Having existed in a number of combinations, from front-man Joshua Pederson being backed by a Minneapolis thrash band, to just Josh and a lap top, the now Chicago based band Where Astronauts Go To Hide currently exist as a five piece.
Originally under an entirely different moniker, the project began in 2004, but after a while “A River, A Fire” didn’t seem to be working out. “I decided that a name with a comma in it was a bit too much. I remember people suggesting what the name was often mistaken for: A River Afire. I didn’t like that at all. I settled with Where Astronauts Go To Hide - inspired by Minneapolis pizza delivery guys who dress in spandex space-suits and drive around in battery-powered car-pod things. It holds no relevance, it’s just a name.” (Joshua Pederson)

It was in 2007 that Pederson made the move to Chicago from his native Minneaplois, bonded with musician Rachel Kahn over folk music and vegetarianism, and began moving into the musical transition from dark experimentation to a lighter, folky sound. As a band Where Astronauts Go To Hide have released a single EP, 2009′s Amongst Friends, following up Pederson’s previous solo EP and full-length, which are now unavailable, locked away in the musical vault.
The band has plans to record a new EP in March, when they’ll head out to Omaha, NE to record at Love Drunk Studios, and until then will be filling their time with touring. “We’ve caught wind of a lot of exciting ideas lately, but nothing is set in stone so I don’t want to mention them. I suppose it’s best to simply say that we’re very excited for what’s to come.” (Joshua Pederson)

With a style that is deeply nestled in the bed of folk, Where Astronauts Go To Hide create dreamy, drifting tracks that have a sense of comforting simplicity. Implementing such delights as violin, tambourine choruses, and a good whistle track, the band has a little hint of country, particularly coming from Pederson’s vocals which do-si-do with a brassy, cowboy-esque style at different junctures. Vocally there are also moments off of the ol’ dusty trail, where we hear more of a shine toward the indie styling of Ben Gibbard and the folk punk of Nana Grizol front man Theo Hilton.

Loose and loping in most of their songs, Where Astronauts Go To Hide create a comfortable collective sound that fans of melodic folk and smart lyrics will enjoy. Listeners new and old can look forward to more music from this group as they diligently keep their noses to the grindstone preparing the upcoming EP, hitting the road this spring/summer, and putting out an eventual full length.

Where Astronauts Go To Hide Online:
Myspace

Joshua Pederson talked with Telegram Sam this week about Where Astronauts Go To Hide, dream tours, and tribute albums.

Telegram Sam: If you could book a tour with any 3 bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

Joshua Pederson: I would absolutely love to tour with Wilco. I think that would be a dream come true. I am truly inspired by that band and can’t go a day without listening to them. Another dream support slot would be for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Seeing them live multiple times and watching hours upon hours of live footage, I feel like our stage mentality is somewhat modeled after theirs. They’re having the time of their lives up on that stage, and so are we. A lesser known, and possibly more reasonable act is Langhorne Slim. I love his approach toward songwriting and his seemingly profound love for the road.

T.S: Top three favorite cities/venues to play?

Joshua Pederson: Being that we have members that live in both Chicago and Minneapolis, I feel like I can’t list those - it would be cheating. So other than our Mid-western home bases, we do have a shortlist of cities we absolutely love to play, regardless of the room. Topping that list is Denver, followed by New York and Omaha.

T.S: What are your top three musical influences?

Joshua Pederson: As a band our influences vary somewhat intensely, but we all have our common ground, especially with the classics. Springsteen makes his way back into the conversation - and I believe Neil Young and Creedence Clearwater Revival. As you move forward in time, our individual influences deviate - but I consider this an asset to our sound. If everyone in the band were obsessed with Spoon, we would sound like a crummy version of Spoon. Thankfully, we don’t.

T.S: What are your plans for your music in the next year?

Joshua Pederson: To keep pushing as hard as we can to gain a stronger fan-base nationwide, through touring and networking. That’s the forever-plan. Rachel and I treat this band as a full-time job in hopes that someday it pays us enough to survive. We’re not about making it big and winning VMAs - we just want to be able to live off of music so we can productively continue doing what we love to do. Our plans for the next year and beyond are to carefully take the right steps to make that a reality.

T.S: Is there any instrument you don’t play already, but wish you did?

Joshua Pederson: I am the worst drummer in the world and wish I were capable of playing a kit. I can’t even play a tambourine right.

T.S: What other projects have you been a part of?

Joshua Pederson:With the exception of an awful rock band in high school, I’ve really only worked on Where Astronauts Go To Hide. I’ve tossed around ideas with musicians I would love to work with, but we all lead very busy lives and I feel like offshoots would be detrimental to the productivity of our main projects.

T.S: If you were to record a tribute album to one artist, who would it be and why?

Joshua Pederson: I think I would be interested in doing a Fleetwood Mac tribute album. It would be a really cool challenge but I think that we could pull it off. Rachel would want to do James Taylor or Joni Mitchell - “My mom always listened to them growing up and told me that it reminded of her being young. I find it interesting that it ended up having me feeling the same way towards them.”

T.S: Who was the first band/musician you saw live?

Joshua Pederson: Here’s a hilarious combination of responses.

Rachel: Wynton Marsalis. Myself: Kid Rock. Embarrassing - but it was for a kid’s birthday party when I was 14.

T.S: Can you tell us a little bit about your writing process?

Joshua Pederson: I can’t really describe my personal process because it’s different every time, but once I’ve written a song, I record a demo of it and send it to the band. They craft ideas and we piece them all together at rehearsal.