God is an astronaut

The group was formed by the twin brothers Niels and Kinsell Torsten in 2002. GIAA is currently one of the most successful instrumental groups on a global scale.

Bass player Niels Kinsella on the principles of composing music and the influences that shaped the style of God Is an Astronaut -

“We grew up in the 80s, so we were greatly influenced by thrash metal. At one time, Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and so on. And then in the mid 90s, we put together an electronic band like Chemical Brothers. All that anything, from gravity to electronic music. All of this is mixed into a modern influence. That's where gravity and dance music come from. "

"Unlike most groups that work on their songs at the rehearsal point, in many ways we are a studio group and we love to bring the finished composition right in the studio and, if necessary, play this thing live, in the presence of a recording engineer. All because in our we grew up in dance and electronic music, in which it is customary to compose, record and independently produce our own recordings. Any of our compositions is born on the basis of a specific melody, and it does not matter how this thing was originally written, on guitars or piano, then it is brought to the final form. "

Thorsten Kinsella -

"In God is an Astronaut, we first had the opportunity to combine two ideas together, two styles, namely electronics and rock. Here you have the roots of our style."

The idea of ​​the name of the group came to them when watching Clive Barker's movie "Nightbreed". The band released their first album, The End of the Beginning, on their own label, Revive Records .

Thorsten Kinsella on the name of the group -

“The phrase“ God Is An Astronaut ”is not even a statement. It is just a name. God! A remark in the film. They say that the Lord is many-sided and can have any embodiment. Why can't he be an astronaut or a bird flying in the sky?".

Niels Kinsella on the title -

"We just liked the name, it suited our apocalyptic and melancholy sound."

Two music videos for songs from The End of the Beginning , "The End of the Beginning" and "From Dust to the Beyond" were broadcast on MTV UK and other European MTV networks.

All Is Violent, All Is Bright ( 2005 ) is the second studio album of the Irish post-rock band God Is an Astronaut , released in 2005 .

The video clip for the song “Fragile” got into the rotation of the MTV channel. The reviewer positively assessed the melodic parts of the guitar and keyboards, as well as the well-thought out structure of the tracks - their tempo gradually increases, reaching a maximum in the middle of the composition, and then drops. The album stands out from the numerous post-rock works of the most diverse groups by the lack of formalism, vibrant energy of sound (unlike the Far From Refuge album, where more attention is paid to creating a feeling of unearthly matter and existential aesthetics).

A Moment of Stillness (from the English - “Moment of Calm”) - a mini-album of the Irish post-rock band God is an Astronaut , released in 2006 .

“Forever Lost (Reprise)” is the new version of the song “Forever Lost” from the album All is Violent, All is Bright .

In April 2007, the band released its third album, Far From Refuge , available for download on the official God Is an Astronaut website.

In 2008, the fourth album of the same name “ God is an Astronaut ” was released, recorded from October 2007 to October 2008. The sound of the album came even closer to “live”, that is, the music was recorded in a format involving live performances. Live rhythm section and structured sound of guitar effects brings the group closer to the music from the stage, while the amazing atmosphere of space rock is not lost.

Age Of The Fifth Sun (from the English - “The Age of the Fifth Sun”) is the fifth studio album of the Irish post-rock band God is an Astronaut , released in 2010 .

The name of the album is most likely associated with the serial number of the album - 5 . The single "In The Distance Fading" was released on February 12, 2010.

Since April 16, the pre-order of the album was available, the album itself was released on May 17, 2010. Cover art by Dave King.

The next studio album is called Origins and it was released on September 16, 2013 via Rocket Girl , with which the band collaborated on recording All is Violent, All is Bright . Prior to the album, the project announced the release date for the single " Spiral Code ", which was released on September 2.

Thorsten Kinsella about the album -

“We initially sought to release a record with experimental pop structures, that was our goal, and we tried different instruments, a wind section, vocals and vocoders. It was important for us that in its sound Origins stood out as much as possible, but without interruption from our corporate “Origins” gave us a few things - several experimental guitar tones, textures and sounds, but what’s interesting, I composed the Origins compositions in ways that weren’t traditional for me, the starting point was the sound itself. sculpting; I created new compositions based on sounds. During this time I composed about 15 tracks in the traditional way, that is, first on an acoustic guitar or piano "

“Having recorded and released the Origins album, we were in a very gloomy mood and thought that the modern world was depressed. People were beheaded, burned alive in prison cells, ethnic cleansing was carried out, and so on. Therefore, to compose a darker, heavier the record, it came out somehow by itself, very naturally. Origins was an experimental album, but we obviously didn’t shine on it. "

"Origins" ("Origins"), for us it was an opportunity to explain why we played such music from the very beginning. When we started our career in 2001, we composed music for ourselves, and we didn’t care what was expected of us - no one expected anything, because then no one had heard us yet. It was as if we could forget about the expectations of the audience, and do what we wanted. This is why the Origins album has been a return to my roots. It’s like we are starting all over again - and this novelty is felt - in the compositions of this album I express my influence. "

Niels Kinsella about the album -

“We wanted to expand our sound, and the vocals and lyrics are an obvious choice of development, along with experimental guitar sounds, and other instruments, such as winds and acoustic guitars. And while working on this record, we changed our composition technique. On previous albums, we composed the next song on the piano, acoustic guitar or electric guitar, and only then we added other standard textures, and this time we started with textures, created interesting noises, riffs, sound landscapes and turned it all into position. The very writing process like creating a sculpture. "

The band's latest album, released June 21, 2015, is called Helios | Erebus, and is inspired by the mythology of various ancient civilizations, and the album cover is made in the Aztec style. The name consists of the name of the ancient Greek god of the Sun Helios and the ancient Greek god of Darkness Erebus.

Thorsten Kinsella about the album -

"Astrology and astronomy of Ancient Greece, we decided that this topic is suitable for the album, and there is also a certain relationship with the name of our group. This time, inspiration was drawn from mysterious ancient civilizations, from the Greeks, Vikings, Mayans, Aztecs, Egyptians, etc. e. In fact, we released an experimental guitar album with pop sensuality, but without a total passion for popular music. In any case, this is not a pop album - it’s still very alternative music. "

Jamie Dean about the album -

“This album turned out darker and harder for us, and the whole work as a whole is a reflection of the modern state of mankind. It's no secret that we live in dark times. The inhuman relationship between people is increasingly shocking, and we tried to transfer to Helios Erebus in music this darkness. "

“We wanted to build a kind of bridge between the two worlds: studio recording and live performance. Because a lot of people come to our show and say,“ Oh, I didn’t think it would be so hard and driving. ”I think that our recordings music usually turns out to be much more ambient and relaxing. So we wanted to make a recording that would pick up that raw energy of live performance, but at the same time continue to appeal to fans of ambient music. We wanted to check if we could combine these two worlds - heavy space and energy cally charged darkness -. which have become our reference points throughout the recording process was not easy - in fact, these two worlds are separated from each other and combine them, so it was very difficult "to correct from the point of view of the art manner.

Thorsten Kinsella on "The Last March" (October 2013) -

"This topic was written three years ago, in a gloomy time for me, and for me this thing was the last cry for help."

Thorsten Kinsella on "Transmissions" -

“This name was born strictly because of the sound of guitars, reminiscent of Morse code. As a rule, the music itself tells us what the name will be.

Thorsten Kinsella on "Weightless" -

"this thing reminds me of something epic. I wrote it before I watched the movie Prometheus, but I decided that this theme would fit into the scene in which the heroes landed on the planet, and on this planet civilization of certain intellectuals. Something similar happened in the history of 2001: Space Odyssey, its strange effect. This is real escapism. Try to imagine yourself elsewhere, as if you were a million light-years away, and with my music we go to new galaxies, we cannot all be astronauts, but least able to travel in different ways. "

“In the case of the“ Weightless ”theme, I needed to choose something mysterious, something comprehensive, something alien, and I decided that the concept of“ Weightless ”is just what we need. It reflects flight and escapism in general.

The most successful album of "Astronauts" is All Is Violent, All Is Bright . The conclusion is due to the fact that it was this album that became the most popular and is considered the "peak" of the work of God is an Astronaut.

It is worth noting that the members of the group are selected very competently, complementing each other in each performance.

An interesting story is the writing of the composition "Sea of ​​Trees" ("Sea of ​​Trees") from the album "Helios / Erebus"

Thorsten Kinsella : “There is a forest in the Wicklow County of Ireland called“ Djouce Forest ”, and this very forest inspired us by this name. There is also a waterfall of amazing beauty. It is in this place that I find real peace of mind "This is the place where clarity of thought visits you, and it clears up in my head. How lucky I am that I live next door to this beauty."

Interesting Facts

The twin brothers Torsten and Nils Kinsella were born on the same day, April 27, 1976.

Thorsten Kinsella about his father -

"My father was a bass player for more than half a century. In the 60s, he played on the psychedelic rock scene. He had a huge influence on me and my brother and taught us how to play. He is one of the coolest guys, not only because he my father, he can get into the music of Rammstein, The Eagles, and the Rolling Stones. He understands and appreciates everything ... "

Niels Kinsella about his influences as a bass player -

“I started playing bass at age 11, it was back in the 80s. I, as a bass player, were influenced by Metallica's Cliff Burton and my father, who also plays bass; it was he who taught me the basics. In 90 "I played guitar for several years, but as part of God Is An Astronaut switched to bass."

Niels Kinsella about his origin -

“Thorsten and I are half German and half Irish. My mother came up with the names. She's from Hamburg, Germany.

Drummer Lloyd Hanni

He joined the group at the end of 2003.

Lloyd has been playing the drums since he was nine, and grew up in a family of musicians. For six years he took lessons from John Wadham, a famous Irish jazz drummer.

Musical influences - Chris Hanni (Lloyd's father), who once played the guitar in the Irish rock band Time Machine, as well as Robbie Brannan, cousin of Lloyd's mother. Brennan drummed with Phil Lynott and Paul Brady

Hanni borrowed style elements from Steve Gadd, Buddy Rich and John Wadham.

In the 80s he played in the Irish metal band Skyline, in the 90s in the blues team Jenkins Ear. Also recorded in the 90s and 00s with the Irish electronic duo Ufeari,

He took part in the recording of the solo project of Fergham McKean, the leader of Whipping Boy (single "What you Wanna Start").

Born and raised in Bray Co., Wicklow, but currently with three sons lives in Dublin.

Current

• Torsten Kinsella - guitar , vocals , keyboards (since 2002)
• Niels Kinsella - bass , guitar , visual effects (since 2002)
• Lloyd Hanney - drums (since 2003)
• Robert Murphy - keyboards , guitar (since 2017) ^[1]

Former

• Gazz Carr (Gazz Carr) - guitar (2012—2013)
• Michael Fenton - Percussion (2011)
• Stefan Velan - drums (2012-2015)
• Jamie Dean - keyboards , synthesizer , guitar , vocals (2011-2017)

Albums

• The End of the Beginning (2002)
• All is Violent, All is Bright (2005)
• Far From Refuge ( April 16, 2007 )
• God is an Astronaut ( November 7, 2008 )
• Age of the Fifth Sun (May 17, 2010)
• Origins (September 16, 2013)
• Helios | Erebus (June 21, 2015)
• Epitaph (April 27, 2018)

Mini Albums

• A Moment of Stillness ( January 27, 2006 )

Singles

• "The End of the Beginning" (2003)
• "From Dust to the Beyond" (2003)
• Point Pleasant (2003)
• Coda (2004)
• Fragile (2004)
• “Fire Flies and Empty Skies” (2005)
• Beyond the Dying Light (2006)
• Tempus Horizon (2006)
• No Return (2007)
• Shining Through (2009)
• "In the Distance Fading" (2010)
• Spiral Code (2013)
• The Last March (2014)
• Epitaph (2018)

• - official site of God Is an Astronaut
• Songs of God Is an Astronaut on Yandex.Music
• Profile of God Is an Astronaut at Last.fm
• Official God Is an Astronaut Myspace page