Like The Astronaut – Interview – Thanks for Asking!
Written by Staff on April 11, 2024
Like The Astronaut – Interview – Thanks for Asking! – by Liam Sweeny.
We connected with John Glenn of the band Like The Astronaut. This is what he had to say.
RRX: Artists, musicians, we immortalize. We set it in stone. Is there anyone who has passed that you feel you have immortalized in your work? If so, can you tell us a little about them?”
JG: Early 2022, after many treatments, we found out my dad’s cancer had spread to every part of his body and he had less than a year to live. I wanted to believe that it was like a weather forecast, subject to change, that he would somehow fight it off and live a lot longer than their estimations. Regardless, I decided that summer, even though he lived over 2 hours away, I would spend as much time as possible visiting with him, taking him to restaurants, movies, going on short walks, playing games, talking. This also involved a lot of time driving alone in a car with my thoughts.
During this time, we found out my wife was pregnant, which was such joyous news, but for a while there it was too early on to share, and it was another thing that was bottled up.
So unable to really process everything I was feeling, I bought a harmonizer I had my eye on, and began to write. It wasn’t anything I had planned to release at first, but after showing it to a few people and with some encouragement, I took it to Dave Parker at OverIt, who is a producer, a best friend, and an absolute wizard of sound. And we chipped away at it and it became a space I could pour it all out.
I got a chance to tell my dad about my daughter a few weeks before he died. One of the songs is about that too.
Now the EP is recorded and released. It’s comprised of little vignettes of grief, uncertainty, denial, hope and joy. And it’s a dedication to my father and my beautiful daughter.
RRX: We all get a little support from those around us. And we also can be impressed by our fellow performers. Who do you admire in your community, and why?
JG: As I briefly touched upon in the last question, Dave Parker, I admire his production, focus, attention to detail, his ability to shape sound and tone. I really feel he is a master of his craft.
I admire all my band mates from Stellar Young; Erik who is so dedicated and takes every idea and elevates it, Kyle has such a deep understanding of music and can add such interesting color to any song, and Tim who is so disciplined and an absolute machine on the drums. I also have to shout out getting to work with Josh Eppard, who I have always admired, and he is one of the most tasteful musicians, and also an incredible person. There are also too many awesome musicians to name in this area who we love, have shared stages with, and have become our good friends. But I will name one local artist from a recent experience, Girl Blue. I had an opportunity to play a show with her at Cafe Lena and I was just blown away by her performance, her songwriting, her eloquence and thoughtfulness. Just awesome.
RRX: What do you think is the most dangerous song to cover from the perspective of criticism? Who do you think is too hard to cover, and why?
JG: I feel like any song that is too close to your own style and tone or any attempt to do an exact replication of a song, can be very dangerous for various reasons. For one I think the closer you get, the more the little things that are different can draw attention to themselves and it can feel more contrived and less expressive. It can begin to feel more like a counterfeit and less like a tribute. I love when a musician covers a song that is so far away from their own genre. It can breathe new life into a song.
RRX: We let it out differently when we play music. The happy, sad, good and back; it can all be put out musically. Overall, do you feel better when you sing about the better times, or the worser times? Is there a difference you can describe?
JG: Wow, a good tough question. Thanks for asking. I think it feels good to sing about good times because it bottles up the feeling and amplifies it. A good time or feeling can become a jubilant anthem. Where I think singing about hard times is more of a wringing out, a purge, which can feel really good too in a way. And both can help remind us that we aren’t alone.
RRX: Would you rather have one of your songs blow up and make you a one-hit wonder and household name, or would you rather have all your songs be solidly received, but no chart-climbers? (You have to pick one or the other here.)
JG: Oh, all killer, no filler. That has always been the goal. I would much rather have all songs be solidly received. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a one hit wonder. I just love when I can put on a full album of songs, it can become a journey, a story. I want to give that to people.
RRX: Playing out is tricky because you never know what’s going to happen when you get there. Sometimes everything goes wrong. What was your worst show like?
JG: One time we got asked to play at University at Albany. We heard it was a fundraiser, but we kind of envisioned a big college show on a campus and we’d get to lift people’s spirits for a cause. We ended up in a small lobby next to a cafeteria and the fundraiser was to bring awareness to the importance of organ donation and how it saves lives. There was no stage, no sound guy, just a podium mic, and we were supposed to go up there and play a set in between two speakers who gave these heart-wrenching speeches; one had a loved one’s life saved due to a donation and one had lost a loved one but their organs saved the lives of others. And I commend them for sharing, but I was not at all prepared for this. Anyway, we went up there and played our songs, I sang into a podium mic and we gave it our all. I don’t know who had the idea to put a rock band on that, it felt pretty inappropriate, but we did our thing and people seemed to really appreciate it.
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