Junior Astronomers
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There is a lot to be said to making a racket. Anyone could do it really – but only few bands really master the art of creating great coherent noise. That is what I love about North Carolina’s Junior Astronomers.
I generally have three tests when deciding on which bands to feature. The first being listening to them through my computer or streaming them through my fancy internet radio in the kitchen. Second up its MP3 player time, headphones while walking down to the corner shop. If a band makes it that far, its the difficult car test which seals the final deal.
Junior Astronomers passed all three with flying colours (or colors seeing as this is about American music), so much so I found myself humming, signing and generally hearing their music in my head for 2 or 3 days after. It takes a lot to create an earworm.
Their music evokes many comparisons in my mind – why not have a listen and see what you think? And while you are at it, have a little read of the interview below.
CMM: Welcome to Choose My Music. Could you give me a quick run down of who makes up Junior Astronomers and where in the world are you?
JA: Junior Astronomers is Philip Wheeler (guitar), Terrence Richard (microphone + floor tom), Geoff Saer (rh. guitar), Elias Pittman (drums) & Colin Watts (Bass) and we are from sunny Charlotte, North Carolina.
CMM: How and when did Junior Astronomers start?
JA: Junior Astronomers started out when I (Philip) moved back to Charlotte from Asheville and moved in with Terrence and we began writing songs. We became a real band after inducting some old friends and dropping out of college as fast as possible.
CMM: How best would you describe your music?
JA: Loud. For the genre minded folk out there: it’s something in between post-punk and indie with a lot of soul.
CMM: What is the music scene like in North Carolina right now?
JA: Looking better and better. We’re the home of a lot of the great Indie Bands (Archers of Loaf/superchunk/polvo) and Merge Records (Arcade Fire + Dinosaur Jr) and the new bands coming up look just as good…so we’re proud to be from here and continue the tradition.
CMM: Was your EP ‘I Just Want To Make A Statement’ a self released effort? As a band are you happy doing your own thing or are you hoping to get some record label interest?
JA: ‘I just want to make a Statement’ was our second of 2 self released EP’s which we recorded in Greensboro NC at Legit Biz with Kris Hillbert. Releasing your own material is getting easier and easier in the Internet Age and it was a great experience being doit-yourselfers but it’s easy to get lost among the thousands of other bands doing the same thing. We just joined Favorite Gentlemen, an Indie label out of Atlanta and will be releasing our first full length with them!
CMM: Do you often get out to play live much – where are your favourite places to play?
JA: It’s been a busy (and very sweaty) summer so far; lot of shows the last couple months. We’ve already had the privilidge to play a bunch of great cities (NYC/Atlanta/Columbia) have been the best ‘homes away from home’ but we love getting back to NC. Charlotte is always the wildest night of tour. I’ve been covered in glitter for about three weeks from our last show here. If arts + crafts majors out there know how to get glitter out of everything you own please contact us because that’d be really helpful
CMM: What’s in the pipline for the band?
JA: Full Length! Tour! We are partially in a band to be really dirty tourists and sight see at a city a day so getting to Europe one day would be incredible. I’ve always wanted to conduct the “who party’s harder: USA v Europe” experiment but my money may be on you guys.
CMM: And finally, where can people reach out to you online and where can they get hold of your stuff?
JA: http://juniorastronomers.bandcamp.com/ (Free EP)
http://www.facebook.com/JrAstronomers
We’ve got a tumblr and some merch in there somewhere too.
Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us Dom. We’re honored to be on this list and represent North Carolina when there are so many other great bands.
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