interview will actually be happening through e-mail, so expect that some time in the future, since the questions have already been sent. All in all, this is an excellent booking collective, one that will find it's place amid the "Friends and Partners" page on this blog. I plan on making a page specifically for bookers and organizations in Serbia, but I'm yet to put that plan into action.

So, as I already wrote in the gig announcement post, the show was held in "SKC NBG" (Student Cultural Center New Belgrade). A fun fact about this venue is that it is actually a part of the complex where the collage which I am attending is located. Despite the fact that I know of the said "venue" (since, in fact, this is not a real venue to begin with), I have never attended the place. As far as I know, numerous student parties were held there, which I masterfully avoided every single time. Truth be told, I had sincere doubts about this gig since I really didn't believe in the technical capabilities of the place, but in the end I couldn't be more wrong. There was room enough to fit a really big stage, a neat place for a merch desk located on top of a wide staircase and the gig space was actually huge enough to support the large number of people without everyone being cramped together and pushing each other. The already mentioned staircase also proved to be a good place for people to stand on and enjoy the entirety of the stage, so overall this proved to be an excellent venue, especially for a post rock concert.

After a small delay and the excitement and anxiety boiling in the crowd, the show started a bit past 10:30 PM, if I remember well. Amid clapping, screaming and cheering, "God Is an Astronaut" climbed the stage and with the sounds of "When Everything Dies" the band paved the way toward a purely perfect performance. As the song rang across the venue, the wall behind the band came to life with video effects for which the Irish quartet is well known for, masterfully setting an appropriate mood and emotion for the audience. Watching some historic moments, like the explosion of the first atomic bomb and the self-immolation of the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, scenes from old movies like "Godzilla" and "Nosferatu", sequences of violence and war and an omnipresent voyage through space with planetary visage, all accompanied by the loud, impacting sounds of the band came out nothing short of entirely artistic and breathtaking. Personally, I was really excited to witness the much talked about video aspect of "God Is An Astronaut" and I must say that they really hit the spot and meld quite well with their music. They make you think and ponder, without actually drifting away and forgetting that you are on a concert. Seeing all that aggression and destruction, flames and death, makes you realize how small and stupid we humans are, that all this torment we throw at each other is nothing more than self-annihilation and that it is absolutely insignificant in the vast cosmos of which we are but a small speckle. To be completely honest, these moments created numerous waves of chill and shivering throughout my body, making this show into something I will never forget. Also accompanying the video was an interesting manipulation of light, which further extended and solidified the atmosphere. The sound was fantastic, the venue being able to fully cooperate with the band and create a clear and strong audio spectacle. Once the opening song was over, it melded into "Fragile", later continuing with "From Dust To The Beyond", "Age of the Fifth Sun", "Echoes" and so on. I was very impressed with how certain songs sounded much more moving and quite faster than on recordings, such as "Zodiac" and "Route 666", leaving an extremely strong impression on me. The band kept building a massive wall of sound, constantly growing with intensity and literally flooding the crowd entirely. Similarly, the audience was quite responsive and alive which really surprised me, so there was nonstop movement, dancing and omnipresent cheering. If you ever thought that you can't really dance to post rock, this gig would be able to prove you wrong. Band members themselves were quite alive on stage, their motions reflecting the music nicely, while the time between songs was used to address the crowd and in the end one picture of the audience was also captured, a really cool tradition of "God Is An Astronaut". Overall, a wonderful atmosphere was created, lasting for thirteen tracks and further extended with an encore featuring "All Is Violent, All Is Bright" and "Fireflies And Empty Skies".

What more to say in the end? This was an absolute pleasure to experience and a true honor to be able to celebrate the ten year existence of such an amazing project in this fashion. It was great to see the band members leaving the stage pleased and hopefully we left them with some nice memories. We were promised another show in the future, so until then I plan to enjoy their recordings under a new light and with more infatuation than before due to the truly big imprint which they left on my mind. Thank you and hope you enjoyed the review!

Gig announcement: God Is An Astronaut

This brief gig announcement came rather unexpected due to the fact that I thought I won't be going to the event. Initially the show was planned for a small venue which managed to get sold out rather fast and I failed to pick up a ticket. Luckily the show was moved to a bigger concert location today, thus I will have the pleasure to attend and additionally this event promotion is for all of you who don't have a ticket yet.

In any case, the famous post rock quartet going under the name of "God Is An Astronaut" will play in Belgrade this Saturday on March 10 2012, as a part of their ten year anniversary European tour. The show  is made possible thanks to "Resetor booking & promotions" and will take place in "SKC NBG" (Student Cultural Center New Belgrade). For those who do not know the location of the venue, the address is Bulevar Zorana Djindjica 152a. The fastest way of grabbing a ticket is via the following e-mail address:
kartegiaa AT gmail DOT com

Additionally, on the night of the concert, visitors will be able to buy tickets for the upcoming gig of yet another post rock act known as "Maybeshewill", which will be held on May 9.
Stay tuned for a gig review of this concert. See you there!