Simon & The Astronauts is a music collected based out of the UK. Regularly collaborating with other musicians, the band has just released their sophomore, self-titled LP which features prolific musician Rachel Haden on vocals. TGEFM together with Simon Wells of the band for a round of Roll of the Dice. We rolled a FOUR. (note- Rachel received her own set of questions, and we are still awaiting those responses)
1) Luck was not on your side here, as we rolled a four for S&TA, but a seven for Rachel. No offense to her, but as the progenitor of this project, I’d have hoped we’d get more questions with you. C’est la vie ! (laughter) So, let’s use this first one to ask exactly what Simon & The Astronauts are, and what makes the group decidedly different from other acts?
Simon and the Astronauts started as a studio project to work with singer/songwriters to compose songs based on my lyrics. The idea was this was a project based on a spaceship and the crew would visit the holodeck and write songs in their spare time. So the identity came from collaboration driven by lyrics to create memorable melodies.
2) If I understand correctly, for the new album, which is self-titled but is your second LP, you made the pitch for Haden to collaborate on vocals. Can I ask what drew you to Rachel as the “shot-in-the-dark” request, and did you make that shot with a back-up plan in mind, or were you going to cross that bridge when you came to it if it turned out she was unable to participate?
The Astronauts evolved into a trio working on my ideas and lyrics, with Ben Hewerdine on melody and song sketching and Chris Pepper on production work. We had two tracks written and wanted a backing singer for one track and a female lead for the other. Chris then played the Weezer track “I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams” which I had never heard but I did know the name. I then got Chris to play that dog’s track “She Looks At Me”, a song I had fallen in love when I first heard it one night on the radio. We all agreed we had found the right person.
There was plan B and once we heard Rachel’s vocals the focus was to write a set of songs for her. We just prayed to the gods of serendipity and they answered.
3) This was an overseas collaborative project, yourselves in the UK and Rachel in Los Angeles. How much of the music and lyrics process was collaborative, and were there parts of that process that were primarily one-sided due to the whole “large ocean between us” situation?
The Astronauts are always about collaboration and the idea was for Rachel to be in England but a pandemic got in the way. So we changed the way we worked focusing on the singer as much as the song. This meant we were inside the same music rather than being inside the same room. I Do on the album marks the way we want to work in the future with all four members being involved in the writing process. What we found out was there was not an ocean between us but a love of music and a shared interest in artistic endeavour.
4) Aside from the new album, what next is on deck for Simon and The Astronauts? Anyone else you’d really love to collaborate with in the future?
We want the new album to be heard and build on its success. Plans are afoot to tour in the UK and would jump at the chance to play in the USA. All of us write or make music all the time, Ben has his Entertainment project ; Rachel and Chris are working as a duo and Simon is working on a spoken word album with Gustaf Ljunngren
I’ve discovered music and life is about people and trust. I’ve been lucky with the Astronauts and this year added Rachal and Charles Rocha of Ring Records as part of the story. The ideas for the next record have begun and my dream collaboration would be to make another Astronauts album with Rachel and Charles.
Simon and The Astronauts with Rachel Haden is available now. You can find multiple streaming options via this link portal.
Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A Pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.
the white drew carey (aka – Jeff Sorley) is the founder and head editor of TGEFM. He’s lived (outside of) Chicago, Madison WI, (ugh) Penn State, Lyon FR, Oxford UK, central New Jersey, and now within earshot of SFO in the Bay Area. When not scouring the web for more great bands and labels to post about, he also spends time drawing (mostly) silly sci-fi and anime stuff under the name Asplenia Studios.
