nebula showers from a dead star

by Lounge Lizard

Photos Courtesy of Astreal and Aging Youth

Evolved from a little-known band, Breed, back in 1994, Astreal (http://www. astreal.com/) was formed by Momat (rhythm), William (guitars) and AlwynLim (drums) along with vocalist Melissa Lim. When Melissa left the band in 1997, the band roped in Ginette Chittick, then of punk band, Psycho Sonique to fill up the spot on vocals and guitars. Within a year, Ginette moved back to playing bass, relegating William to guitars. And they have never looked back since.

Think shoegazer, noise pop, bliss rock, etc. and Astreal's name comes up.

Fast forward to the year 2003. It would be a tumultuous year for any band when 2 of your founding members have left. William had quit the band after a rather public spat. Alwyn left for the States to complete postgraduate studies. And the long-waited sophomore album since 1997's 'OuijaBlush' still remains unseen. Aging Youth speaks to Ginette and Momat about the new Astreal (Ery of Steel City Skies climbed onboard as the new drummer while Nick Chan took over guitar duties), their 2nd album 'Fragments From A Dead Star', what really happened with William and of course, their gear.

Why is Astreal named thus?

Momat: It was either Astreal or White Wizard, which sounded like a dish cleaning liquid. So it was a pretty easy choice.

What have you heard recently that blew your mind?

Ginette: I would say it's Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky. It's not very recent but they still floor me every time I listen to their music. To be able to create imagery in music without words is just amazing. And MUON's able to do that too, to pull you into the world he paints and drown.

Momat : Most recent is Prince's new album, "Musicology". I've always been a huge fan. It's old school funk that may sound cool to some Dance and Lifestyle magazine bullshit perspective, except it's not.

There are very good tunes in there, good lyrics, good stories, very clever. It's quite raw and organic. And it's honest.

Why play shoegazer?

Momat: It was the only thing we can and want to do. I would like to think that I am making honest music that works on the subconscious. To create a mood or emotion without being too obvious.

I don't really care about making a statement or writing angry protest songs. Or being entertaining or funny or clever. I just want to play the stories and images in my head in my rather limited technical musical skills.

Ginette: I guess it's just the turn of events that's happened to Astreal with Nick and Ery joining us and how elements of influences and ideas get thrown into the soup mix. And it started happening even years before that, when I first joined Astreal back in 97/98, we were pursuing to grittier and darker sound as opposed to the saccharine sweetness of (Astreal's debut album) Ouijablush. We felt that wasn't really what we were about; we wanted to write honestly. I guess the transition was evident in the song 'Blush Response' featured on the No Excuse compilation (Pony Canyon), recorded prior to me joining Astreal. A dark robotic love song.

What are the main influences for Astreal?

Ginette : Eternal love, life, will and we want to create our own sound based on those elements.

Momat : Intoxicants, science fiction, love, Satan, gratuitous sex.

How's the song writing process like? What are your lyrics usually inspired by?

Ginette: Astreal's song writing techniques 101: 1) book jamming studio and 2) all randomly play stuff loudly at the same time then VOILA! Astreal song.

We never really plan a song to happen, they just do and over time, you'll discover that our songs evolve and change shape. That's how we like it.

Momat: Converge in a jam studio with instruments ready. Close eyes. Think of one of the following in above answer. Get a similar vibe from the rest (in an almost Care-Bear-Stare fashion). Nod gravely and smile when done.

Sources tell us of an incident where William's tantrums on stage led to him walking out on the band before a set. Could you tell us how the band dealt with that kind of situation?

Ginette: Yeah that was at Hard Rock Café, and after William left (the stage), I asked Mat if he still wanted to play, he grinned and he said, "Yeah, let's do it!" And we played one of our best sets ever, before Baybeats 03 of course.

Momat: We got angry, very angry. It was the angriest we ever got. So angry that we wanted to boot him out immediately and have nothing to do with him. But he made it easier by coming forward and volunteering to leave, so we accepted that.

So that eventually lead to William's departure from the band, I presume.

Ginette: Yeah this and a slew of other stuff. As bandmates, we just couldn't work together anymore. We're all still friends though. Some things are just this way.

Momat: Yes it was. The feather that broke the camel's back.

Could you tell us what William is currently pursuing, musically (if at all)?

Ginette: I'm not sure about that.

Momat: Listening to his musical burps. I don't know. But seriously, we have since made up. And we never talk about music, so I really wouldn't know.

How is Wallwork Records doing these days? Any upcoming events you'd like us to know about?

Ginette: Wallwork Records worked as part of the Baybeats organizing team to bring the festival to life. We're really excited about it cos we handled the Chillout and Elektronika stage this year, so it'll be heaps of fun. Typewriter, who've just signed with us, and Astreal will be playing this year too.

We're working on putting out Typewriter's first single and also a compilation featuring all of Wallwork's acts. It is called 'Wallwork is Awake'.

We're also focusing on putting up a proper site for Wallwork Records and FruFru and Tigerlily, my clothes and accessories label under the Wallwork Records umbrella. So Wallwork Records is really an entity unto itself, we do everything from recording to designing to photography to film to writing, and heaps of (things) done while retaining the DIY spirit.

What took Astreal so long to make the Projecktion EP (which I enjoyed of course)? Can fans be expecting an LP sometime soon?

Ginette: We'd been through hurricane times, with members coming and going and machines dying on us... that's (why it) took so long. But we're on our way, wait up.

MUON who produced the 'Projektion' EP will produce the 'Fragments of the Same Dead Star' LP too.

Momat: Sheer laziness and procrastination really. Yes, a full-length album is coming. And that's what we've been telling everyone since 1998.

What was the best gig you guys ever played?

Ginette: I think our best gig was definitely Baybeats 2003. For one, the stage was really fab, we felt like the rock stars we wanted to be. Haha. And there were heaps of people, I think we played pretty well and enjoyed ourselves and that got translated to the crowd and the whole energy was just great. That was the last gig Alwyn, our drummer, played before he left to do his doctorate in NY. He's coming back to play Baybeats 2004 with us, so we're really psyched.

*UPDATE: Baybeats 2004 was really excellent! The energy and support we felt was beyond our imagination. Kinda like Baybeats 2003 but intimate and wif heaps more people.*

Momat: Baybeats. Atmosphere was great. Sound was good too.

What was the worst that Astreal ever played?

Ginette: I think my worse gig with Astreal was at Area 22 in, I think 97. William and Mat were pissed drunk and started arguing on stage. I just shouted expletives, not realizing the mike was picking up everything. After that, rumours went round that we had split up.

Momat: From my perspective, not in a very long time. It mattered little these days when glitches happen, yes even when the incident where William walked off the stage. Probably one of our early ones in the 90s. Of course I'm sure there were plenty of gigs we played where the audience thought the worst.

Name some of the albums you are currently listening to.

Ginette: If I like a band, I'll listen to it over and over and over again. So these are some of these in my eternally looping list: Everything ever written by The Cure, Russian Futurists, Pinback's 'Blue Screen Life', Sigur Ros' 'Agaetis Byrjun', Broken Social Scene's 'You Forgot it in People' and Death Cab for Cutie's 'The Photo Album', Hedwig and the Angry Inch Soundtrack, Keane's 'Hopes and Fears', MUON's 'In Flught', big.redmoment's 'Life Sessions', Wilco's 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot', Lamb's 'What Sound' and 'Between Darkness and Wonder' and Boards of Canada's 'Geogaddi'.

Momat: Prince, Jet, Sasha, some trance-electronic mixed crap, the Streets, Nine Inch Nails.

Name your all-time favourite record

Ginette : Argghh, Desert Island question.

Every self-respecting web-zine should have one in their interviews once in a while. You guys just got the short straw. Ha!

Ginette : Alright, it's a tough fight between The Cure's Disintegration and Suede's Dog Man Star.

Momat : My Bloody Valentine's Loveless.

The Workmen's Tools

Astreal shares with Aging Youth what they use to wield their brand of head rush shoegazer music.

Ginette: I use a custom made Flying V bass in elektrik blue wif cross bones and skulls and Washburn pickups. I couple it with Boss ODB-3 Bass Overdrive.

Nick uses a Boss Flanger, possibly a vintage BF-2 (Ginette: I don't know what model, it's all scratched out); Boss Turbo Distortion DS-2; Ibanez Digital Delay DDL; Early Japanese; Boss Fuzz FZ-3, all sitting in a Boss BCB-6G.

Momat: My main guitar used for actual playing is a Fender Strat with modified humbucker pickups, bastardized switches and the essential whammy bar. My other guitar is a Firebird that looks damn good, but sounds absolutely arse. So, that is used as a giant paperweight in a corner of my room.

A typical gig setup for pedals would be a Boss Distortion/Feedbacker, Boss Turbo Overdrive, Boss Digital Dimension, Boss Digital Delay, George Dennis Tremolo Pan and Real McCoy Wah-wah.

Not too fussed about amps, but generally Laneys, Marshalls and Peaveys are preferred. Thick-gauge strings. No brand preferred, so long as they last.

What is the piece of equipment you can't live without?

Ginette: The very basic: my nylon plectrums. I grind out the normal plastic ones like one per session... so I need the unbreakables.

Momat: Delay.

What have you tried recently or bought recently?

Momat: The George Dennis Tremolo.

Ginette: I've tried out the Boss SYB-3 Bass synthesizer a while back and I'm thinking of buying one. I like. But I can't seem to find it anymore.

What would you recommend to other guitarists, bassists, drummers, keyboardists, etc?

Ginette: Good cables. :D Especially for bands that use heaps of pedals (at one time, William had 9 pedals, Momat had 6, I used one, that's 16 pedals and I dunno how many cables), imagine the amount of static from bad cables.

Momat: I'd recommend finding your own sound and not caring what reviews say about them. For instance I was totally in love with my Ibanez Analogue Delay that was purchased for 10 dollars. Still in love with it actually but there's no space on my pedalboard for 2 delays.

Anyway, I was thrilled with this little nifty thing. The reviews said it sucked and people from other bands laugh at it. They laughed more when I told them I liked to drain the 9V battery to half-life before sticking it in. So the sound and delay patterns would go all wonky. (It) fitted some songs we were working on.

But I didn't really care. Now the little bastard is considered a collector's item and a gem. That's quite hilarious.

How do you get your particular sound for your songs?

Momat: I like to picture sounds. Visually, it can be very exciting. Sometimes I want a particular part to sound like a flock of birds cackling to a joke while flapping their wings wildly. Or an old Indian man standing arms-akimbo and doing squats. And his old knees are cracking to the pressure.

Ginette: Ignore Momat.

Momat: Okay... So I fiddle knobs on the pedals that I have and I try to create that while playing licks that seem relevant. Sometimes I don't even do that- I'll just vary the feedback and scratch strings in a melodic fashion.

We understand that Mat owns a Screaming Geisha stompbox. Where did he acquire that and what songs does he use that on?

Momat : No, that was William. He probably stole it.

Ginette: It's a Singing Geisha and it belonged to William. I believe it's a handmade piece from France, prolly limited edition. Looks like a Wah Pedal. It's featured in the Projektion EP in the title song; you can hear a sorta wailing thingy like cat strangulation. That's the one. William used to own an Ibanez Tubescreamer and he also had a Space Station. Those were ace.