▶ Tell us the interesting story behind the bands moniker.
It was a matter of great debate in the band for a long time, which I suppose served us well because there was a mystery involved among our friends and people who had know us from previous bands. Truth is we just couldn’t decide. Then once we did decided we all thought, “What are we going to talk about now?!” Astralnaut was actually one of the first names we had discussed, it was spacey and came around when we were in a spacey frame of mind.
▶ When did the band form and how long did it take to find the bands own sound?
The band formed in November 2011 and the sound was defined upon our first jam but a bands sound is a constant development.
▶ What releases have you put out thus far, and which would be the one to listen to for the uninitiated?
We currently only have 1 release out at the minute, our debut EP back to the bog, for the uninitiated we would advise listening to the whole thing. You’ll get an idea of what we’re about. We’ve got EP number two already underway, which should hopefully see release pretty soon.
▶ Is there a particular live show that stands out amongst all the rest?
Since we’ve had so much fun at every show so far they all stand alone, with great memories.
▶ Can you talk about a Highlight and a Lowlight of the journey so far?
Lowlight’s are few, technical difficulties at gigs but these are to be expected, one gig springs to mind but we made up for that many times since. As regards to highlights, the whole journey itself has been a constant siege, meeting great people, having mighty craic and long may it continue.
▶ What does ‘success’ mean to the band?
We are having trouble actually defining what success would mean for the band, suppose we haven’t thought about it much. We’re just doing what we enjoy but we would love to do it full time and make an honest living off it.
▶ You are in control of forming a 4 piece ‘supergroup’ – who is in it and what do they do?
Jesus, that’s a tough auld question hi! We’ve came up with two ‘Supergroups’ though for the craic, the first being: ‘The Dirty Mongrels’ (Luke Kelly – Vocals / Ravi Shankar – Sitar / Rónan Ó Snodaigh – Bodhran / Ian Anderson – Flute) Or if you were after the traditional auld get up: ‘Desert Tongue’ (Drums – Danny Carey / Bass – Cliff Burton / Guitar – Matt Pike / Vocals – Phil Anselmo)
▶ If you and 3 bands of your choosing were to do a world tour; who would the other 3 bands be? (Active or not)
Down / Orange Goblin / Kyuss
▶ What will be the 3 strangest things on your rider when you’re able to make any demand?
Excluding the unmentionables? We know Tom is partial to a tongue sandwich but that’s usually round Christmas! A Millennium Falcon Shaped tour bus and our stage to be built on a massive fish tank!
▶ Finally, in a climate saturated with bands vying for listener attention; why should the good old folks at home listen to you guys?
If you like groovy heavy riffs listen to us! If you don’t like goovy heavy riffs, what’s wrong with you!?
