Jo And Spiros Of Asteroid Lily

Interview With Jo And Spiros Of Asteroid Lily

SBS:  Hello and welcome to ya!  It’s always best to start off with some kind of introduction to who you are and what kind of music you make, isn’t it?  Tell us a bit about yourself & the history of your music, and give the people out there reading a couple of concrete reasons as to why they should be listening!

Spiros:  We are Asteroid Lily, Jo and Spiros.  Jo writes all the lyrics and vocal melodies and I write the music and do the production and mixing/mastering.  We play Electro-Pop music.  But in a way I think we have hijacked this genre, because we don’t really have an Electro-Pop background.  Yes, we are aware of major Electro-Pop bands, but Jo comes from musical theatre and I grew up with Classical music and Metal.  Our songs are songs that could work with just a guitar and voice, or piano and voice, but it just so happens that we picked electronic sounds for our music palette.  This gets us to why people should be listening.  It is not necessarily what you expect.  I think that when you listen to say, Rock music and then you also write and play Rock music, you may end up recycling a lot.  But do something that is different from your music preferences/tastes and it all gets mixed up very nicely.

SBS:  While we’re still getting to know you and quite possibly introducing you to these pages of ours, what would you say is the newest and/or most exciting thing you’ve got going on with your music right now?  Is there anything you’ve been working on that just got released, or something happening behind the scenes that you haven’t mentioned yet?  What should your fans be looking forward to this year?

Spiros:  We recently got signed with the independent label Paper Garden Records to release an album, preceded by two singles.  It was great timing because we had already enough material for an album and had released some singles but personally I was feeling that it would be great to have a solid body of work to represent our first years of songwriting together as I can see where the music is going now and I wanted to kind of draw a line.  And then as we were talking with people in the industry, we came across those guys from Paper Garden Records who seemed to be the right people for us to support and backup the music.  So this is all quite exciting, first single will be released on June 5th, second one on July 3rd and the album on July 31st.

SBS:  So far to-date, what do you feel like is the song of yours that listeners respond to the most?  Do you feel like you knew they’d like it when you first created it, or was it just another song to you at the time?  Sometimes it takes a few spins and a bit of time before we realize how special a song truly is.  What is it about this particular track that you feel people connect to?  If someone was to ask you to play one of your songs to get them interested in your music, would you choose the same one that listeners seem to enjoy the most, or would you risk it and choose something different from your catalog instead?

Spiros:  You always expect that your “easily digestible” songs will be the most appealing.  But it turns out people have different favourites, like a guy we met when we played in Wales, who does visual art and we asked if he would like to make something for one of our songs so we can have it projected during the gig.  He literally picked the last song I expected.  I have personally given like thousands of spins to each of our songs and I know them so intimately that I am way beyond being subjective.  But in general different people come to us telling us which song they liked most, and you can never guess.  It is also Jo’s storytelling which is amazing, so it speaks to people through the words and sometimes the lyrics can hit very specific nerves that the music isn’t necessarily able to.

Jo:  I think one of the songs that people respond a lot to is “I lit a fire,” which has kind of shocked me, cos it’s not one of my favourites…well I go from liking it to sort of cringing over my own lyrics.  I’m not sure why people like it, I mean I think, maybe because the notion of your closest friend turning out to be an enemy is terrifying.  I think we all as humans, fear being betrayed, because connection is everything.  I love that people like it, I just wasn’t expecting it.

SBS:  Is there a concert you’ve been to that…maybe it was the best you’ve seen, maybe it wasn’t, but it was a completely unforgettable moment in time that you might not even see from the same band or artist again if you saw them play in the future?  Know what I mean?  Like, maybe a band you saw was touring a certain album and they never played those songs again…or like, maybe an artist climbed up the frame of the stage like Eddie Vedder did, and of course he’s probably not doin’ that now as an older dude…there are countless examples of amazing shows from the artists & bands we love most that we will never see happen twice.  Tell us all the details you can remember about an unforgettable show you saw, and why you don’t think that if you saw that same artist/band today that it could all happen again.

Spiros:  There have been several moments like what you’re describing in gigs.  I think there are some moments in time where the band is at peak form, like when I saw Pain Of Salvation play live at the Scarsick tour, before they change their line up and style.  They were amazing.  I had seen them two more times before that and one more after that but it was never like that.  Also when I saw Slayer when Dave Lombardo had just rejoined the band and they had some extra youthful energy again, not to mention the fact that it was at a Big Four concert, when Megadeth also played the entire Rust In Peace album as it was their anniversary.  Awesome moment!

SBS:  I’ve heard it said many times that it’s harder to write a song in a happy mood than to write one when you’re feeling down.  Of course, for some folks, the opposite is just as true…I guess maybe that’s a reflection of who we are on the inside perhaps?  From YOUR perspective, what’s the particular emotion you associate with the most, or connect to the strongest when you’re creating your music?  How does it play a role in what you write & why do you feel like that specific emotion gets the best songs out of you?

Jo:  When It comes to being productive, I’m not very productive when I’m in the storm of a feeling.  I know there’s this thought that you create your best art from pain, which might be true.  But when I’m in the middle of it, I get very consumed by emotion and can’t really do anything with it.  I’ve tried to write things, but…trust me it turns out very bad.  It’s usually a while after, when everything’s over that I can create something actually worthwhile from the experience.  I also don’t feel particularly creative when I’m sad or happy for that matter.

SBS:  Let’s ask ya this…would you rather create a massive hit song that the whole world knows and sings along with, or risk toiling in obscurity for the length of your career to fully keep your artistic integrity intact?  Is it really that much better to be one of those artists or bands that are only known for one song, or is it better to build a whole catalog you can proudly stand behind that might not be known at all?  One-hit wonders tend to get judged pretty harshly and are often crushed under the weight of constantly trying to find that second hit – but the flipside of that coin is the right hit song can be so financially lucrative that it can often be enough to build a whole career around.  Still…I have to wonder whether or not that would suck all the joy right outta the craft…maybe it’s really better to have no hits than one hit – what do you think you’d prefer and why?  Do you feel like creating a hit song is truly crucial to a music career?  If it’s not, what’s the alternative?  Can you still have a career without really becoming known?

Jo:  I would LOVE to write a massive hit.  I don’t think you have to sell your soul to create something that corresponds with a lot of people, and I mean that’s what a hit is, isn’t it?  At the end of the day music is about storytelling and connection, talking about the human experience, so why wouldn’t I want as many people as possible loving my art?  I’m not saying I write songs for the sole purpose of pleasing people, and even if no one liked it, I’d still be creating it, because it serves me a purpose, but it’s an incredible plus to have created something that others also appreciate and get joy/emotion from.  I don’t see the point of trying to figure out what makes a hit, I’ll keep writing what I like and if one was to become a hit I would be THRILLED!

Spiros:  There’s two things I wanna say here.  One, we usually assume that people who made a big hit, just faded into oblivion after that.  But for the fans they made, it is just a banger and they keep following them.  For the rest of us, that band doesn’t exist anymore because that song never touched us enough to explore more of their songs.  Like I thought that Oasis were just the “Wonderwall band” and then I moved to the UK a good ten years later to realize they were a cultural phenomenon for the UK.

Two, most people think that a hit song is stupid, cheesy and just catchy.  Most of them are, many of us love those songs “unashamedly.”  Think Beatles, Abba or any other Pop band.  Think “Blinding lights” by The Weeknd.  That is a very digestible song, and it will be remembered as a classic of its era, but it is truly a very well written and produced song.  I don’t think it’s black and white, and either or.  On a final side note, despite what purists think, audiences today are more intelligent than years ago.  If Rush made it to stardom with 7 and 8 minute songs, then the sky is the limit.  It is a good era to write songs boldly.

SBS:  Alright.  Personal taste.  It’s a weird thing right?  Impossible to predict, isn’t it?  We always talk about A-sides and B-sides when it comes to making music, and I like to believe that albums are generally put together with the artist or band bringing their best (theoretically, the A-sides) to an official release.  But once a song has been put out there into the world, it takes on all kinds of different meanings to every set of individual ears listening, doesn’t it?  For example – I’ve heard plenty of songs on what are considered to be B-side albums, or second songs that came along with a single that I might like even more than an A-side.  On the same side of that coin, just about every artist and band I know of tends to like certain songs they release much more than the ones their fans respond to the most.  So…I guess the question is…is there really such a thing as an A-side or a B-side to begin with?  What’s the point in worrying too much if everyone out there will draw to their own conclusions about what they like anyhow?  Should we just put absolutely everything we make out there online & let people be the judge?  When we label something as an A-side or a B-side, doesn’t that somewhat limit the listener’s objective ability to assess how they feel about a song on their own?  Who really decides what’s an A-side or a B?

Jo:  I don’t believe in an A and B side.  First of all I’m rubbish at predicting what people are gonna like, and I don’t really see the point in trying to figure it out.  People have different tastes, and I never go into a song writing session thinking this is one for the B-side.  If I did, why would I keep writing it?  I would scrap it and start over.

Spiros:  The only thing I can say in regards to this, is that for me A side means all the radio friendly songs sort to speak, and B side is where you can have longer and/or more experimental songs.  Doesn’t mean that they are worse.  I don’t like leftovers, and we don’t have any.  I know some people sit down and write 20-30 songs and pick the best ones.  That’s not how we do it.  If we write and actually finish a song, we are keeping it.

SBS:  Who’s someone you would be able to pinpoint as an influence on your music, or who you are as an artist, that even your fan-base might not have expected?  How has that person affected the way you make your music, and do you really feel like the influence ends up showing up in your sound, or not?  Maybe it’s something they said, maybe it’s something they did, maybe it’s something they accomplished that you hope to as well someday…maybe they’re simply iconic, or have become legendary.  Tell us why this particular inspiration matters to you & how they made an impact on how you view the art of music.

Spiros:  I think if you listen to the music closely, you may figure out that I have a Metal background.  The way the instruments are arranged usually resembles a Rock band.  You may even get the Classical influence from the chord progressions.  But when it comes to artists like MJ and Stevie Wonder, the influence is much more “undercover” sort to speak.  But I do dare you to figure out what any of our songs are based on, musically.  If you succeed I am buying you a beer, no matter the ocean between us.

SBS:  I’m going with a motto of being unafraid to fail this year, because I think even though I’ve failed in so many things that I’ve tried, maybe I still haven’t failed enough to have learned to not be so afraid of it yet, you know what I mean?  We can learn so much by failing…by trying different things…by stretching outside of our comfort zones – and heck, we don’t even know if we can find success at all unless we’re really willing to see what we’re capable of, right?  So let’s ask you this – what do you consider to be your biggest failure with your music to-date, and ultimately, how did that experience actually end up helping you later on?  What did you learn from whatever mistake you made & how did it assist your evolution?

Spiros:  In pure capitalist terms, failure is when any endeavor of yours fails to make money.  In that context, everything is a failure until it’s not, right?  Or let’s say it is a very Western idea.  In an Asian cultural context though for example, failure is a lesson, an opportunity to learn.  I think that is much more constructive.  What did we fail to do tonight?  Did we play and sing the wrong notes?  Did we not manage to attract a crowd?  To do music with the starting point of expressing yourself and loving the music itself, is a thankless, unforgiving existence.  We deal with rejection and invisibility on a daily basis.  I am too old to care about these things; I have to an extent liberated myself.  If we can have a good run, as people, as a band, as a business, or whatever, then it’s more than good enough for me.  Looking back to all the bands I’ve been in and eventually dissolved, I have great memories and stories to tell and that brings great satisfaction.

SBS:  As I always like to remind people participating in our interviews, there is no such thing as an interview that has ever covered everything that someone would want to talk about, this one included.  We cover that here at sleepingbagstudios by offering you the ‘open floor’ at the end…a space where you can talk about anything else you want to.  You can mention anything we didn’t bring up.  You can talk politics if you want to.  You can swear.  You can tell us which websites we should go to in order to listen to your music.  You can tell us your favorite movie if you like.  Heck, you can full-on repeat yourself and say something you’ve already said if you feel so inclined – it’s YOUR space to say whatever YOU would want to say to the people out there, completely free of our influence on the conversation…all I suggest is that you take it for a ride and make good use out of it.  Thank you so much for talking tunes with us!!!

Spiros:  Artists should not feel pressure to live an autobiographical, journalistic, confessional life online on a 24/7 basis.  There are many ways to go about making your music known to people, and it so happens that one of them is social media.  Though a great tool, it is not the only way.  That is just a lie that has been served to us.  At the end of the day, people stick around for the music, not all the other stuff.  Just think, when was the last time you followed a band or musician because you were dazzled by their makeup routine video, or their day at work?  I think it was probably that awesome song they wrote!

Find out more about Asteroid Lily from the official website at:  https://asteroid-lily.supertape.site

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