The Rock and Roll Report Band of the Week is Astronaut Academy

I have been playing Austin, Texas-based band Astronaut Academy for quite some time now on the Podcast and Rock and Roll Report Radio so I thought it only appropriate that the band should be a Band of the Week. I talked to band founder Jeff Dunham and the rest of the guys about moving to Austin, their band name and what in the world that woman is talking about at the beginning of their song Mayday.

RRR: You have decamped from LA to Austin. What made you make the move and what is it about Austin that made you want to settle there?

LA had just gotten too expensive. The week I left, my landlord had given me a notice that the rent on my studio apartment was going up to $1200 a month. That same week, my van had got broken into and a bunch of gear got ripped off. Plus, the scene is all about super heavy death metal and I just needed a fresh change. Since the album demo was finished, it was time to put the band together in a music oriented city. The choices were NYC, Seattle or, Austin, I chose Austin for the huge pool of talent and the reasonable living cost. I had played in Austin several times in other bands and always looked forward to some day moving there. – Jeff

RRR: I could refer to Astronaut Academy as “brought to you by Craigslist” as it seems that everybody in the band was recruited via that service. Tell me about about who is in the band and what they play and how it all came together.

Jeff – Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist
Mikey – Lead Guitar
Bob – Bass
Sergio – Drums

I had been in the Los Angeles circle of rock bands. While being a hired gun I didn’t have the creative input that I wanted to improve the groups’ sound/direction. Being weary of watching different band’s fail, it was time for me to move away from LA and write/record some killer tunes.

While living in Joshua Tree, the desert brought me peace and a new perspective to help write many fresh sounding songs. I compiled an albums worth of the material that would be the first album. With songs written and ready, I had to decide on a place to take these songs to perform. I decided on Austin because of the concentration of musicians (and it was something different than LA).

Mikey had just moved to Austin after training in his apartment in Louisiana to be a guitarist with an original sound. He had been working on film in New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Shreveport for the last several years and had been saving money and researching Frank Zappa (plus other rock legends/trends) and music gear for his move to Austin. Mikey found me through a craigslist ad and thought the songs were rockin’ and refreshing.

Upon arriving in Austin, Mikey had moved into an apartment with strangers that he found on craigslist and one of them was Robert Belt. Robert plays with Vallejo from time to time and is a great musician. Mikey told him that Astronaut Academy needed a bassist and because he liked the tunes, joined the group.

Mikey had put out a craigslist ad for a drummer and after a while we found Sergio. Sergio is new to Austin and holds a percussion diploma from a school in London.

So here we are, four dudes that love music and have fun rocking it – so come get blasted at our shows!

RRR: If you had to describe the music of astronaut academy to somebody who has never heard you, how would you describe it?

Someone once said, “If you take a dash of Stone Temple Pilots, a dollop of Nirvana and Queens of the Stone Age, some British influences, a helping of The Ramones, a spoonful of White Zombie and put it in a blender, you get a wonderful psychedelic mix that is Astronaut Academy.” – Renegade Radio

RRR: I know you have recently competed in a local battle of the bands in Austin. Are you guys gigging more locally or are you branching out and hitting other cities?

Right now, we are try to play Austin as much as possible to get our core fan base intact.

RRR: What are your plans for a new record?

We are looking to re-record our debut album with the current members of AA. The demos were created by Jeff and have a nice charm to them.

RRR: Why the name Astronaut Academy?

Astronaut Farmer was my favorite movie and I really thought that would be a great band name. Then I read about this school for kids that want to become astronauts called Astronaut Academy. It hit me like a boot to the head! I knew that was the name I had been searching for. I’ve been in a lot of bands with really dumb names that were made up over a few beers after rehearsal and not much thought. I felt the music deserved better this time. AA is cool because it’s powerful and classy at the same time much like the music. – Jeff

RRR: How is it being a musician in this web 2.0 world? How do you keep up with all the tools available to musicians today? Does it make things easier or more difficult for you?

Being able to spread your music to all parts of the world by sitting in one chair is an amazing resource. – Mikey

RRR: Who is the woman talking at the beginning of “Hot in the Dessert?” everytime I listen to that track I keep trying to figure out what she is saying and it is driving me nuts! Lol

Lol! I was in the middle of cutting the vocal track to that song when I got a call from my friend Beth. She had had a few and was trying to tell me about a Wendy O. Williams video that she had just seen. The recorder was still on and the gain on the mic was really hot so the call got picked up on tape and we decided to leave it in there. She’s in a punk band here in Austin called The Indugents if you want to friend her. – Jeff

RRR: What are your plans for the future?

We are actually trying to play on every stage in every city in the entire world – twice.

RRR: Anything else you want the readers of the Rock and Roll Report to know about the band?

We’re looking forward to shooting a video of Mayday with Kevin Huckabee in Dallas soon! He’s a fan of the band and does amazing videos! He’s in our top friends if you want to check out his work. Thanks for your continued support Mark and we look forward to rockin’ you soon man.

Also, anyone who mentions Rock and Roll Report at an AA show will get a FREE 5 minute session of high-fives. Jeff will also do a shot with you if you’re buying

Enjoy this free download of their track Monkeyman 956 courtesy of the band and The Rock and Roll Report!

http://www.myspace.com/astronautacademy