How did you get to play together? And what about your previous musical experiences ?
(Niels) Being twin brothers, Torsten and I have been playing music for a long time now. We have played in many bands since the early nineties. All three of us have been playing music since we were kids. We have played in rock bands and also made electronic/dance music in the late nineties. Our past musical experiences have had an influence in our sound today. God is an Astronaut was put together officially in 2002. We know Lloyd from our Rock band days in the mid nineties, we hadn't seen him in nearly 10 years, he joined the band in 2004.

Let's start talking about your latest release, "A Moment Of Stillness". Why did you decide to release an EP?
(N.) It takes a long time for us to write an album. It's hard to make a collection of songs sit together if they have been written and recorded over a long period of time. The songs on the E.P. were written and recorded quite close to each other and sat well together. It is nice to put something out in between albums, keeps everybody interested!

How do you see "A moment of stillness" compared with your previous album "All Is Violent All Is Bright"? I mean main differences, common points.
(N.) The album "All Is Violent All Is Bright" is a more intense than the E.P.. It was written to the backdrop of conflict, the title is a cynical view on world politics, war, science etc... The songs are not political as such, but more like an emotional reaction to what we see, I suppose you could say its a our soundtrack to the world from our perspective. The E.P. is more reflective, we wanted to make something that was more peaceful, a mood change from the album.

Until now you recorded only instrumental songs, do you think you will add any vocal parts now or then?
(N.) We have been in many different bands and music projects that have had vocals as the center piece, for God Is An Astronaut we just wanted to make music we like, vocals were not important. We didn't have any industry expectations like selling a million records or any of that bullshit, we just wanted to enjoy the process of making music again and putting out records we genuinely would buy ourselves. The music we make suits who we are, we are not vocalists or bombastic rock-star types, we don't really care for that. The most important thing is to put ourselves, our emotions into the music and not try to project a false image of who we are, we don't care if that means that we keep things understated, as long as what we are remains honest and real.

Bands like Sigur Ros or Amina are known for their atypical instrumental techniques (Sigur Ros for example use a cello bow to play guitar): have you ever thought about doing more experimental things with your instruments?
(N.) The cello bow idea has been around since the 1960's, Jimmy Page - Led Zeppelin is an example of that. I don't really think there is any true experimental things left to do. We use a cappo on the bass for some songs which holds down certain strings like the bass arpeggio on the "A Moment of Stillness" track which would be an atypical bass style. We prefer to experiment with sounds, such as recording synths through overdriven amps. Being experimental is not our main aspiration, styles continuously change and date, well composed music will stand the test of time, the core melody and music are the most important thing.

There are no lyrics in your songs, so it's hard to give them an interpretation. Could you please explain the meaning behind the titles of your records ?
(N.) The titles of the songs should give an insight to what the songs are about emotionally. The tiles for the albums should give an overall feel to what the record is about.

What do you mean with "God is an astronaut" ? Is there a particular meaning behind this name ?
(N.) We really liked "God is an Astronaut", it was kind of a modern concept but with an Apocalyptic feel. We felt we could make the music we wanted with this band name.

Can we label God Is An Astronaut as a post rock band ? How would you define your music in your own words?
(N.) We have a Dance/Electro and a Rock background. In the early nineties we played in various rock bands, we then moved into the electronic/dance field in the mid to late 90s, the music we make now is influenced by both. So I guess I would describe the band as Ambient/Electro/Rock. We don't really like the post-rock label that much, but it is inevitable when you play instrumental music to be put into this category.

Your kind of music seems to be not so common in Ireland (at least at a mainstream level). Are there any other good bands of your kind that you think are underestimated?
(N.) Like most countries there are good bands here. Only a handful will ever release a record outside the country, as it is a hard country to break from, being an island it is expensive to be based here. You can check out our MySpace friend-list, most of them are there.

How much is important your irish cultural heritage for your music?
(N.) We are obviously influenced by where we live but Irish cultural heritage plays no real part in our music.

How do you usually write a song ? Is that a group effort or an individual effort ?
(N.) We come up with the ideas individually, but it is a group effort to create the final song you hear. I think most bands trash out ideas in rehearsal, write as many songs as they can and pick the best at the end. This method doesn't work for us. We write the initial idea on a guitar or a piano bring it to the studio and work out the structures, melodies and instrument parts. We usually spend about a month per song, but if does not sound good to us after a short while we would simply not continue on it.

One of the things I like the most in your music is that your songs are simple and direct, and have good hooks, so they're quite easy to remember. Where did you find the inspiration for the songwriting of each of your albums?
(N.) Writing music for us is a means of escape from the daily and dull routines of life. Each song reflects our mood at that particular moment in time. We don't like the typical post rock structures, with 10 minute tracks, we prefer to keep our songs more direct and to the point.

You're finally releasing "All Is Violent All Is Bright" in the USA and it comes out on 9/11: is the date just a coincidence?
(N.) The date is just a coincidence. It is important to note that we are not anti-American or pro-terror. The title of the album attacks the people in power and people with influence who have the attitude that war solves problems and is a normal part of civilization. The true evil is humanities need to influence and change people's beliefs to their own way of thinking.

Still talking about "All Is Violent All Is Bright": the hidden track of that album is an electronic song that has very little in common with your typical style. What can you tell us about that?
(N.) "Halo of Flies" is written by Lloyd who has an electronic music background. It was nice to include some of that on the record.

What can you tell me about your live shows ? I mean, I think that your music needs a very good visual accompaniment, so what about scenic effects or things like that?
(N.) All our live shows are accompanied by visuals. Each song has its own video, each visual scene changes in time with the live music. The main purpose of the visuals is to enhance the emotion and structure of the song and to make the live experience as entertaining as possible but our music stands up on its own as well! The subject matter would range from conflict, suicide, atmospheric stuff like sunsets etc..., we try to keep a balance between light and dark, but there is apocalyptic feel which runs throughout the show. The only downside to running a multimedia show is that the venues need to be quite big to get the full effect, which causes problems when you play where you might not have the fan-base to fill such venues. It is also very expensive, it is one of the reasons we don't tour as much as we would like to.

What are your plans for the next future?
(N.) We will have a new album in April 2007 and a new single in October 2006. We hope to be able to play some more shows abroad, fingers crossed!

Tiziana Brombin | Tony Aramini