Deastro
Remove Records: Tell us somethings about yourself and your project.
Deastro: Deastro was a project I started when I was 19 I am 34 now. I had tried to start this band with my best friend from growing up called Velociraptor in Arkansas. His dad hit hard times like mine did in the downturn and their family moved down there where they had cousins. My friend got married and I was living on my own, didn't really know what I was doing. Meanwhile my dad worked for Farmer Jacks as a pipefitter and when that went out of business they moved to Baltimore. I met up with them and was working in Baltimore and DC with my brothers and dad doing maintenance on grocery stores. I wrote some of the first Deastro songs then. The name was an accident, it was supposed to be Destro from GI Joe guy but I didn't have the internet because my family was very religious. I spelled it wrong as Deastro. About a month into posting tracks on Myspace this girl wrote me and told me she loved my bands name and said De astro it means "of the stars" and I decided to keep it at that point. Been using the name off and on with different members just living life working, trying to make music. You know its a labor of love. I was touring a lot until I was 25 but just financial stress. I have been in and out of the trades since I was 14 and was pretty much the fastest dishwasher in the world for a minute. Used to work washing dishes for catering companies and schools. Usually had 2 to 3 jobs to support the band and touring coming up. Now I work as an apprentice electrician and solar installer. We got to tour the United states like I don't know 9 times and Canada 3 times UK twice.
It started out with just me playing various instruments live sometimes I would drum and use Reason to make crazy electro at DIY spaces Then I added a drummer so I could focus more on live electronics. After that 2008 2009 I played with a full band and that was when everything was going good, but we were touring non stop and the band said they weren't going to come with me on our first European tour so I did the UK solo. After that I was into more into post punk while making sounds that people consider early chillwave and started playing with my friend Adam Pfaff we toured a couple times and had a really wild time! I was 23 then. One time in San Fran this guy gave us like a half lb of weed in exchange for 1 of everything of our merch. At that point in Detroit it was like probably 45 bucks to get an 8th that wasn't shag so we were stunned haha. I don't think we had ever seen weed that good haha. My friend made me stop and hid it in a truckstop locker before driving into Canada and then we picked up on the way back from Vancouver. Been putting out records here in Detroit now had a couple more attempts with the project this was 2010 At that point I was playing and living with Thor and Gus Brovold and my brother Marty Roy. We were just jamming new stuff all the time this was 2012 2013 Sometimes we would just riff synth funk or do these improvised 4 person techno sessions. We were playing after hours constantly around the city and throwing parties at our loft (1217 Griswold) and North End Studios. . I gave up on Deastro for a minute after that due to some personal things and was just Djing and producing under Sapphire Bracelet and now SX7 this track came out on local electronic label Portage Garage Sounds. I currently play guitar in Characteristics and am putting together a new live project. We will see if Deastro makes it out of the garage again? I feel like making some really intense progressive psych rock some days and if I made another record that is where I would go with it.
What are some of your influences?
Everything - I always loved Motown and Funk! Patrice Rushen may be my all time favorite, Early Influences were Danielson Family, Unwed Sailor, Johnny Respect, Mewithoutyou, (I wasn't allowed to listen to any non Christian music even the radio) I was really into Detroit Techno around 13 14 and never lost that love when I was a kid they had dance music on late night and I would listen in bed with some shitty walkman headphones straight off my old fisher price alarm clock I had from when I was a kid. Out of highschool it was Blonde Redhead, Bloc Party, Early M83, Boards of Canada, Drecviya, French House. Current faves the Internet, Thundercat, Nate Smith anything Jazz Funk or soul and like live Ballroom Vogue House dj mixes on youtube!
What are some of your favorite venues?
Hmm I like UFO and Outer Limits, because those cats came from the Detroit DIY scene and are real artists invested in treating people right. I mean I never thought I would say this but like City Club might be the only venue that still feels like Old Detroit to me! I mean money is good and all but it has felt kind of corporate for a minute.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out in music?
Invest in your emotional health and well being!
What messages or themes are you trying to convey through your music?
Early stuff was mainly me rebelling against the Christian ideas of absolutism. People were always telling me they had the answers but from about 13 I knew there where some cracks in the logic. At first I tried to question those ideas but that was met with a lot of fighting and turmoil. So I dropped out of school to be a minster when I was 18. I felt the church was a sham. When I went to Christian college I could only afford one meal a day. I was a night janitor and often stole to feed myself from the schools cafeteria. I was angry I could see people suffering all around me and these people seemed so aloof. I felt I needed to make music to express how I felt because if I said it in real life it would mean even more problems in my life.
What are you working on next?
Characteristics Full Length, SX7 full length and a top secret collaboration I can't talk about hehe.
How do you feel about the future of music/art?
Hard times make the best art, and Detroit is the toughest. Before this crisis I was feeling so inspired by the energy in Detroit. You know all these new artists coming up are next level! To me and so many other artists from the last wave it is inspiring to see that people are thriving and finding a place in the community! That is what we all were trying to build with our art! I have never seen so many young people of color getting represented in the Detroit music scene either and artists that have been here their whole lives getting the recognition they deserve. I feel like we need more of that and more resources going into the neighborhoods for music and art. If we can get together and get instruments into young Detroit's hands that is like that best investment ever! For real we made the sound that moved the world twice with motown and techno. I think we just have to keep collaborating and helping each other out!