A Sunday Conversation with Astrovan

Joining us today on the red leather interview couch,  Deezer, lead singer of Astrovan, filling us in on all things heavy and Astrovan!


When I was a kid, my house was filled with the sounds of Cat Stevens, Neil Diamond, and Simon and Garfunkel.  The first time I ever heard Kiss' "Detroit Rock City," was a moment of musical epiphany. It was just so vicious, aggressive, and mean. It changed the way I listened to music. I've had a few similar experiences since then, coming across bands that bring something new and revolutionary to my ears.

What have been your musical epiphany moments?

 For me, I would have to say Pearl Jam, and their album Ten. Once I heard it, I was hooked. I remember listening to that album every day for almost a year. It sounds a bit cliche, being from Seattle, but to me, that band was a real eye opener musically.  


Talk to us about the song-writing process for you. What comes first, the idea? A riff? The lyrics? How does it all fall into place?

It really depends on my mood. Sometimes I'll sit down and write a song having nothing but words. Sometimes I'll have a melody, or hook stuck in my head, and I'll give it to the guys to run with.  Most of the time, they inspire me. Some of the easiest and best songs we've written have come out of just jamming.  The vibe strikes everyone at the same time, and a riff gets going, then all hell breaks loose...then a song emerges. It's a beautiful thing.


Who has influenced you the most?

I try not to corner myself into letting just one person or band influence me more than another. However, I am a huge Jim Morrison fan. That man was an animal. His passionate, care-free, offensive, song writing and performing were insane. In my mind, he is right at the top. But, there are many others as well. Anyone who has a "fuck it" attitude with the chops to back it up is a definite influence.

Where do you look for continuing inspiration? New ideas, new motivation?

 Life itself. Not the touchy feely parts, but the stuff that pisses me off. Whether it's something stupid that someone says or does. It Could even be about my personal experiences in the past or present. Ideas and motivation are all around. I try to be open-minded enough to see it.  


Genre's are so misleading and such a way to pigeonhole bands. Without resorting
to labels, how would you describe your music?

Mean. Down right mean. Too much music right now lacks attitude. We are trying to put loud, dirty, gritty, balls to the wall, rock n' roll back on the map. Let's stop talking about puppies, and love songs, and start kickin' some ass again! We think it is way overdue.

What is you musical intention? What are you trying to express or get your
audience to feel?

First, have fun. We write, play, and perform to have fun. It's a release from normalcy. When we are having fun, everyone seems to have fun with us. That's the way it should be. When we are hitting hard, people feel it, and they start to let go. They let the stress of everyday life move to the back burner, and just have a good time.

Come on, share with us a couple of your great, Spinal Tap, rock and roll
moments?

There is that time that our guitarist got us thrown out of our own cd release party, but that's a long story for my book.


What makes a great song?

Longevity. A song that you've heard years ago that still gives you the same feeling the first time you've heard it. 


Tell us about the first song you ever wrote?

Wow, I can't even think back to when that was. I started writing songs back in elementary school. I would have to try to dig around and find one from back then. I'll have to get back to you on that one.



 
What piece of your music are particularly proud of?

Actually, it was very recent that this song was written. Most of the time, the band gives me a rough outline of a song, and I write to that. On this particular song called "14 Days, 14 Nights," the roles were reversed. I had an idea, and brought it to them. They came up with a killer riff that took it to a whole new level! I'm pretty proud of that track.


Who today, writes great songs? Who just kicks your ass? Why?

That's really tough. There really aren't any bands that have recently come out that I am into. I've been on a huge Guns n' Roses kick as of late. The older stuff really gets my blood pumping. Anything from Zep, Sabbath, G & R, Van Halen, and others like that. I'm always checking out new stuff, but recently it hasn't hit me in that "kick my ass" sort of way. It's kind of pathetic now that I think about it.


Vinyl, CD, or digital? What's your format of choice?

 I wish I had more vinyl. There is nothing better sounding than vinyl! It's warm, nostalgic, and it just screams rock n' roll! But, I have a lot of digital. Its just too easy to buy, and listen to.


Whiskey or beer?  And defend your choice

 My choice is BOTH! My favorite round of choice is a Bud Light with a shot of Jameson. I will not choose, because I always drink them together. That isn't to say that I'd turn down one without the other!


We, at the Ripple Effect, are constantly looking for new music. What's your home town, and when we get there, what's the best record store to lose ourselves in?

 My hometown is Seattle, WA. The best record store to get lost in would definitely have to be  Sonic Boom Records. Awesome store to check out if you're ever in Seattle.


Any final comments or thoughts you'd like to share with our readers, the waveriders?

Astrovan has a busy schedule in 2011. We have a new record coming out called "Rollin on Shabbos" that should be released some time in late Spring. We'll be on the road a ton, so keep an eye on our show schedule at www.astrovanrocks.com

  Thanks for a great interview...it was a blast!

I Like to Rock - Featuring Astrovan, Sweet Kiss Momma, Diablo Royale, and Eden Burning

Perhaps Myles Goodwyn, the lead singer of April Wine, said it best; “I like to rock!”

Once upon a time, rock was king.  Good old fashioned, hard and heavy rock.  There was nothing to match the excitement that exploded in every testosterone-crazed, teen-aged boy’s adrenals when Nugent unleashed “Cat Scratch Fever,” or the universal man-nod of approval that followed AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.”   I remember the fever that broke out when Back in Black was released.  The anticipation, the moment, the climax, the basking glow of the aftermath.  Breathless.  Sweaty.  You know where I’m going with this.

But over the years, good old fashioned rock got vilified.  If you liked it you were called a Neanderthal, a caveman, a lunkhead.  Rock was the genre for hairy men who lived in their parent’s basements, smelled like fermenting gym socks, couldn’t imagine a woman without the staples of the centerfold piercing her belly, and cultivated one or two brain cells at  most.

Then when bands like Arcade Fire broke through, rock got pushed father and farther down into the dirty underwear drawer.  Those who “knew” --critics who tried to set the stage for the rest of us-- only liked indy rock.  It was refined, cultivated. It was sensitive.

Forget that!  You may or may not like Arcade Fire, but one thing they aren’t is rock.  This sissy-fication of rock reached pinnacle levels of fey sensitivity with the success of bands like Keane and Coldplay.  Damn it.  I’m a man.  Got testosterone.  I scratch my crotch and drink milk right outta the carton.  I want it loud and I want it ballsy, dirty, slimy, in my face and nasty.  I want my rock dangerous and ready for a prison break.   I want my rock to rawk!

Fortunately, there are still some dirty mofos out there who get it.  This column is for them. 

Astrovan – You Said it Man

One note is all it takes.  One note!  Dig that guitar, hear the fuzz, the grit.  Feel the thunder of the drum quaking in the background.  Layer on some thick as molasses bass dripping in honey sweat, drop in a front-man with swagger, a cocky in your face ‘tude, with a foul mouth and a throat full of spit, and we got the makings of a great rock album . . er . . .  EP. 

Coming from Seattle, these guys suckled at the teet of Soundgarden, sprouted appendages in the womb of Alice in Chains.  They were sired by the riff-Lords of Guns n’ Roses, and AC/DC and Aerosmith.  And what emerged was fully-formed, ugly and nasty, pissed off and vowing not to take it no more.  It’s all there, in song two, “Twelve Guage Promise.”  I’m tired of talking to you/now it’s time for action.  You want danger in your rock? How's a loaded shotgun in your face hit you?

The retro-packaging of the Peachy folder lets anyone know that these guys got '70's riff-rock rampaging in their veins.  They blaze across the six-song EP, like a five-headed, hot-rod gang of parolees, pummeling out throttle-rock at high-octane levels.  Suck on the exhaust, grab your brass knuckles and join in the fun.

Buy here: You Said It Man
Buy Mp3: You Said It Man [Explicit]

www.myspace.com/astrovanner

Sweet Kiss Momma – Revival Rock

Revival rock indeed!  This gritty platter of ballsy, blues-ified, riff-rock comes at you like a blood-spittled gator crawling out of some time-warped southern swamp, where guitars still reign supreme, men drive 18-foot tall trucks with bigger gun racks, and Jack Daniels drips from mother’s breasts instead of milk.

This isn’t revisionist rock, it’s a fucking reclamation!  It’s a six-string declaration that rock in the classic southern vein is back-- the land claimed in the name of Queen Hustler Magazine and moonshine.  Bongs at the ready.  But not only does this shit rock, it grooves.  Really grooves, in that rolling way that only the best of Southern Rock ever could.  Just listen to “Son of the Mountain,” and you’ll get it.  That groove is thicker than the layer of mud caked on the tires at a tractor pull.

Like Pig Iron, these mutts are the real deal.  Sure there’s a touch of Skynard, but it’s more full-on rock than that.   Think Point Blank when they were good, 38 Special when they mattered, Blackfoot when they existed.  Take that whole vibe, douse it in axle grease, drop it off in some biker bar brandishing the Confederate Flag, $1 beers, and a protective fence around the stage and we’re all set.

I don’t know what these guys look like, but my imagination says that they’re big hairy brutes who could put the fear of God into anybody who crosses their path.  Just the way rock is supposed to be.

www.myspace.com/sweetkissmomma

Diablo Royale – Greedy Dogs

Fuck Axl Rose!  Take a band that mattered and turn it into a living joke?  In front of the whole world?  Not on Diablo Royale’s watch!

Churning out a brutal beast of venomous rock and roll, Greedy Dogs is the clamor of testosterone-laden street curs no longer content to sit back and watch the music they love die.  Guitars at the ready, grasped as surely as if they were M16 machine guns, aimed squarely at the solar plexus, Diablo Royale swath themselves in bathtub-meth, hard rock savagery. 

“Resistance,” with it’s “six feet underground” refrain and mad-as-hell riffery is as certain to imprison your ear as the first time you ever heard “Paradise City.”  Then, without letting up for one moment  “Greedy Dogs,” unloads with the mother-of-all massive hard rock riffs, guaranteed to whip the punters into a frenzy.  Drugs, riots, groupies.   Diablo Royale are a return to those heady days when rock really mattered and no hotel room was safe. Hear that television crashing through the 18th floor window?  Yeah, that's them.

Buy here: Greedy Dogs
Buy mp3: Greedy Dogs

http://diabloroyale.net/home/

Eden Burning – Banged Up N’ Dirty

Eden Burning got one singular message for the American public.  They got penises and they ain’t afraid to use em.  Lock up your daughters, chain up your wives, this is the return of cock rock with nary a condom in sight.  Banged Up N’ Dirty?  This is get down, humped-from-behind, filthy and obnoxious rawk.   This is a Russ Myers B-rated, G-cup film brought to life, soaked in beer, whiskey, body fluids and left bare-naked on the floor, exhausted, spent, and begging for more.

“If You Want Me,” sums up these one-eyed monsters’ world view. “The girl was a freak, liked to do the crazy mambo,” spit out amidst the crushing powerchords and vibrator-paced drums and bass.  Power?  Hell yes! As the Pope would say, these guys pound it out as viciously as a trained monkey using my ball sack as a boxing speed bag.

“Glitter Girl,” spits out glammed up and sexy, but no less porn-tastic.  These guys are like the rust on a strippers brass pole, festering from years of contact with body fluids.  Toss in a guitar lick that’s just about as sexy as said stripper and we got a tune that should keep dollar bills flowing in girlie clubs year round. 

I don’t know who they sound like.  Kiss?  Nugent?  Does it really matter?  It’s sleazy, cocaine-addled, junk rock cranked up to mind-melting, bug-eyed ferocity.  Isn't that what rock’s all about?

www.myspace.com/edenburning

--Racer


Astrovan



 Sweet Kiss Mama



Diablo Royale



 Eden Burning