All HAIL the RIFF!!
It's been a while but yes we are still alive and kicking.
Since we last spoke we have shared the stage with some of our favorite bands, played a few festivals and put the heads down to getting some new material together for recording come autumn.
Playing alongside Red Fang was a particularly enjoyable time for us considering we are all fans of the Oregon riff titans and they are unbelievably easy to get along with!
The drummers got along exceptionally well ;)
The drummers got along exceptionally well ;)
Not to mention, of course, getting the full introduction to the Derry rock masters that are Triggerman was bound to happen at some point in time. We were happy to finally meet the guys and we shall be doing it all over again at the end of this month.
And of course here is the evidence of our bassist Jon Joe who just couldn't wait to show off his new jacket to Red Fang. Fair play to all that got involved!!
A few days later we had the esteemed pleasure of playing at the summer solstice festival just outside of Armagh with Freedom 35's, Kashis, ForTheCraic, Anti Depresants, the Meehan Family and many other acts in celebration of the years messiest-drinking-in -a-field-day. And messy it was, so messy that (thankfully) there isn't much evidence of the proceedings!
Tom presents his prediction for the upcoming barrage. Id say there's a lot of people would say he was spot on!
We didnt even need a stage, being the country lads we are a good patch of long grass would do the jab!
Plans to escape back to the drawing board were enacted with only a few excusable interruptions but nothing that couldn't be handled. Whilst embroiled in fresh material we brought ourselves up to Derry mid July to play at Linkfest, all thanks to this buckfast swilling hallion, Kevin Mc Gowan.
Kudos to Vanilla Gloom on this one too, was the first time we'd seen this band. An awesome post-grunge/indie-punk mix with such succinct vocal harmonies and quite astoundingly tight drumming.
Thanks to everyone that came out to see us finish the saturday night off in style at Mason's Bar, it was quare and sweaty but no-one seemed to give a fuck, it was beautiful.
Cheers to Ciara Mc Mullen for this wonderful little trinket:
Cheers to Ciara Mc Mullen for this wonderful little trinket:
And of course thanks to the second audience we acquired that night at Derry's Independent Hostel, due to the 'cool person' room that party lasted all night!
Later that month we trekked our way to Dublin to play the Face Melter Face/Off. 3 HARD CORE BANDS VS. 3 STONER BANDS, not to rub anyone the wrong way but i think the stoner bands won. Hardly biased at all... ;)
Big to up Ste and all the guys from Terminal Commuter, you guys rocked it and also our brothers from eastern european mothers, WeedPriest, this band slays all that is stoner doom, and they are the best guys to party with. They manage their Tonic Wine better than this guy!
Not to forget also Dublin Parking Authority, supporting local talent!!
(second time in 6 months...)
During this summer we have been getting heavily back into our writing, which is all too much overdue! The first wave of new material is making its appearance and we will certainly be giving everyone their fill in the next string of gigs that are lined up. Prepare for an equally heavy and rocking Astralnaut, the one you all know and love! After these gigs we plan to have all new material prepped and demoed with the aim of recording throughout autumn and a release just in time for Christmas.
The next shows are:
August 23rd - The Oak - Portadown
w/ Little Miss Stakes and Kashis
August 25th - Warzone - Belfast
w/ Gacy's Threads, Putrefaction and more (WARZONE FEST 2013)
August 31st - Limelight2 - Belfast
w/ Triggerman (rockKD EARLY GIG 5pm)
September 6th - Voodoo -Belfast
September 13th - Masons -Derry
w/ Tusks, Crafy Fuzz
September 14th - Stans -Keady
September 27th - Bradley's - Cork
If you're local to any gigs and haven't caught the full Astralnaut experience live then why not join us for some tinnies and a bit of banter? We're not bad craic after all!!
And if you have seen us before but want to hear the new material why not come out and help us trial it on the unsuspecting ears of this fair little island.
