Astral Transmitter

I contacted Dave Han from the San Francisco band Astral, upon hearing that a new EP and an overseas tour were on the horizon…

SANDE: Tell me about the new CD…

DAVE: The new EP, titled “Transmitter”, will feature 4 songs, the title track, “In circles”, “Blisters and Sighs”, and a live version of “Forbidden Kiss”. All the songs were recorded by the original Astral band members, Shawn, Amy, and myself, who had also recorded the Orchids album. The production of the new recordings is very raw and organic as opposed to much of the angular, digitally recorded music today, but stylistically in vein with the natural progression of Astral’s definitive sound. We are particular about recording strictly with analog media to preserve the live feel of the music versus digital media where music can be cut and pasted and typically colder sounding.

SANDE: How does it differ from “Orchids”?

DAVE: The “Transmitter” EP is actually a prelude to the forthcoming full length album, titled “Sleepwalker”, which is due for release later in the year. As I mentioned in the previous question, the new recordings are first of all, noticeably different in the area of production, but stylistically, the songs generally have a darker feel and further refine the definitive Astral sound.

SANDE: Where can your fans grab their copy?

DAVE: The EP will be a very limited release because it is a prelude to the full length release and will be available at gigs, online at www.astralsf.com, and a few select retailers. It should be available around the March/ April 2007 timeframe.

SANDE: Has the line up changed much since the band began in 2000? I heard Ralph (ex Madelia) was playing with Astral for a time, so I wondered if there had been many changes recently.

DAVE: Currently we remain a 3 piece band, but yes, we have had a few line up changes in the past year, which unfortunately has also led to the delay of our forthcoming release. Ralph (ex Madelia) had played with Astral over most of 2006, but departed to focus his time on some personal health concerns. The current line up features Scott Christy on drums (formerly of Swirlhappy) and Psam on bass (formerly of the Guilty Party). We have been working on a number of new songs which will be recorded for a future release.

SANDE: I hear Astral are touring the UK in May. Which cities and venues are you playing?