Back in 2001 when I was writing FPM, I spoke with Astropop 3 who at the time were on Asian Man Records / Planting Seeds Records.
I “borrowed” this from the Asian Man records page:
From the bands conception in 1995, to it’s 1998 debut release on Planting Seeds Records, as well as it’s 1999 CMJ music conference appearance, it’s 7 inch release of “Light Years Away/Agatha” on Asian Man Records, and it’s 2nd full length indie release, “Eclipsing Binary Star” – The Astropop 3 continues to consistently create new and refreshing, yet seemingly timeless pop songs. Drawing upon both modern indie noise and retro pop influences, the band successfully combines both the indie stylings of these two different genres in a familiar yet refreshing fashion.
I caught up with Dan and this is what we spoke about:
Hi, Who’s in astropop 3 and what’s your role?
The current line up of the astropop 3 consists of: Keith Vanetta on Bass guitar, Wendell Nicholes on drums, and myself on guitars and vocals. I write all of the songs, but it wouldn’t be possible without the help of those two guys.
Can you give us a brief history of how you became?
I started the astropop 3 in 1995 with Neil Delparto and William Hickey (both from Planting Seeds Records)…as more of a solo recording project…I wrote a bunch of songs and we recorded them together on my 4-track recorder…we played out, band members came and went, the name changed a couple of times, ups downs, etc…but I played mostly to just record my songs….My friend Keith Vanetta started to play bass for me and decided to fund the first full length astropop 3 album….Neil, Keith and I recorded that album and in 1998 and it became the 1st actually pressed release on Planting Seeds Records…our own do it yourself record label…Neil and William went on to pursue the label avenue while I continued writing, recording, and performing… 3 years later I funded the release of the second album, “eclipsing binary star” which features Wendell Nicholes on drums and additional vocals from Angelique Everett.
How would you describe the Astropop 3 sound?
The astropop 3 sound? Hmmm… “Simple, Heartfelt Mid-Fidelity Indiepop with catchy melodies and a natural songwriting pop sensibility. Sprinkled with a touch of stardust.” NO seriously…I guess I would say that the sound varies…sometimes its slow, folky, acoustic, melodic, heartfelt and other times it’s harder, more punk, upbeat, angry, and other times it’s retro, poppy, with tongue and cheek lyrics, and then it gets shoegaze like, emo…sometimes dancy…still other songs are just dark…The sounds vary…I like variety…
Which bands have influenced you?
The Beatles!!! The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Sonic Youth, Rocketship, Elliott Smith, Nick Drake, Radiohead, Travis, Jimmy Eat World, The Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, The Association, CCR, Smashing Pumpkins, Sinead O’conner, StereoLab, the Verve, New Order, The Cure, Blonde Redhead, Kleenex Girl Wonder, Holiday, Duran Duran, The Go-Go’s, Morrissey, The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Byrds, Coldplay, RunDMC, Eric B & Rakim, Public Enemy, NWA, Wu-tang Clan, Weezer, The Doves, Mozart.
You are signed to Planting Seed Records – how did you get their attention?
Neil Delparto, the original drummer for the AP3 actually started Planting Seeds Records in1996 to put out our music and music from bands he liked…William Hickey the original bass player for the AP3 and Neil are partners… Neil and I are roommates, and PSR is run out of our townhouse here in Virginia Beach, VA…PSR is something that we all had a little part in creating…We knew no one would do it for us so we decided to do it ourselves…the label is growing and we are learning a lot through trial and error about the record business…we all want the label to grow and do well…
You are also featured on Asian Man Records Plea for Peace and they released a 7” – what is the relationship there?
We’re not signed to Asian Man Records…although I wouldn’t mind…. I sent out our first CD to a couple of labels that I liked…one being Asian Man…a couple of months later, I got a letter from Mike Park saying he liked it…and he’d love to make a 7”…I couldn’t believe it!…I gave him two tracks, “Light Years Away” and “Agatha.” He also included the track ”So Happy” from our self-titled debut album on his Plea for Peace compilation… I’m really thankful to them (Mike Park and Miya)….they helped us out a lot as far as those two releases go by helping get the astropop 3 name out there…I think most of their releases are punk, ska, or emo….so I don’t know how well our type of music comes across to their subscribers but every little bit helps…I’m just glad they gave us that opportunity…I’ve only talked to Mike Park in person a couple of times, I like his DIY attitude towards things, he’s really very talented as well as equally humble, just a nice guy, and Asian Man just reflects that attitude, their products are relatively inexpensive and their always doing stuff for good causes…. hopefully we’ll do something together in the future…
You are currently recording your third album – how is it going? Will it be released on Planting Seeds?
The third album is going well. All the musical tracks are finished and the lyrics will be recorded soon…hopefully we’ll get it done by December and it will be released in either January or at the latest March…I’m taking my time on this one…the previous albums were a bit rushed (as far as recording) because of limited budgets…some of the tracks are a little bit heavier than our current album and definitely harder than our first one…the sound is still growing and changing yet still keeps it’s simple pop roots …as far as who is going to release it, is up in the air…I’m going to shop this one out a lot more than the first 2 albums….possibly a split release with some other indie label and Planting Seeds Records…we’ll see…
You also recorded under the name “Our Starblazers” – what was the reasoning between changing the name and then reverting back to Astropop 3 again?
In between line ups Keith and I started playing with Adam Rengal, a mutual friend of ours…I still wrote all of the music, but he and his drumming style added a different sound to the music all together, he had a lot more input in the sound then previous band members did….That sound was more jangley shoegazer ride style emo, and Adam insisted that it to be separate from the astropop 3…I came up with the name from a Japanese cartoon that was on TV in the 70’s….it was around when G-Force was out….if you are familiar with that….anyway, we parted ways and I went back to doing the astropop 3 thing again…
Are there any plans for any UK shows in the future?
A friend of mine is contacting a couple of UK bands to see if we can do a couple of shows with them…hopefully Wendell and Keith will be able to go…if not I’ll probably go and play acoustic guitar by myself. I don’t want to jinx it, but it may be in the late spring, early summer…I’m really excited about the idea…I’d love to play in the UK…
Your website is www.astropop3.com – do you feel that the internet is an important medium these days for bands and labels to reach the public?
The internet is key. Magazines, college radio stations, reviews, zines, flyers, and touring help also, but without the internet we wouldn’t be where we are today…not saying that we’re really anywhere at all, but the website helped out tremendously by just getting our name out there…and linking up with other bands, internet radio companies, and other labels helped too…everyone knows how much the internet changed the music industry, especially for all the small independent labels and bands out there-e-mail, mp3’s, etc. I wouldn’t be doing this interview now without the internet, so yeah, it’s the most important medium for bands and labels to reach the public, second only to the music.
What do you see the future of Astropop 3 being?
The future? Hmmmm…Well, the boys and I are going to finish up this new album, shop it around, release it, continue to play locally, perform on the weekends out of town (mostly the east coast), hopefully get out to the UK to perform, continue to write, record songs, and grow musically. I’m going to continue helping with the label, meeting contacts, getting the music reviewed, doing interviews, and promote the astropop name….eventually I want to finish up this acoustic album that I’ve been working on for a while now…it’s sort of a folky, stripped down, home recording type thing…I’m just going to keep writing, recording, and performing my songs…
Thanks very much to Dan for answering the questions for us!
Originally appeared in FPM Zine / Touching Cloth Zine back in 2001.
Online Link: http://www.astropop3.com/index.php
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/astropop3
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