Estava eu aguardando ansiosamente o dia 17 de Novembro, pelo simples fato de saber que viria ao mundo o debute do trio de Los Angeles, Vast Asteroid.
Por conexões, eu já venho saboreado o álbum homônimo há algum tempo, e desde então, o sabor lisérgico do shoegaze deles, tem derretido cotidianamente minha mente.
Não a toa a última canção do álbum, serve para exemplificar a sonoridade deles, "Spacegaze", seria o termo mais cabível, mas ainda vale incorporar a tudo isso o uso do adjetivo, épico.
Um discaço para ouvir alto em todos os sentidos. Boa viagem com o Vast Asteroid.
***** Interview with Vast Asteroid *****
James: Mark used to play in a band with Mimi. Then he started playing music with me. Then he was playing with Slaughter and the Dogs in Japan. He came back and posted some pics, which Mimi noticed because she's from Japan, and asked if, by the way, Mark knew any shoegaze-type bands looking for a bassist... which we needed at that exact moment. A couple jams later, the band was born.
Mark: Yes, James and I have been playing music together in various configurations for over a decade, and Mimi and I used to be in a band called Rayon a few years ago, and she joined us in mid-2016. The years of playing together makes it much easier to write and play music where we don't have to talk about things too much, and the vibe happens naturally and organically. It's been such a true pleasure to make this album.
Q: Who are your influences?
James: At this point, musically, I could probably sum everything up with Billy Corgan.
Mark: Sonically for this band, early albums from The Verve, Failure and Queens Of The Stone Age, were big influences. Personally for drumming, Jimmy Chamberlin (Smashing Pumpkins), Jon Theodore (QOTSA), Kellii Scott (Failure), and Keith Moon & John Bonham & Ringo...
Mimi: Smashing Pumpkins, and Sean Yseult, bassist from White Zombie.
Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
James: This gets harder every year. And changes. Here's one for each of the past 5 decades:
David Bowie - "Aladdin Sane"
Queen - "The Game"
Marilyn Manson - "Mechanical Animals"
The Killers - "Hot Fuss"
Queens of the Stone Age - "...Like Clockwork"
Mark:
The Verve - "A Northern Soul"
My Bloody Valentine - "Loveless"
Failure - "Fantastic Planet"
Smashing Pumpkins - "Gish"
Guided By Voices - "Human Amusements At Hourly Rates"
Q. How do you feel playing live?
James: It's a journey through time at wildly different speeds. Sometimes time even stands still. It's mystical.
Mark: We realize that the sum of us together is greater than the parts separately... We all have a bit of a musical telepathic link that does not require much talking, which is rare and awesome, and really comes to the fore when we play our music live.
Q. How do you describe Vast Asteroid sounds?
SPACEGAZE... space rock meets shoegaze. Imagine the dreamy, layered, loud British bands of yore get lost in the high desert of Southern California.
Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs?
James: I show up at rehearsal with some songs. We feel our way around. In addition to being a rhythm section Mark and Mimi are brilliant arrangers. So they take the vibes of the songs in brilliant new directions and that's what we then record live in studio for our basic tracks. Then it's back to me to layer guitars and vocals and the occasional three-note keyboard bit.
Mark: A brief writing and rehearsal period in the Highland Park neighborhood of L.A. quickly led to a recording session that was tracked during a beautiful and torrential rain and wind storm on a magical week last winter at the legendary Rancho de la Luna studios in Joshua Tree, CA. The boards were manned by Producer/Engineer Andy Freeman, and Engineer Johnnie Burik. Good vibes provided by host extraordinaire and co-conspirator Dave Catching of Eagles Of Death Metal, whose guitar magic can be heard on the final epic track called “Spacegaze”, which was a late-night, totally improvised jam that we were lucky to capture on tape, and is presented on the album with no overdubs...
Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
James: Listening right now to Alvvays, Middle Kids, and Everything Everything -- not brand new but just catching on in the New World.
Mark: Yes, I was also going to say those three bands, plus Cloud Nothings and Land of Talk.
Q: Which band would you love to make a cover version of?
It's a mystery. Sometimes I write a song and realize it's already some other song. Maybe eventually I'll love one of those enough to just try covering the song.
Mark: Mimi is not a big fan of doing cover songs, but I wouldn't mind tackling something off of Failure's "Fantastic Planet"...
Q: What are your plans for the future?
James: Right now the future is all about sharing these songs with the kind of people who love these kind of songs... whether they know it yet or now.
Mark: Releasing our self-titled LP on November 17th and celebrating with a release show in Los Angeles, with more regional dates to follow...We'd obviously love to play in Brazil and all over the world, if possible!
Q: Any parting words?
James: Please rock hard.
Mark: Live in the moment and spend less time on your phone. Love more, hate less. Listen to music LOUDLY!
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Thanks
https://vastasteroid.bandcamp.com/album/vast-asteroid
https://www.facebook.com/vastasteroid/
