The Emerald Lord Of Pleasure

So, in the past month we have traversed the length and breadth of the country (and plan to do much the same in the next month), Stephen, our very talented and greatly missed drummer has broken his collar bone in a gnarly skateboarding accident and we've almost wrapped up all that needs to be done for our next release. Good action in a month!

First up, we must apologize to James Loveday from The Distortion Project. Sorry we couldn't make the date on the 14th with Angry Chair, we were greatly looking forward to this gig but due to the unforeseen circumstance of a skateboarding fail! We couldn't perform this night. Thankfully we did have the ability to recover and we got a friend from our hometown of Keady, Mr. Stephen Crozier, to step in on rhythm guitar duties as I was relegated to the drums for the foreseeable future. Having to cancel only one gig in desperate times was certainly not as bad as having to call off our whole schedule.

The following weekend we had the grace of visiting The Walled City once again with our brothers and sisters of Acari and LibidoSwitch. On this night we also fell in with yet another great Northern Irish act that we've never seen before, Dying Breed. These lads really blew us away and I hope we get a chance to play with them again soon.

The next night we were very happy to be making our way to Fibbers in the city of Dublin to play with our muckers from Gacys Threads and By Any Means. This was a seriously pumping affair on this night as the place was buzzin' and so were we. The Gacys and BAM lads hooked off as early as possible due to a lack home comforts over the previous week and a half while on tour. Who could blame you lads!? Fair play!

A week later we were blessed to get the chance to play again in the wonderful Phoenix Music Venue in Kildare with a great band from the Dublin area, Dead Label! before they headed out on a tour of Japan. If anyone out there likes a dose of some seriously aggressive heavy metal laden with pounding beats and chopping, biting guitars then these are your guys.

As well as getting to play an awesome gig with other two other great bands we were very happy that our good friend Sandra Butler put us up for the night, therefore giving us the chance to hang out and get our drink on! Cheers Sandra. Here's a wee snap of our handsome merch stall on the night. Unfortunately the shot got wrecked by a couple of hairy bastards. ;)

Last weekend was our first without a gig in about ten weeks so we decided to make a move on tracking some vocals for the much awaited second EP. As Stephen may be out for another month we've decided to go ahead and release one of the songs from the EP in single format with a B-side, an acoustic version of our first single 'Back To The Bog'.

The single alone will be available for free download or you can pick up a hard copy of the tune which will include artwork and B-sides for the small fee. Release date to be set.

Onwards for Astralnaut however as we are glad to be apart of a new event night in Dublin. The Mother Fuzzers Ball, ran by a delightful Italian fellow called Matt Casciani. 

Matt plays for an equally delightful band called Electric Taurus. He's taken it upon himself to host a night praising all things FUZZ, STONER, DOOM, SLUDGE and GROOVE. 

He has also received sponsorship for his event from Molten Magazine, Fuzzed Out Radio and the organizations Stoner Rock Dublin / Desert Rock Ireland and also the Some Neck Guitar Company based in the fair city. Good on ye Matt.

The following week were are very happy to be opening proceedings at Shizznigh Promotions brand new night in the Stiff Kitten, playing alongside the hardcore fiends Lantern For A Gale and Lurgan rockers PsychoJet. So get on down to this for a nights drunken malarkey. 

If you're in Limerick, the night after this we will be rattling a few bones in the Blind Pig. Come on down for i hear it'll be a wild stoney session!

Here's hoping we're back on form by the time you hear from us again,

Pearse

Astralnaut - Trampions of the World

It been almost a month since we've made a blog entry, A MONTH! Things must be getting hectic or something...

Since the last time you heard from us we have had many great nights, meeting some awesome people, being involved in some pretty messy late night parties and early morning kitchen raids. 

Lurgan town was hit hard on the 17 of August and we had the pleasure of playing alongside Jekyll and Hyde for their first ever showing and also the ever amazing Katabolisis. If any of you enjoy some seriously crushing riffs and an even more brutal live performance, check these guys out, IMMEDIATELY! 

The following week we were very excited to be making the trek back up to Omagh to play a gig for Uproar Omagh which is ran by the true local music zealot Gary Todd. On the bill this night were the impressively rockin' Hesh and local heavyweights Axis Of. But i think the most memorable thing about this night for the band (and possibly for all the bands) was the Doom Chicken squad. Fair play to you lads, you made our night in Omagh and we hope to meet with you all again very soon. 

The next night we flew ourselves to The Warzone in Belfast and we instantly fell in love with this place. Its DIY atmosphere and everyone that works as a part of this amazing collective make gigging here comfortable and fun for all involved. 
The night we played was the second to last night of the illustrious Warzone Fest which lasted a whole week and hosted performances from Dead To Me (US), Gascan Ruckus, Empty Lungs, Roysta, Gacys Threads, Putrefaction, 1000 Drunken Nights, Pocket Billiards and Runnin' Riot. 

Our next outing was another wild and wonderful evening. The people of Derry City always give us a wonderful buzz and an even stronger reaction ever single time we play there. On this night we shared the stage alongside the band we popped our walled city cherry with, Libido Switch. Not much can be said about this band for its just something you have to experience but it goes without saying that you will get a severely aggressive dose of honesty out of these hallions. 

Massive thanks to Aidy and Squinty for the party, the folks from Acari and Balls Deep and all the other mad cunts from Derry for making our night that bit more interesting. Also, we really appreciate the Derry City Independent Hostel for not booting us out over our late night antics, kitchen raiding and tempo mapping snores, needless to say little sleep was had this time around. 

Now, onto the recent movements, The Pavilion in Belfast on Saturday night. I, personally, am speechless. First of all big thanks to Amelia at Dark Horse Promotions for the slot. Second of all, FYLTH WYZZARD!! "What the absolute fuck just happened!?", was the general thought. It was just as they said, a 30 minute sound check. If you were in the mood for a galactic oddessy this was the set to catch. 
Next was Spiral Force, full on bluesy hard rock with a pinch of the Egyptian desert in there for good measure. The lads never fail to impress and on this night they were very much on their game. Check out Amun Ra for a taste of what you'd be in for in the future.
Now the massive shock of the night was a band that traveled all the way from Cork. On public transport!! That's impressive. Iweriu blew the whole place apart with their strange mix of drone, stoner, doom and dark ambiance. Most notable was their front man's performance, to talk to you would not imagine what you witness in his stage presence. Great job lads. 

As we roamed the streets of Belfast, randomly bumping into friends along the way, we feared we may be making use of the nearest bus shelter but thanks to a good friend of Gaz's we had place to sleep with a roof over our heads, regardless of the cardboard box blankets. 

Onward for gigs, this Friday we prepare for another siege on Belfast, we are happy to be playing alongside the awesome Angry Chair, Dublins tribute to Alice In Chains. The following week we make a return to Derry to rock alongside our brother and sisters from Acari and Libido Switch on friday the 21st and on the 22nd we head to Dublin. On this night we will be supporting By Any Means and Gacys Threads on the penultimate date of their European Assault which starts tomorrow. Have a blast lads, we'll see you soon ;)

         



















It'll be a great rip of shows so come on out for the wreckin' and some banter over pints!


Pearse

DRINK “THE ASTRALNAUT”... alone if you like!!

The Cally, August 11th

Enjoy “The Astralnaut” as you rock out alone or with friends!

"The Astralnaut" all you need to make it is a bottle of Banijiu! 

Unfortunately bottles of Banijiu will not be available at gigs but we have lots of lovely new merch which you can pick up at our gigs! 

Consisting of tee-shirts, stickers, CD's and other little trinkets! 

There was no drinking alone at the weekend anyway! There was no Banijiu either for that matter! But plenty of pints! And plenty of rocking!! A great weekends craic on local turf!! And we had our good friend Tomas McKenna on site to document the affair!

The Cally, August 11th

More great live shots to come!! 

A powerful show with compatriots in rock! We hope to repeat it again real soon. All the bands played a blinder but in-case you missed it check them out for yourselves...

who's reputation precedes them and the legends from Lurgan!

Now that Keady has been shook once more we move on! This weekends helping of Astralnaut will be served in Lurgan and will feature the debút of a new Lurgan outfit Jekyll and Hyde... prog/funk metal ! Can’t wait to check them out!

It’s going to be a good one!! We’ll bring the beer, you bring the Banijiu! 

Hope to see you there!

Cheers

Thomas

Rock agus Roll!!

The Limelight, Distortion Project, August 4th 

Powerful performances on Saturday night!! Two gigs in one night, fatigue was a factor (considering Skyliners staircase!) but once we hit the stage the adrenaline was pumping! Had a blast at the Distortion Project playing alongside FASTLIFE and the mighty...

who undoubtedly we will being seeing more of! Many thanks to James of the Distortion Project for having us, a pleasure as always!

The Limelight, Distortion Project, August 4th 

Our next gig was up many a stair! Playing Skyliner! It was a great crowd with many characters contained within! We had the pleasure of jamming with Clare Morrison, who played sax over G.U.P.I! A combination that worked surprising well! and maybe repeated in the future!

Clare saxing it up @Skyliner, August 4th 

Deadly craic was had! And we shifted a good amount of our new goodies!! (Take a look below) So get your ass down to our next showing and get your hands on some!! We're down to the very last few copies of the first press of our E.P!

Skyliner, August 4th 

The next show is going to be something special! Back on home soil! Playing with some local legends!!

http://www.facebook.com/events/334581659959382/?ref=ts

Look forward to seeing some straight up hallionism! and where better than in the lovely town of Keady!

 Thanks

     Thomas

Road trips and play lists!

Mason's, Derry-13th July.

Last weekends road trip to Kildare was immense! Played a really enjoyable show and shared the stage with two great bands!! The bands on the night were definitely riding the same wave so to speak!! The groovy stoner vibe is alive!!
Check out the supporting bands:

Of course many thanks to The Phoenix Music Venue in Kildare for having us! We had a powerful night!! Fuelled with beer rock and weed!!

Our road trip playlist looked something like this:
Kyuss,
Om 
Ghost
Asteroid
Sweet smoke
(Please note: The full track listing could not be shown, some names have been omitted to save embarrassment, some call them 90’s classics!)

Our next road trip will be to Belfast tomorrow the 4th of August! We have the pleasure of playing two gigs in the one city on the one night!! Bring it on!!
The First:

http://www.facebook.com/events/343703912379549/

The second gig is a charity night dedicated to the memory of Damien Pattion of Spiral Force, a friend of our own Damien and Pearse from their Third Harvest days! A full array of music and performance will take part on the night! Entry is £10 and this will be a bring your own beer event! Follow the link for more details:
http://www.facebook.com/events/358291410910744/


Heres a link to our live gig review from the last time we ripped up Belfast:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/astralnaut/astralnaut-live-reviews/312553058833157
That will give you a taste of whats in store!! Hope to see many friends and fellow rockers this night!!

Cheers

Thomas

Back to the Bog Recording Sessions!!

Just a selection of pic’s taken from the recording of our first EP, ‘Back to the Bog’.

Recording took place between January 2012 and April 2012

The initial session took place in the SRC studios, when Stephen pounded out all the drum tracks in less than 4 hours!

Laying down some guide tracks

Our enthusiastic engineer Smithers getting into the groove! A great omen! We were considering making this pic the EP cover but decided against it.

From there we hit the Den, a secret shebeen of rock hidden in the hills of South Armagh!

Wah!

Mixing some stoney riffs and groovy licks!!

Shooting the shit!

Then we hit the studio again to lay down some vocals! With Beano the main man as engineer!

Thanks to everyone who helped in any way through the recording of ‘Back to the Bog’! Clarke Phillips for mixing and mastering! Our engineers, Smithers and Beano! And of course GK for the loan of lunar lander equipment! It came in handy!

The finished product is now available to download... HERE!

or hard copies can be purchased... HERE!

Cheers

Thomas

ASTRALNAUT LIVE!

As promised here's a few live shots of the band rocking out!

Our next gig is LINK FEST, Derry City, we will be playing MASONS on the 13th of July and will be playing alongside some local legends taking part in the festival! 

Hope to see you all there!

Much respect

Thomas