Calling All Astronauts are a London based, politically charged three-piece. Their ability to mix electro, rock, post-punk and even dubstep into their sound, has quickly found them established in the alternative underground. Featuring vocalist /programmer/producer David B , ex Caffeine guitarist J Browning and Marionettes bassist Paul McCrudden.
They have chalked up no less than four No.1’s in the Twitter Music Charts, in December 2012 knocked Adele off the top spot on Xmas Eve to become Christmas No.1, 2012. They have shared stages with the likes of Echo & The Bunnymen, PWEI, Sigue Sigue Sputnik and A Place To Bury Strangers, they also headlined and sold out, Alan Magee’s Death2Disco at Notting Hill Arts Club.
Their seven singles so far have seen them gaining support from all four corners of the globe as numerous rock and alternative radio shows have taken them to their hearts putting them on heavy rotation. They have been featured on BBC Introducing, and have been studio guests on BBC 6 Music’s Introducing with Tom Robinson. The band recently released their EP Influences which you can check out below!
We managed to catch up with the band as they talk about their latest EP and more!
So how has your latest album/EP gone so far with fans then?
The response to our “Influences EP” has been amazing, we were worried that doing an EP of cover versions was setting us up to be abused
But the reality has been far from it, I think it’s because we put our own twist on the tracks rather than just doing a straight cover like most bands do
Tell us something about the release no one knows?
Ha, before we decided to cover “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” We tried to do a different Gary Numan tune, “I Die You Die” and if I’m honest, it was less than great
I think we made the right decision to pick a different one of Gary’s tunes
If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?
Rather than picking an act in our genre, I think It would be very interesting if we worked with Lamb Of God, maybe we could come up with the heaviest industrial tune of all time
I can imagine us doing something like when rap and metal bands collaborated on Judgement night, but obviously not rapping ?
How has your latest single been received?
Our “Influences EP” is actually four singles, we thought it would be fun to have a quadruple A-Sided single, it gos without saying, we hadn’t thought through just how much work
it would be to release four singles two weeks apart over a two month period, but regardless of how many hours it’s taken us to promote thee singles, it really has been worth it,
we’ve received a fantastic response, the amazing thing has been that different tracks have been playlisted on different radio stations, the who thing has been quite incredible
Can you tell us about the meaning behind the EP?
We were working on our next album, thank my wife and I had our first baby in August, and I found time was at a premium, so we thought, rather than wait for the album to be finished, lets just record versions of tracks that have influenced us
What tours do you have coming up, and what can you tell us about them?
Sadly we are not going to be touring this year, as I’m now Daddy Day Care and you really have to put family first, but next year we will be touring to support the next album
What venue are you most looking forward to playing the most, and why?
We love doing festivals and will miss playing any this summer, we actually had to turn down a few, but next year we play as many festivals as possible
What else can we expect from you in 2018?
The new album is sounding amazing so far, I would expect us to have at least one, maybe two singles from the next album out later this year, with the album coming early 2019.