Young Astronaut
Young Astronaut were formed in 2012 by brothers Chris & Pete Boakes. Since then they’ve toured across the UK covering almost the entirety of London’s backroom venues (Camden Assembly, The Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, The Garage, Dublin Castle, etc.) and internationally in Beijing, Chengdu and Hong Kong.
Their previous two full length albums, folk driven 'Fawn' and rockier 'A Gold Frontier', earned the band national radio play on BBC 6 Music as well as being featured on the BBC introducing podcast.
Hope
Selbstbetrachtung als Thema, die Akzeptanz der Fehler, die Einsicht und das Weitermachen. Ein Leben im ewigen Antagonismus. Das Scheitern zu akzeptieren und weiterzumachen, während man mit Angstgefühlen kämpft. Young Astronaut blicken mit "Hope" in ihr respektive in unser Inneres und kehren dieses nach außen.
Musikalisch bieten sie Indie Synth Pop vom Feinsten, angefangen vom Arrangement über Soundselektion, bis hin zur Songstruktur und den einzelnen Instrumenten greift hier alles ineinander und findet im Gesang seinen Höhepunkt. Es wird nicht vorgetragen, es wird förmlich zelebriert, die Vocals haben einen leicht melancholischen "Neil Tennant-Touch", mit magisch, eleganter Färbung. Die Synths verleihen dem Thema Ausdruck, unterstützen enorm ohne dabei dem Gesang im Weg zu stehen, der Part der Gitarre, mit viel Noblesse ausgestattet, lässt einen staunen. Die Rhythmussektion aus Bass und Drums schließt den Spannungsbogen und pusht gekonnt. "Hope" by Young Astronaut eleganter Indie Synth Pop der zu überzeugen weiß und nicht nur Fans der Band begeistern wird.
Q&A
Young Astronaut are ...?
Alex on drums, Paul on bass and brothers Pete and Chris on keys/guitar and vocals/guitar respectively
Who inspired you to make music in general?
All of the bands on the Tony Hawk Pro Skater soundtracks
"Hope" sounds fantastic, what's the story behind it, what was your inspiration for this song?
Thanks! Chris originally wrote the chorus melody on an acoustic guitar in 2017. The strength of the melody saw it resurface in various songwriting sessions over the years but we always struggled to find the right sonic accompaniments.
Pete stumbled across the metronomic synth that became a constant driving force through the song and the rest of the parts fell into place. Lyrically it’s about accepting failure and moving on while battling with feelings of apprehension.
What can we expect from your upcoming EP "Pirouette & Fall"?
Four of our punchiest tracks to date. We spent a lot of time breaking down the tracks and building them back up to get them to sound exactly how we’d envisioned. We’re very happy with the result and we can’t wait to share them with everyone.
What is your creative process like and how difficult was it to work during the pandemic as a band?
It usually starts either from a vocal melody or instrumental part and we build it from there. The pandemic was challenging - we were half way through recording the EP but we had to pause for a while and come back to it. It did give us a chance to reflect on what we’d done so far but wouldn’t like to record in that way again.
Do you remember your first ever self-written song?
Chris actually found some old lyrics in my old room at my parent’s house from when I was at primary school. The song’s called “I’m going for a run”.
Here’s the chorus:
“Yeah I’m going for a run, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.
I’m going for a run run run run run run”
I don’t think it gets much better than that.
What are your most useful talents besides music?
Chris and Alex are web developers so building a professional website (youngastronaut.co.uk) didn’t cost us an arm and a leg
What do you prefer, a live gig or a studio session?
Live gig, 100%.
What’s next for you?
Looking forward to getting the EP out and playing it live.
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