by emily harris
photo by shelby parks
Philadelphia-born Val Astaire has created a music scene onto himself. With the release of his debut album, Fever Dreams, fast approaching, Astaire has been slowing dropping singles, including eerie-sounding “Kiss” and 80s-influenced “Say You Will.” Sonically, Astaire is as unique as his roots, as he’s since moved to Los Angeles to further expand his career. With an upcoming merch line and the prospect of live shows, Astaire is ready to become a constant in your playlists.
Your debut album, Fever Dreams, is being released on July 17th. Can you tell us about the process of preparing to release an album, especially under such difficult circumstances?
Val: “Things have definitely taken a back seat as far as the initial roll out and plans for the album's release. Before COVID, the album's intended release date was April 10th. Doing this all DIY, there is no special ops team to really rely on. There’s no play book that says ‘how to release an album mid pandemic’ [laughs]. So, I’ve relied heavily on the album's feel and context. It’s always felt like a summer album and I think at this point, throwing a dart mid-summer and saying ‘okay, that’s our date’ was as good a plan as any.”
You recently released the opening track for the album, “runner.” What was the writing process for this song like? Did you know writing it that it would start the album?
V: “Yes! Okay so from the moment Kyle [Blamy] began playing the opening synth arrangement to the song I always felt like I got heavy Blade Runner vibes. So, the working title was always Runner. Which is crazy that the name stuck because I almost never keep the working title for songs. As far as instrumentally I think once we had the vibe and direction it was pretty smooth letting the rest fall in place. Writing the lyrical content was a bit of a different story. Literally. There’s an entirely different version of the song — melody, lyrics, cadence etc. that I had originally performed and recorded. Just before masters I had decided I wasn’t satisfied and completely rewrote the track. But from the get go I think I always had a feeling this song was going to open the record.”
You also released a music video for this final single before the full album drops. Can you tell us about the filming process, and what made you create the lyric video you did?
V: “The video for Runner was an idea that I had from the jump. I tend to tie a lot of the visual aspects to the songs as we’re writing them. I have to have a clear vision of the entire mood and setting otherwise it kinda gets lost for me I feel. So, I had always felt like Runner was the track that you put on at 2am, heartbroken from a summer fling but the sadness feels good cause you’re really feeling it kind of thing, and you get in the car and you drive and you know it’ll be fine but it feels damn good to be sad right now... oddly specific but you know the mood [laughs]. So yeah, that was always the feel. When it came to execution, my girlfriend and I taped her phone to the windshield and drove from the apartment to the garage where we shot the album art and time lapsed the video. I felt like putting you in the driver seat and spoon feeding the entire concept was the only way to go. Plus, quarantine limited my options of conceptual art and working with anyone so we did what we had to [laughs]. The idea to make it a cinematic lyric video was actually my girlfriend Brianna’s idea and executed by Kylie Rebecca.”
This album comes after the release of your debut EP, Yellow, in 2018. How has your approach to creating such a cohesive sound changed since that first release?
V: “With Yellow, I think a lot of that was testing the waters and seeing what we agreed on sonically. We had these dark, ambient songs that had really been the foundation of the sound since Chris [Curran] and I first began working together. We wrote Fall Apart late one night and felt like we had kind of cracked open this bright little egg of inspiration and so we kind of ran with it. We wrote Rebel and Cry Baby before stumbling on a track like Colours which I think was the most ambitious of the bunch — then closing with something more moody like Speaking Over You. That’s really the only time we had ever really set out to stay within the guidelines and the realm of a ‘sound’ for continuity purposes. Moving forward into Fever Dreams I think we had proved to ourselves that we’ve got that funky pop under our belt and we can use that to our advantage to take this project to another level and lift the mood whenever we need it which is showcased on songs like Sweet Medicine, Problem, Talk, and even Say You Will.”
One of the singles off the album, ‘Kiss,’ has a sound unlike anything else you’ve released. What encouraged you to bring about such an eerie sound to the record?
V: “Yeahhhh, Kiss rules. [Laughs] I’m not even shy about loving that song. That song was a total left field idea that was written after the record was finished. I wanted an anthemic sounding track that felt almost uncomfortable. That’s the thing about this project — there really is no water we’re afraid to tread. We try it and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Kiss is one of those songs that whether it does or it doesn’t, I don’t care. It’s about mental health and the way I have allowed myself to perceive myself and bully myself for years. The entire idea was written by playing the beat in my legs and singing it to Chris while he simultaneously began punching in the notes. Kyle came in and laid down a bunch of production and Brett [Romnes] topped it off with some live drums and we had ourselves the weirdest song any of us have done.”
As you originally reign from Philly and now reside in Los Angeles, how has the music of the east and west coast allowed you to become the artist you are today?
V: “Philly is where my punk roots live. I think growing up in the skateboarding community and local hardcore scene in Philly it’s where I found acceptance. I felt a part of something. And because of that acceptance I was inspired to do something extraordinary for myself and travel the world playing that music. It wasn’t until I had met Chris though that I really felt like I found my sound. No one ever asked me what I wanted to sound like. I was just a product of that environment. So Chris actually reaching in and helping create my sound opened up an entirely new creative avenue. I’ve always felt more closer to the Leonard Cohen’s and David Bowie’s than I did the Jello Biafra’s in the sense that although my roots were watered in punk, my flowers bloomed in a more conceptually artistic way. I think living in both NYC and LA at the time helped explore that more.”
Are there any sneak peeks you can share before the full album drops on July 17th?
photo by shelby parks
V: “[Laughs] as far as sneak peeks that I can verbally share, yes! So, I’ve begun creating a campaign of alternative album arts and promotional posters for the release. I’ve also been working on designing a merch store that is much more of a clothing line branded as an ‘artist merch collection.’ I’m not trying to push quick prints for profit. It’s so important to me that there is cohesive direction and a part of that includes the physical distribution of product. Aside from that, the other sneak peek is that Sweet Medicine will be the focus track of the album. It’s very much reminiscent of the Yellow EP style of songs and the most upbeat of the releases so far. Sweet Medicine is framed as a love song that quickly shifts narrative by the time the first pre-chorus hits, revealing itself as a call out to big pharma and the ever so present opioid epidemic that so many people face today at the hands of companies and organizations that keep you sick for profit.”
As you’re open about your love of live-visuals, can we expect you and your backing guitarist, bassist, and drummer to tour again soon?
V: “Yes, I’m a huge fan of the live aspect of this project. It’s something that I have been so excited to share for so long, but unfortunately due to COVID restrictions all of the live shows we had booked have been postponed or cancelled so we had to improvise. We’ve created six live sessions that we’ll be posting in the next few weeks that showcase the bands live performance in an intimate setting. I’m very proud of how these have come out and what we’ve been able to capture given the circumstances. We’ll be waiting for the official green light on concerts in the future so as to not put anyone’s health in danger but I absolutely cannot wait to take the live concepts we’ve conjured for this album's visuals and share them as a living, breathing machine.”