Chronicles of the Gaze: Stellarium, the interview

Let’s continue our noisy explorations with a band from Singapore. Their self-titled lp was out just a few months ago. Let’s get it out of the way: this album is a giant slap in the face, a slap both in form and in essence, it is all that we like in shoegaze and even more. A stream of noise, fuzz and ethereal energy, all of that mixed with influences as varied as punk or surjf-music.

The shoegaze community is a bit like the music ninjas of the internet. We’re here, discreet, everyone knows it exists, but nobody pays attention. So it happens sometimes that a member should come and say « I’ve released a demo, listen and tell me what you think ». Most of the time, like in any genre, it’s not that good and it’s embarrassing when that person asks us what we thought about the music he fathered and shared. But Az, the Stellarium frontman, did the same, and I must say I never was confronted with that much quality in a first self-produced album. I then learned that him and the rest of the band were in Singapore. We all have in our heads the clichés about the very square place were « nothing is allowed ». He proves that far from these clichés deeply rooted in our westerners brains, the future of the shoegaze and fuzz scene lies in Asia.

Their album is self-produced in awesome quality, which is more than not the case, with a beautiful sleeve and disc, and with a fantastically achieved wall of sound. All these reasons make me want to share this band with you, because it’s not often that a band is faithful to genre all the while reinventing it. Stellarium does it from Singapore. Good music and fuck-you rock’n'roll have no frontiers.

But now, let Az, the singer-guitarist of the band, a very nice and unusual guy, speak.

http://www.youtube.com/v/gpFYsOpgP4M?fs=1&hl=fr_FR

Az: Fucked up Shoegaze Noise Psychedelic Rock’n'Roll.

Az: There’s not much of a revival here for such a scene. There’s always some improv/psyche rock/free jazz stuff going on.

Az: I’d hate to have this label, but factually, yes.More than I want to spearhead anyhting
I’m only concerned with fucking shit up and destroying foundations to pro-create something

Az: We don’t record what we can’t play live. A band is, above all, live in front of an audience, not a polished-sound studio album and a live which sounds like shit.
Simplicity is key. With other things that keep the music vibrant.

Az: A fuck you attitude with a lot of hatred, contempt, rage, anger frustration anger, beauty and love, behind!

Az: there’s so much shitty music that is spread, and how it’s sold
to how it’s being marketed… I don’t even give a fuck if we appear on Rolling Stones or NME or Pitchfork, I’ll still say they suck for the record

Az: No, we make our music. It speaks for itself, as well as the audience. The music attacks, it’s not me.

http://www.youtube.com/v/H1Cr0BG6jJA?fs=1&hl=fr_FR

Az: Rock’n'Roll is the music some parents would hate their children to listen or be associated to
it’s not some form of obedience or well behaved concept.

Az: It has to remain a fucked up expression, or beyond any reasonable measure of logical behaviour. Look at abstract paintings, some of them are chaotic, out of control and to someone who’s not inclined to it, it’d seem like ‘bullshit’…

Az:It’s not important but yet, very important.. I have a certain taste to how art for covers is done though I don’t have any necessary background in art concepts or designs, but something that’s dark but yet beautiful! I took the photo, the lighting under a bridge. Our drummer is a real painter and artist, he arranged it and did the concept, then, we talked it over. Our bassist too is a natural artist.

Az: Yes, but self-taught.

Az:it’s the same thing, the same expression of chaos!

http://www.youtube.com/v/8NHKx8Vi_pg?fs=1&hl=fr_FR

Az: he goes in an interpretation of The Shadow, by Link Wray
Who knows, what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Ahahahahah The Sha
dow knows Ahahahahahahah!