Monday, May 18, 2009

My Denton Music interview: Astronautalis

By Josh Hogan of My Denton Music

Astronautalis has become one of my favorite artists on the scene right now. He is one of the forerunners in the indie rock/rap genre that is sweeping across the nation, gradually making its way into the mainstream. Andy Bothwell, better known by his rap moniker Astronautalis, has been hard at work for the past six years, fine tuning his addictive blend of hip hop and rock. I got a chance to catch up with him Saturday, May 9 at the Granada Theater in Dallas, before his performance opening for The pAper chAse.

Sitting in the tiny nook of a dressing room, I was able to speak to the ultra sharp and refreshingly laid back Bothwell about his history in DFW, his latest album entitled Pomegranate, and even indulging in a few stories from his time on the road.

My Denton Music: You are based out of Seattle, Washington right now but you have very heavy ties to the DFW area - could you talk a little bit about that?

Astronautalis: Well, I am from Jacksonville, and I moved out here to go to school. I got a scholarship to go to SMU so I went there and got my degree in directing and lighting design in theater from SMU. And I was a battle rapper in Florida for years and when I moved out here I kind of stopped doing it. Then a girl talked me into doing it again, I'm kind of a sucker for that, and from there the first battle I entered in Dallas was me against Headkrack. And I had heard him on radio shows in New York City and I had loved his stuff for a while so it was really exciting for me to battle against this dude and after it was done he and his friend Brock kind of took me under their wing just telling me go to this battle, go to this show. You know pushing me around, and Brock is now my manager, he started out as just one of my best friends and then evolved into my manager. So after that I started to get some notoriety, (through) the people at Good Records and the Polyphonic Spree. I entered a battle there and really hit it off with those guys. And it was kind of the same thing. Everywhere in Dallas people were just so excited about what I was doing and taking me under their wing.

My Denton Music: Ok, so it has been about six years since the release of your debut album, You And Yer Good Ideas, which had the first song that I ever heard from you entitled "Oceanwalk." How do you feel you have evolved since then?

Astronautalis: Jesus Christ, it's already been six years since the release. Well, "Oceanwalk" was the second song I recorded for that album, and when it came down to it the first time I really recorded a song with the dude that made that record and my next record after that, Radical Face. It was the first song that I recorded where I had someone like coaching me and teaching me how to record albums. I already knew how to perform live shows really well from battling and you know, since that time the actual content of the live shows hasn't changed that much. The basics of it are still the same, me a laptop and a microphone and the focus over the last six years has really been on making better music. And now I just feel so much more confident in making music. It used to be terrifying to me to record an album. Everyone who hears their voice recorded is just like "OH my voice sounds like that?" and basically in a lot of ways recording music became like getting used to the sound of my own voice and just getting over that fucking hump of being horrified by the whole prospect and accepting it and just being like, "Okay, cool now I can move on." Now I feel confident enough with the way I make my records that I am starting to turn things back and sort of focus on my live shows and change it drastically.

My Denton Music: Could you describe your creation process when you go in to write or record a new album?

Astronautalis: For everything that I've done that has not been a single song or a guest spot there is a pretty significant focus on research beforehand. All my stuff is really research-driven and a lot of that has to do with the way I went to school. Directing work is mostly in the library, you spend a lot of time just poring over books and taking notes. So each record I just take whatever has been really interesting or exciting to me at the time, in music in art in film, politics, everything, whatever is on my mind. Then I try to figure out the line that connects all of these things, like, "Why am I interested in all of these things right now?" Making an album for me is kind of like writing a paper. I try to form a hypothesis or a thesis. I definitely (feel) like a school kid. When I don't have that focus I tend to drift a little bit, I need homework so I give myself assignments. For Pomegranate, the latest record, I wrote every song on that record with books and my laptop open, searching Wikipedia, reading constantly. It almost all historical fiction in one-way or another so it was all history research and I do a lot of research in advance.

My Denton Music: Which do you prefer, live shows or recording an album?

Astronautalis: Well, live shows aren't necessarily challenging to me anymore. They are still really wildly fun, but for me playing a live show the way that it is right now is kind of like watching an action movie. You know it's really entertaining to watch The Fast and the Furious, but when it comes down to it doesn't do much for me the next day. I really like the pain of working on creating art, so for me right now albums are the most exciting because it's still unfamiliar territory and I still feel a lot of possibilities in it.

My Denton Music: What was the strangest show you ever played?

Astronautalis: Well, we don't really turn down shows. I played in a barbershop last night in Austin, I've played in bagel shops and people's living rooms, I played a high school prom. Actually the prom was easily the weirdest. It was a very exclusive and wealthy boarding school's prom and the whole experience was bizarre. I mean everyone was really wonderful but you know it was a prom and it was clear that the prom planning committee were all fans and then everyone else was like...it's prom so they just wanted to do drugs and loose their virginity, ya know? So it was kind of weird having me in a tux performing in front of all these kids and some being like "this is awesome" and others like "who the hell is this?" We also had this show in Louisiana that I played for a guy and his girlfriend, he was a pharmaceutical rep and was throwing a house show but dropped the ball on the whole thing and just him and his girlfriend were there. And it was me and my friends on tour just sitting in his living room, it felt like something out of a movie, it was so bizarre. And he totally sharked us on money, but he gave us a ton of free samples of Viagra and Cialis and stuff. It was pretty hilarious.

My Denton Music: What are you listening to at the moment?

Astronautalis: I always listen to gangsta rap still, and I've been listening to a lot of southern rap lately too. This rap group out of Houston called ABN, and Young Jeezy kind of religiously, it's been kind of a "go to" for me for like the last five years. I just got the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs' album and I really like it a lot, I'm a sucker for that band. People kind of get salty about them but I think they are really awesome. They aren't revolutionary by any stretch but they always make something really enjoyable to listen to. I have been listening pretty much non stop to P.O.S., who is actually on Pomegranate, he is a friend of mine and he put out this record called Never Better and I am totally just floored by it. It's really just the most innovative rap record I've heard in a long time.

My Denton Music: How does Pomegranate compare with your previous work?

Astronautalis: This record for me was the most challenging because of the way that I wrote it. It's more of a literal and narrative. It's not like the other records where I would just get into an emotional state and just pour out like this mosaic of poetry, I had to tell a story about someone from history so there is a lot of limitation to push against. And I really wanted to see if I could write songs with choruses and verses in a traditional format, songs that are shorter than five minutes. I wanted to see if I could write pop songs, by no means is my music pop and I don't think it ever will be, but that was the original goal. It was drilling a hole in my head at times because it was so hard and such unfamiliar territory but John (from the pAperchAse) was really good about being the encourager and pushing me foreword. He could see where I wanted to go with it. I mean it was a horrifying and terrible experience and I loved it. I had so much fun.

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