The Past, Present, and Near Future of Astropop 3
October 2004
The Following interview originally appeared in the Swedish E-Zine Twisterella, May 2001 with Astropop 3 frontman, Dan Villanueva.
Interview by Maria Broberg
MB: I happened to stumble across the 7" Light Years
Away in a record store, and since I had never heard of you I got curious.
So, could you please tell me how you first got together?
DV:
This is how the current line up got together… Keith Vanetta (bass)
and myself created this line up when I moved back from San Francisco in
February of 1999. We had played with Wendell Nicholes (drums) before I moved
and Keith asked him to play again. Angelique Everett (vocals) and I were
dating at the time and I wanted her to be a part of the new line up. I wanted
to add female vocals to give us a wider range of songs. Some of my songs
were too femme for me to sing and I thought at the time it would be perfect
to have the girl I loved in my band. We started writing songs on my 4track
recorder. The songs just flowed.
MB: I understand that you first were a singer/lyricist of the band Dorian
Gray, how come you left and how did you get the idea to start a band of
your own?
DV: Well actually I was kicked out of my first band after 3 years and replaced
with a girl singer. We were kind of like The Stone Roses and The Smiths
put together. I was pretty bad. I didn’t know what I was doing so I
tried to sing like Morrissey and Ian Brown. It didn’t go over too well,
I guess. Being kicked out made me try a lot harder to find my own voice
and write good songs. It really kind of helped me. I learned a lot.
MB: Did you have any particular goals or ideas about the band when you
first started, and have they changed over time?
DV: Well the main goal has always been to write good songs. That’s it. I
never wanted to be some big rock star and I still don’t. I enjoy writing,
recording and playing music.
MB: The line-up of Astropop 3 has changed a lot, how come?
DV: Well when I first started the Astropop 3 had no permanent members except
myself and Neil DelParto. (Planting Seeds Records creator and roommate)
We went through so many people to try and make a band…it just never worked.
Mainly, I just wanted to record good songs. So I keep the Astropop 3 moniker
regardless of who is playing on the recordings. So many people make bands
and then break up and change there names constantly. I found it more successful
to keep the same name to build on some sort of reputation and get the name
out there.
MB: I have to ask you, since I've wondered about it, what's up with the
"3"? How come not only Astropop?
DV: We had trouble getting a website with just Astropop.com, and also there
was a band out of Chicago that later disappeared that had the name Astropop.
Essentially on the surface it’s about a three piece band, underneath it
all it’s about me, myself and I. So I guess that’s where the 3 came from.
Maybe later I’ll lose the 3 in the future, I thought about it a lot before
we release our current album “Eclipsing Binary Star” but changed my mind.
MB: Among the references I've found mentioned with Astropop 3 are for
example different 60's pop groups, and dreampop/shambling groups like the
Smiths, Holiday, Apples In Stereo and Belle and Sebastian. Are you yourself
into that kind of music, and is it a purpose for you to merge these sounds
together?
DV: I like Britpop, 60’s pop, folk, and Indiepop. I try to blend those styles
into my music and create something different yet strangely familiar.
MB: Do you have any particular influences?
DV: I like: The Beatles, The Association, Radiohead, Simon and Garfunkle,
The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Herman’s Hermits, Ride, The Cardigans, The
Sundays, Sonic Youth, The Velvet Underground, The Smoking Popes, Ivy, The
Doves, Kleenex Girl Wonder ……..what else….that’s it off the top of my head.
MB: And if so, have they changed over time?
DV: Sure, My sister first got me into Duran Duran and The Go-Gos… Then I
got into Minor Threat and punk, later on I switched to RUN DMC, NWA and
rap in my teens, after my first girlfriend broke up with me I got into The
Smiths, Stone Roses, Suede and Britpop. Now I’m into indiepop and newer
and unknown artists.
MB: Also, Astropop 3 has been labeled "twee" and "lo-fi", how do you
feel about that?
DV: We’ve labeled ourselves low-fi because of the quality of our recordings.
We don’t have a bunch of money to record as well as we could. I just want
my songs out there. As far as twee goes it’s because we got a girl singer
and there’s a lot of simplicity in what we do. I don’t mind those labels
so much.
MB: A lot of bands find it easier to do what they want as a part of a
music scene, for instance the Elephant 6 collective in Athens. Do you feel
that you are a part of any particular music scene and are there any music
scene to talk about in Virginia Beach?
DV:
Well, my roommate Neil DelParto, myself, as well as our friends started
this label called Planting Seeds Records, mostly to promote our own music.
We’ve done compilations and put out about 20 releases. I play second guitar
with The Sunday Smoke Kit that is also part of our label. We are trying
to make our own scene here in Virginia Beach but we know it’s not going
to happen overnight.
MB: What do you do when you write songs? Do the lyrics come first, and
then the music, or is it the other way around?
DV: I write the music first and hum a melody on top of it with dummy made
up lyrics…if that sounds good enough to me I fill in the melody with the
real lyrics.
MB: When listening to Astropop 3, I've noticed that the harmonies alter.
The earliest work I've heard sounds more 'pessimistic' and the newer songs
up-beat and optimistic. How would you yourself describe how your music has
altered since 1996?
DV: I’ve grown over the years…I admit I was a bit whinny as far as lyrics
go on the first album, but I always had that unsaid glimmer of hope within
the song. That’s just the way I felt when I wrote those songs. I don’t feel
that the new album has completely ignored those feelings….to some people
they‘re just presented better. All of my music is like a diary of my life.
I can sit back and listen to a song and remember what I was going through
when I wrote it or what or who I wrote the song about….I’m still growing…and
searching for that perfect song that I have inside me to come out.
MB: And finally, could you tell me about your new record?
DV: “Eclipsing Binary Star” has a lot to do with the relationship of Angelique
and myself. Like I said before, it’s like another diary entry for me. The
songs are simple, melodic, and hooky. I hope everyone gets the chance to
enjoy it. It’s available at Parasolrecords.com.
ND: What sort of stuff are you listening to right now? What would be
your current TOP 10?
LD: (In no particular order) Knot Pinebox, "Suspended Particulation", Planting
Seeds Comp., "Sunsets and Silhouettes" Barry Bliss "#5", PJ Harvey, "Dry",
A Leonard Cohen CD a friend of mine burned for me, I don't know the title,
but it's his earlier stuff. Right now I'm listening to Bonnie 'Prince' Billy,
"I See A Darkness". Ok, I know that's only six, but that'll have to do.
MB: Loads of thanks for doing this!
DV: Thank you so much Maria!
Photos courtesy of the PSR Archives
