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Asthmatic Astronaut – ‘Spirit World’. Pre-release Album Highlight.
Artist- Asthmatic Astronaut
Album – Spirit World
Genre – Hip-hop/Instrumental/experimental
Label – This Is Not Pop.
Producer/Beatmaker, Gareth Bury aka Asthmatic Astronaut presents a highly distinctive album titled, ‘Spirit World’ set for release on the 24th of this month on independent label, This Is Not Pop. This authentic project was born through a yearning to sonically express and channel the emotion of grief and loss through thinking about friends and family that had passed away within a short time frame of each other, over the period of a few years. The album is bold and progressive and is surprising in its instrumental dynamics, it is evident that Gareth has dug deep to create these intuitive tracks, achieving a true sense of cathartic empowerment.
Through his internal exploration he also finds external exploration and structure by incorporating a short narrative to aid in the channelling of his emotive expression by collaborating with Caledonian Gothic, a story telling podcast, to create an atmospheric introduction to the album which has helped forge a pathway in bringing forward a mythical story of when earthly realm meets spirit world. As well as steering a unique and extra dynamic to the atmosphere of the album by collaborating with two local M.C’s, Jackal Trades and Kid Robotik x King Meraki who resolutely provide their own characteristic take on the album theme.
Asthmatic Astronaut aka The Wheezy Space Traveller – Between Worlds.
Asthmatic Astronaut’s newfound interest in Wave music, a genre of element-fusing, dubstep, jungle, house, techno & hip-hop, found him drawn to, and sucked in by, slow tempo beats. As far as beats are concerned his cultivated style is a direct evolution of Trap and lends itself well to longer evolving textures. There most certainly exists an empowering force throughout the tracks on the album, a pulsating core and raw edge that carries density, while in contrast ethereal layers interplay and soar above rooted reverberated bass lines, snares and kick drum beats. To me, it feels like sunlight burning through the darkness.
I caught up with Asthmatic Astronaut to ask him about the creation process, the album artwork and musical influencing factors. Here is what he said:
“I used a Boss 303 sampler with this album. 303 sounds grittier and slightly lo-fi. I added lots of noise to the tracks from Vinyl and Cassette hiss and just ambient room recordings. All the synthesized sounds also went through the sampler and almost all had distortion added and large analog reverbs.
As far as influence I’m not sure I can pin point exactly I listen to a lot of music of all styles all the time and when I make music I stop listening and create for a few weeks nonstop or until whatever is driving me leave’s me it’s a strange process and has always been very meditative for me. I always feel as though I have gotten something off my chest, something I can’t put into words as easy as I can music.
The artwork is pieced together from three separate photographs I took while camping in the highlands and basically when I finished the image the whole story of the tree being a gateway hit me, and that really sparked the whole project. So, I guess the album cover image is the main influence on this project.” – G.B/ Asthmatic Astronaut.
PRE-ORDER ‘Spirit World’ By Asthmatic Astronaut over at Independent, Tape/ CD/Vinyl Label, This Is Not Pop Bandcamp –
In many senses, I am still discovering myself through the complex tapestry in which life continues to weave, gaining unique physical experience in order to aid the progression of my precious spirit, this will continue for the rest of my fated days and my understanding of who I am shall be determined through how I learn to react, act and adapt towards the circumstances I face. I do sincerely hope the span of this life is enough to fully come to terms with the potential of my unique existence, through deep-rooted understanding, compassion, and love, and that I may fully acknowledge the absolute full potential of my existence through the network of others.
Thus far the core of my being has learned through unique experience and individual perspective that I am most certainly a creative soul who takes solace in the truth & liberty of artistic expression. Freedom lays behind the eyes within the evocative realm of one's imagination, transforming originality through individual perspective, this is when my art becomes yours. Inspiring, motivating different modes of expression to overall influence and shape a better world, to help elevate to a higher consciousness. We are part of the great web of life and in this way each and every one of us are interconnected, to create a major shift in consciousness. We must wholeheartedly start to believe in what can be created for the greater good of this world, in my view it is most certainly the power of thought and intention which connect us, no matter how near or how far.
Being understood has always been of paramount importance to me, self-expression is something I have been aware of from a very young age. From my point of view, artistic expression has always been the most liberating and uniting mode. When I am not caught up in life's cogs I love to write poetry, short stories, and shoot photographs. I adore and feed off music, so I highly enjoy capturing the live music scene in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. I also enjoy writing for Uk Entertainments website, Louder than War, as well as run my own music blog www.Revel Rousers.org, Amalgamating my love of music, writing, as well as photographic expression (Music, Landscape, Street, Wedding), which gives me a great sense of creative release, therefore forging a strong sense of purpose in the way of documenting life's remarkable moments.
I find working with creatives within the music industry is wholly inspiring even though at times it can be quite challenging, after all, the greatest realizations and lessons learned are born out of challenges. I figured, seeing as I have a platform for my music reviews, interviews and photography I thought it would be time to create a platform for my creative writing and poetry.....It takes courage to expose oneself through the intimacy of poetry, However, that is how we truly unite and grow in compassion and understanding of each other's true essence.
I am a deep thinker, I understand the power of words and their meanings. I also understand how empowering artistic expression can be. There is a raw truth buried within each original idea combined with a power to help change the world. Artistic expression is forever transforming through interpretation, that is what I mean when I say "When My Art Becomes Yours"
My philosophy is to understand more, in order to love more.......
Love ~M~
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