I am a fan of honesty. So when I saw the band name “Spaceships Are Cool”, I said “yes, that is a true statement, spaceships are cool”. Although the awesome band name would have been enough to get me to do an interview, it just so happens that Spaceships Are Cool have some great music. It’s Nintendeo meets 70’s UK pop. While there are blips and bleeps to be had, the real heart of the music comes from the soft, harmonic vocals and acoustic guitar. It’s an introspective vocal pop group in a NASA wrapper, and I love it.

Not only is the music fun and interesting, it also sounds like they have a blast at their live shows. From the interview below: Their shows feature “bright orange spacesuits, cartoon animation, astronaut marionettes and free flying saucer candy.” Sign me up!

Download the track below, read the interview and click the Spaceships Are Cool banner below to hear some more music.

Free download: Season Follows Season

Members/Instruments:
Rob Maddison – song writing, production, vocals, guitar, moog, vocoders, laptop.
Helen Maddison – violin, viola, theremin, omnichord, melodica
Rob Yunioshi – stylophone, monosynth, melodica, musical saw, guitar
Ben James – pianos, slide guitars
Tim Maddison – drums, electro-percussion
Johnny Cousins – Bass guitar, synthbass
Hal – bleeps, amp, beeps

Year Formed: 2006

1. Past: What is your musical background? What has led you to this point?

Ever since the first garage band I joined as a drummer, I always wanted to be in a band called Spaceships are Cool. The answer was always a firm “NO!” from other band members, so I began making weird beats & acoustic guitar loops as soon as I worked out how to work a reel to reel. These, and a healthy addiction to the music sci-fi movies were the very beginnings of SPACESHIPS ARE COOL.

After a while I also started producing bands I was into and began working with DJs and acoustic artists in the UK, Iceland & Sweden.

Traveling around Europe with my laptop and meeting people really added a lot of the imagery that is featured in our songs today.

2. Present: Where are you at now in your career? What are you currently working on?

We have really become self-sufficient over the last couple of years; recording, producing and putting out our own records, which has enabled us to completely control what we do. This year has seen us breaking the top 100 CMJ college radio charts, tracks featured on MTV shows, on a Greenlandic feature film and even on American airlines in flight entertainment!

Back home in the UK, we have written music for the BBC and are now a six (and a half) piece band, featuring bright orange spacesuits, cartoon animation, astronaut marionettes and free flying saucer candy at all of our live shows.

Apart from the main Spaceships are cool Live shows & releases, I am currently working on remixes of Legendary French synth pioneer ‘Bernard Fevre’ for a UK indie label, writing & recording vocals for Lisbon based DJ ‘MR BIRD’ and UK artist ‘Fear of Theydon’.

Spaceships tunes have recently been used on French DIY LP ‘winter records vol 4’ which features re-workings of the theme tune to the Close encounters movie.

3. Future: What’s coming up for you? Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

In the pipeline; a long awaited collaboration project with Icelandic electro band BLOODGROUP, continuing work with Tokyo DJ TATATAMOTO and a Spaceships are cool children’s sci-fi LP!

We will hopefully be taking the live show to the US in feb/march for SXSW & Noise pop festivals, as well as shows later in the year for CMJ & NXNE.

Closer to home, we are playing a whole lotta shows here in the UK throughout the springtime before heading out to Iceland & Sweden during the summer.
In a Galaxy Far Far away…….

By the time we have spread our sci-fi sunshine pop and retro folktronica all over the globe and introduced a whole new generation to the wonders of astronaut costumes, stylophones and analog synths, I expect us to have made at least one film, written two best selling children’s books and created our own game for nintendo wii.

4. Where can people find more of your music?

Come along to www.spaceshipsarecool.com for breaking news, tour dates and more importantly…FREE DOWNLOADS EVERY MONTH!!!!!

5. Anything you’d like to plug?

Our debut LP HEART ECHOES and a 5 track EP, are out now on digital release through iTunes, Amazon & eMusic.

Also available on iTunes is the SPACESHIPS vs MR BIRD Tokyo EP

The Heart Echoes will also be released on a shiny VINYL 12” LP in the new year!