Interview: Astrodome

One of Portugal’s finest heavy psych export’s Astrodome have been quiet of late. Hopefully it’s a sign that the instrumentalists are hidden away some place, jamming out new music. Let’s find out…..

Q. So how is the Covid-19 lockdown and social isolation working for Astrodome and you as individuals? What restrictions are holding you back right now?

It's been a tough time for everybody. As a band, we had to stop jamming and rehearsing like we normally do and started adopting some other ways of being productive. We also had a show cancelled in our hometown that we were really excited about, since the last time we played there was quite some time ago! As individuals, since we are not full time musicians, we try to work from home as much as we can.

Q. Astrodome have been quiet over the last few months. Does this mean that you are in the studio or in the writing process for album number three?

That's right, we are mostly focused on the writing process of the next album, for this album we decided to not rush things and take our time, maybe for a next year release, we hope...

Q. How do the 4 members go about writing songs? Do you all come to the table with ideas or do you just jam it out for hours, feel the flow and let the music write itself?

We don't have a particular way of writing songs. In the beginning, we definitely used a lot the classic "jam and let's see what happens" formula, but that way of making music can sometimes lead to monotony and repetition, and we are trying to not fall in the mistake of releasing the same album over and over again. As we get more maturity and responsibility as a band, we think it's important to start adopting some other ways of thinking and composing, so, it's not impossible that if someone brings an awesome and fully structured song to the rehearsal or if the drummer creates a cool guitar riff, it won't end up being an Astrodome song! There's no rules...

Q. Do you have “Jam Room” so that you can get the right vibe when recording?

We do have a rehearsing space or if you wanna call it, a jam room. It doesn't have the most inspiring vibe ever since it's located in a basement but it gets the job done... we guess! (haha)

Q. It has been well documented with the mess your previous record label left you with at the release point for Astrodome II. Did you ever get all the legal stuff sorted? And on a better note, do you think we will ever see the record available to buy as it deserves a proper release. 

Oh man! That still haunt us to this day! We have sorted most of the stuff, except for the streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, we still couldn't get control over that unfortunately. We also still get contacted by people who are not aware of the problem and think that we scammed them. Nightmare...

About the record, we would like to release a new edition of it and the previous one also, maybe at the same time we release of our third album? Maybe sooner? Let's see!

Q. Can you tell us a bit about the cool artwork for “II”?

We started working with talented artist Clara Pessanha on the cover artwork, discussing references for illustration style even before finishing the album. In a certain way at some point the music, artwork and the concept of the album were mutually developed, and they're deeply related with each other.

It represents something like how our perspective on things changes as we move through space and time. We see a mirage of the Sun, which we forget as we get into the landscape. As we move forward, we realize the Sun is there and it is real, so we celebrate it. On the back cover it turns out that, although it is there, the Sun doesn’t hold itself as we thought, and there is a titan raising it. It has to do with subjects of curiosity and illusion, scepticism, belief, devotion, ending with deception, the final surprise revealing that the truth is different from everything we thought before. This is related to what happens throughout the music, like its tonality, or root note changes.

Q. “II” was released, like the first album, on cassette. You must be a fan of the format and enjoy seeing it make a small comeback?

Actually, those releases were just something that happened naturally. We have a friend, Jonas that had just started a small label and booking agency called Ya Ya Yeah! and he wanted to start releasing some bands that he likes on cassette, so he just asked if we wanted to be the first band and "test the waters". We guess that tape and analogue stuff is one of those "fetishes" that every band must have, and a cassette is an awesome piece of memorabilia you can get from a band, so it was a cool thing to do!

Q. Have other labels approached you to re-release “II” or release a new record?

When we announced all those problems with our ex-label, we got contacted by a couple of labels who shared their interest in working with us but none of them actually said something definitive, we also didn't want to rush things and end up being in a bad situation again so we decided to let the things cool down for a while and think about all the possibilities sometime later when we have our next album... 

Q. Can you ever see Astrodome having vocals on a new track or a song that has a verse/chorus verse/chorus structure to it?

We can't say we don’t see that as a possibility. We try to impose ourselves less and less on what we can or should do, and we let things evolve in ways that are not necessarily the same as what we've done so far. We work on every new track based on an idea that is being built, and the structure develops accordingly. Someday an idea may justify having vocals, or having verse / chorus verse / chorus structure, or both. We don't have anything against that kind of structure.

Q. I haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing Astrodome in the live setting yet, what would I expect from one of your shows?

We think our live shows are a completely different thing from our studio albums, at least we try to make it that way and honestly that is the exciting part of seeing a live concert from a band that you like. When we have the right conditions, we try to set up a mood that makes it more like an experience rather than a musical concert, we use lights, drones and sound effects for an uninterrupted show. Hope we can meet you at one of our concerts in the future! 

Q. Once the world starts to get back to normal, will Astrodome be hitting the road again to tour?

Unfortunately we are not full time musicians so we have to carefully manage our time between our jobs, making music, playing live and taking care of the band’s "office" side. Playing live and doing a good show requires a lot of practice and planning and we agreed that while working on the new album, we would play less shows and that's what we are trying to do. We are really focused on making a good album. We might still play here and there but we don't think we will hit the road very soon for another big tour.

Q. With festivals like Sonic Blast hosting some awesome line-ups over the last few years, the psych/stoner music scene in Portugal looks to be getting bigger. What other Portuguese bands should we all be checking out?

Sonic Blast is our favorite festival to play and to be as a fan, and it definitely helped the "scene" getting stronger and we even risk to say that it influenced many new bands being created! About the bands suggestion, it's going to be hard to list them all because there's a lot of amazing stuff happening in the heavy and psych scene, and we are friends with almost everyone! We recommend the "classic" ones like Black Bombaim, 10000 Russos, Solar Corona, Stone Dead, Kilimanjaro, Big Red Panda, Black Wizards, and some of the newer stuff like Jesus the Snake, Fuzzil… There's a lot happening and we could stay here for days listing them all, and that's great!

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Review: Jesus The Snake – Black Acid, Pink Rain

I have no recollection how Portugal’s Jesus The Snake came to my attention as I had never heard their earlier material but I am stoked that we have now crossed paths. My first thoughts that come to mind are the laid back vibes of a hot sunny day somewhere out in the fields of Portugal and that infamous Pink Floyd video in Pompeii.

They have a rich fuzzy sound that melts away to a classic 70’s sprawl backed up with a lot of keyboards and each track is around 10 minutes long which is just how I like it.

The first track Karma opens slowly and drifts in with each instrument floating along together. The keyboards start and there’s a 70’s proggy jazz feel to it as it builds and builds until it stops, then starts again and begins to walk along giving you that feeling of looking out the car window whilst driving out into the desert. Then the guitar kicks in with a really raw fuzzy sound and duals with the keyboards for a few minutes for your aural pleasure. Then everything drops off and the band show their ability to create that sound that fits in with the near silence which I can imagine really holds the audience when played live. Following that I’m treated to a build-up of fuzz and keyboards that really takes you out there.

Floyds I starts with 4 minutes of rolling waves of 70’s prog and makes me think of a certain Pink Floyd track (you can decide which one) with some awesome guitar work. You can almost feel that warm sunshine setting at dusk with every chord played. Then the bass and keyboards do their bit to build the song up that has a jazzy feel to it but I can definitely feel some surf rock in there as the guitar goes off again. At 6 minutes the driving fuzzy guitars kick again and backed with the keyboards they really start to do their thing. I also have to mention that the guitars manage a few times to do that deep fuzzy “do do do do” sound ala Colour Haze (you must know what I mean).

Floyds II starts with a slow Sunday morning “kick back and relax” vibe. The drums have a jazzy feel to them, the bassline really pulls everything together, the keyboards in the background are always just there and the guitar slowly walks away at its own pace. After this the song really enhances how good the band are as musicians and manage to do their Pink Floyd thing but with their own twist on it. As it draws to a close it gets heavier and heavier showing that they’re not afraid to rock out.

Duna is a slow winding song that has a deep sound to it and a slight jazzy feel as it drifts about (think those soaring videos over the mountains, lakes and beaches) before an awesome riff drops in, then out, then it’s back again. This time everything has a slightly darker feel to how the song is composed, but you really do feel that deep fuzzy sound again. Now unlike the other tracks, Duna gets more mellow as it goes on and the keyboard work towards the end feels like lounge music from an American city in the mid 70’s, which fits perfectly with the vibe.

Black Acid, Pink Rain kicks straight in and the percussion really drives the song with a much faster pace before the fuzzy end of the guitar opens up with the keyboards before the guitar goes walking off sky high again to counteract the pounding bassline. Then that deep silence thing happens again and the band manage to create that up close and personal with the instrument feel which illustrated how well this has been recorded in the studio.

I know that I have talked about the guitars taking you out there before dropping back in with the fuzz and how good the keyboards are, but I have to mention how well the drums and bass just keep this thing going throughout.

If you have bought the CD of Black Acid, Pink Rain then you will have every song except Karma as the recording is too long for the CD but the digital version has everything. I have read that a vinyl version is coming in the future which is good as this recording deserves its place on record as I’m sure the crackle of the needle will only add to the magic. 

If you haven’t already checked this out, I cannot urge you enough to buy it. It has that 70’s feel with a lot of Pink Floyd influences mixed with the sleepy drifting feel of My Sleeping Karma and Sungrazer mixed with the heavier fuzzy feel of a band like The Samsara Blues Experiment.

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