interview with Thundering Asteroids!
Have any of you played in other bands? For Minn & Scott, this is their first band. For Skolnick & Trey, they've played in many bands over the years.
How is it that you started playing music? The band started as a joke between Scott and the original guitarist. But after Scott's wife dared them to play her birthday party, they grabbed a couple other people and started to make music for real.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you?
Minn – vocals – 39
Skolnick – guitar - 35
Scott Starkiller – bass – 40
Trey K421 – drums - immortal
Have you had other previous members? Yes. This is the 7th version of the band. For a while we joked that we were the Spinal Tap of Portland because of how many drummers we went through...although none died by spontaneously combusting.
Did you make music even when you were young? Yes. All sorts of terrible music that's, fortunately, not recorded.
Where are you from? We're from all over. Oregon, Missouri, New Mexico...but we all ended up in Portland and needed to rock.
What year did the band form? The band started in 2009. We didn't know what we were doing, but had fun learning.
What's your style of genre? Nerd punk. We're all inspired by punk rock music and love the energy that it has, but usually sing about really nerdy stuff like Star Wars and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
What inspires you? 80s movies, video games, sci-fi, D&D, comic books, horror movies...
How often and where do you reherse? We practiced once a week (“Thundering Thursday”) in our singer's basement, which we named Thunderdome.
How have you developed since you started with the music? We started out being more of an 80s skate punk band, but the more we wrote, the nerdier we got. So it ended up becoming nerd punk.
Do you have other interests of work outside the band? All the band members have their own particular set of skills. From computer programming to cooking to managing people, we all do something else during the day, but by that all fades away once we start rocking.
Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? Nope. We booked all our shows and it worked out really well. We've played everything from dive bars to block parties to the Hard Rock Cafe in Seattle.
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? Nope. Thundering Asteroids! has always been a DIY band. Labels are great for some bands, but we really dug having the control of what we wanted to do and how/when we wanted to do it.
What made you decide to make this music? The simple answer: Fun. The big rule of the band was that if we weren't having fun, then we shouldn't be making music together.
What are your songs about? We love songs that reference as many nerdy things as possible. From 80s movies & video games to comic books & D&D, nothing is too geeky or too obscure.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? Scott wrote about 90% of the songs, but everybody added their own parts to each song. So the result was a combination of everyone.
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Scott: I usually start with a lyrical hook, figure out music that fits it, and then try to develop them together because the two parts are so intertwined.
Do you compose in a certain inviroment? Nope. Car, bathroom, dinner table, coffee break...any chance where there's a free moment is a chance to make a new song.
Have you done any covers live? We've played many covers over the years. We usually played one per show. Our favorites were “Godzilla” by the Blue Oyster Cult and “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins.
What language do you sing in? English.
What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? The least was when we were first starting out. We would play first on a week day bill and it would just the bartender listening to us. But that happens. We just called those practices in a different location.
The most was probably our final show on April 2nd, 2016. We were close to reaching club capacity and the place was packed. Great way to go out.
What ages are most of your concert attendants? We mostly played bars so the people would have to be 21 or older. We tried to play as many all ages shows as we could, but there aren't a lot of place like that in Portland. Usually our crowd was in their late 20s or so.
Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? Our set list was always geared toward the venue we were playing, but we tried not to play the same set more than 3 times in a row. It was more to keep us from getting bored than anything. Plus, it was fun figuring out new ways to transition between songs. There were some songs that would always be openers or closers, though. “Frak Off” and “Scott Pilgrim” were great to get people's attention. “Swallow Your Soul” and “Nuke this Site from Orbit” were always favorites of ours to end a set.
Do you have a regular place you play live often? It has changed over the years as venues come and go, but our favorites were always ones that were booked by one guy – Jimmy. He always treated bands well and it was always a blast. First it was Katie O'Brien's, then Sandy Hut, and then Twilight Cafe and Bar.
What was your first gig like? Our first gig was weird. We played with Means Jeans (now on Fat Records) for a roller derby party. We were TERRIBLE. Just bad. But it was still fun and a great way to show us how hard we had to work.
What was your latest gig? Our latest gig was our final show ever. After seven years, we decided to call it quits, but wanted to throw a big party. We did. And it was. It was at the Twilight Cafe & Bar with our favorite local bands – The Anxieties and The Tanked. The place was packed, the vibes were great, and it turned out to be the best show we ever played.
Have you had to cancel a gig? Unfortunately, yes. When our first singer left, we had to cancel a couple gigs because it was so sudden. But, as a rule, we tried to always play shows we had committed to. I don't think we canceled any other since then. We never wanted to be that band.
Where have you played live this year? Dante's, Twilight, Analog... Dante's was great because we had always wanted to play there and it was with a touring band we knew from Brooklyn – Sharkmuffin.
Where do you plan to gig the comming year? Sadly, the band has ended. No more gigs.
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? We tried to always have stickers and something fun to sell at shows. Over the years, we've added items. Right now we have cassettes, CDs, patches, pins, and stickers.
Where can people buy your merchandise? https://thunderingasteroids.bandcamp.com/merch
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? All our songs are free to download on our Bandcamp page and they are all available on Spotify and other streaming networks. It's a great way to listen to music, but if you want to support artists you like, it's always a good idea to pay for music or merchandise.
How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? The music industry needs to constantly fit the needs of listeners. Making music will never stop, but the technology will always be in flux.
What do you think of my work? We weren't familiar with it before, but it's great! Love the worldwide reach of the music coverage.
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? We have no idea, but talking about and sharing music is always a great thing.
Do you have any role models or idols? There are so many people doing rad stuff in music. Too many to name.
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? For us, inspiration can come from any decade, but it's whatever we like to listen to.
What have been your biggest obstacles? Being a DIY band, money and exposure were our biggest obstacles. We had to pay for everything up front and do all our booking and promoting ourselves. In the end, it was worth it because we were able to make our music in the way we wanted to.
What advice would you give other bands or artists? Never play an encore if you're not the last band. Arrive on time for sound check. Always clear the stage quickly for the next band. Don't be a jerk. And never forget to be awesome.
How do you get psyched for a gig? Be prepared to rock, drink coffee, crank up the car music on the way, and don't stress about the little things.
Do you have any new material? We released a limited-edition cassette single of “Polybius / Hi-Keeba!” that is available to download for free and to purchase on our site.
What are your web sites?
http://thunderingasteroids.com/
https://thunderingasteroids.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/nerdpunkpdx
https://www.facebook.com/thunderingasteroids
https://www.instagram.com/thunderingasteroids/
https://www.youtube.com/c/ThunderingAsteroidsRocks
How can people reach you? [email protected] or any of our social media
What are your plans for the future? Good question. We all still want to rock, so look for Thundering Asteroids! members in future projects.
Do you have something to add? Thank you for reaching out to us for an interview!
How is it that you started playing music? The band started as a joke between Scott and the original guitarist. But after Scott's wife dared them to play her birthday party, they grabbed a couple other people and started to make music for real.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you?
Minn – vocals – 39
Skolnick – guitar - 35
Scott Starkiller – bass – 40
Trey K421 – drums - immortal
Have you had other previous members? Yes. This is the 7th version of the band. For a while we joked that we were the Spinal Tap of Portland because of how many drummers we went through...although none died by spontaneously combusting.
Did you make music even when you were young? Yes. All sorts of terrible music that's, fortunately, not recorded.
Where are you from? We're from all over. Oregon, Missouri, New Mexico...but we all ended up in Portland and needed to rock.
What year did the band form? The band started in 2009. We didn't know what we were doing, but had fun learning.
What's your style of genre? Nerd punk. We're all inspired by punk rock music and love the energy that it has, but usually sing about really nerdy stuff like Star Wars and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
What inspires you? 80s movies, video games, sci-fi, D&D, comic books, horror movies...
How often and where do you reherse? We practiced once a week (“Thundering Thursday”) in our singer's basement, which we named Thunderdome.
How have you developed since you started with the music? We started out being more of an 80s skate punk band, but the more we wrote, the nerdier we got. So it ended up becoming nerd punk.
Do you have other interests of work outside the band? All the band members have their own particular set of skills. From computer programming to cooking to managing people, we all do something else during the day, but by that all fades away once we start rocking.
Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? Nope. We booked all our shows and it worked out really well. We've played everything from dive bars to block parties to the Hard Rock Cafe in Seattle.
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? Nope. Thundering Asteroids! has always been a DIY band. Labels are great for some bands, but we really dug having the control of what we wanted to do and how/when we wanted to do it.
What made you decide to make this music? The simple answer: Fun. The big rule of the band was that if we weren't having fun, then we shouldn't be making music together.
What are your songs about? We love songs that reference as many nerdy things as possible. From 80s movies & video games to comic books & D&D, nothing is too geeky or too obscure.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? Scott wrote about 90% of the songs, but everybody added their own parts to each song. So the result was a combination of everyone.
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Scott: I usually start with a lyrical hook, figure out music that fits it, and then try to develop them together because the two parts are so intertwined.
Do you compose in a certain inviroment? Nope. Car, bathroom, dinner table, coffee break...any chance where there's a free moment is a chance to make a new song.
Have you done any covers live? We've played many covers over the years. We usually played one per show. Our favorites were “Godzilla” by the Blue Oyster Cult and “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins.
What language do you sing in? English.
What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? The least was when we were first starting out. We would play first on a week day bill and it would just the bartender listening to us. But that happens. We just called those practices in a different location.
The most was probably our final show on April 2nd, 2016. We were close to reaching club capacity and the place was packed. Great way to go out.
What ages are most of your concert attendants? We mostly played bars so the people would have to be 21 or older. We tried to play as many all ages shows as we could, but there aren't a lot of place like that in Portland. Usually our crowd was in their late 20s or so.
Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? Our set list was always geared toward the venue we were playing, but we tried not to play the same set more than 3 times in a row. It was more to keep us from getting bored than anything. Plus, it was fun figuring out new ways to transition between songs. There were some songs that would always be openers or closers, though. “Frak Off” and “Scott Pilgrim” were great to get people's attention. “Swallow Your Soul” and “Nuke this Site from Orbit” were always favorites of ours to end a set.
Do you have a regular place you play live often? It has changed over the years as venues come and go, but our favorites were always ones that were booked by one guy – Jimmy. He always treated bands well and it was always a blast. First it was Katie O'Brien's, then Sandy Hut, and then Twilight Cafe and Bar.
What was your first gig like? Our first gig was weird. We played with Means Jeans (now on Fat Records) for a roller derby party. We were TERRIBLE. Just bad. But it was still fun and a great way to show us how hard we had to work.
What was your latest gig? Our latest gig was our final show ever. After seven years, we decided to call it quits, but wanted to throw a big party. We did. And it was. It was at the Twilight Cafe & Bar with our favorite local bands – The Anxieties and The Tanked. The place was packed, the vibes were great, and it turned out to be the best show we ever played.
Have you had to cancel a gig? Unfortunately, yes. When our first singer left, we had to cancel a couple gigs because it was so sudden. But, as a rule, we tried to always play shows we had committed to. I don't think we canceled any other since then. We never wanted to be that band.
Where have you played live this year? Dante's, Twilight, Analog... Dante's was great because we had always wanted to play there and it was with a touring band we knew from Brooklyn – Sharkmuffin.
Where do you plan to gig the comming year? Sadly, the band has ended. No more gigs.
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? We tried to always have stickers and something fun to sell at shows. Over the years, we've added items. Right now we have cassettes, CDs, patches, pins, and stickers.
Where can people buy your merchandise? https://thunderingasteroids.bandcamp.com/merch
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? All our songs are free to download on our Bandcamp page and they are all available on Spotify and other streaming networks. It's a great way to listen to music, but if you want to support artists you like, it's always a good idea to pay for music or merchandise.
How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? The music industry needs to constantly fit the needs of listeners. Making music will never stop, but the technology will always be in flux.
What do you think of my work? We weren't familiar with it before, but it's great! Love the worldwide reach of the music coverage.
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? We have no idea, but talking about and sharing music is always a great thing.
Do you have any role models or idols? There are so many people doing rad stuff in music. Too many to name.
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? For us, inspiration can come from any decade, but it's whatever we like to listen to.
What have been your biggest obstacles? Being a DIY band, money and exposure were our biggest obstacles. We had to pay for everything up front and do all our booking and promoting ourselves. In the end, it was worth it because we were able to make our music in the way we wanted to.
What advice would you give other bands or artists? Never play an encore if you're not the last band. Arrive on time for sound check. Always clear the stage quickly for the next band. Don't be a jerk. And never forget to be awesome.
How do you get psyched for a gig? Be prepared to rock, drink coffee, crank up the car music on the way, and don't stress about the little things.
Do you have any new material? We released a limited-edition cassette single of “Polybius / Hi-Keeba!” that is available to download for free and to purchase on our site.
What are your web sites?
http://thunderingasteroids.com/
https://thunderingasteroids.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/nerdpunkpdx
https://www.facebook.com/thunderingasteroids
https://www.instagram.com/thunderingasteroids/
https://www.youtube.com/c/ThunderingAsteroidsRocks
How can people reach you? [email protected] or any of our social media
What are your plans for the future? Good question. We all still want to rock, so look for Thundering Asteroids! members in future projects.
Do you have something to add? Thank you for reaching out to us for an interview!