Deastro, a.k.a., Randy Chabot, released  Moondagger in June and it has been haunting my car stereo for months now. It’s 14 tracks are still mesmerizing me, along with the various remixes and releases I’ve collected since then by this prolific artist. I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to say it, the single most intriguing element of Deastro’s music is the variety of sounds that he incorporates into a unified whole of incredible fantasy. As one London review noted, he has the “epic swagger of U2, the intimacy of Badly Drawn Boy, the bleepedy bleepness of Aphex Twin.” That made me smile even as I hate those name-dropping, all-to-easy reference points. But please do go check out what all the fuss is about for yourself. You can find Randy on MySpace, facebook and on these pages here, and here.

I had the opportunity to chat with Randy by phone on Thursday, in preparation for his new tour which starts here in Chicago this week. I’ve not done a phone-in for quite a while and thought to myself that it might be a bit boring and mundane. But oh no, my darlings! I have a hunch that no conversation with this man would ever be boring! I found him to be engaging, intelligent and very funny, in a dry sort of Midwestern way. He was everything that he appeared to be from videos and other interviews I had read: no pretenses, no persona, no withholding what inspires him or what his honest experiences have been. He was charming in every way.

I always try to get the toughest question out there at the start because you never know how long you might have with an artist. They might called away, or they might simply get sick of talking to a nosy blogger. So I explained this to him; it’s a bit awkward at this stage in the process but we muddled through.

“One of the reasons I really wanted to talk to you is that I’ve heard you describe how you feel you channel a kind of energy while onstage, how there exists a level of energy above and beyond the performer. And I’ve attempted to explain this to musicians myself and failed. But I think you might be able to help me out, if you would be so kind.” I go on a bit, (maybe a bit too long), about how performers and audiences feed off one another, there’s a give and take in the interaction. But at the heart of it all exists some current of intangible creativity that an artist is open to, that they make themselves open to somehow.

“Well yes”, he replies without hesitation, “it kind of takes away from the idea of individual genius really. But I feel like you don’t really make anything new actually, you just build on the bricks set by the artists before you. Which is not to say that you don’t work at it or accomplish anything, but more that the creativity is based on collaboration.”

And as I’m nodding my head in agreement (which of course he can’t see, I’m on the phone, duh!) he continues to talk about how you feel that creative energy which is larger than the individual and even as it’s surging through you at that moment onstage, you also feel such a connection with everyone around you, that the meaning of it all, the community of creativity is what is at the center of all art. We take a much needed breath here. This has started off on a heavy foot! My brain is racing with ideas, however we’ve not really warmed up to one another yet. But I’m wondering if this is why his work is in constant motion, a constant process of remixing both his own music and that of others who inspire him. I never quite understood the “remix” like this before and I really like this angle on it instead of the more commercial aspect of churning out a new product in order to gain some economic profit in an easier, faster way.

I ask him about his new record, I’ve heard that it’s mostly written if not already completed and there are rumors that it will be quite different from the fantastical, light and intricately created Moondagger.

“It’s darker in it’s message, a little more serious” he tells me.

“Serious in terms of it’s lyrics too?”

“Well..getting back to the beginning, classical ideas about beauty and stuff, calm,… beautiful art for a while” he says in a relaxed tone. He’s happy about this change, I can tell.

“So how many songs do you think you’ve got in the bag for this next record?”

“I don’t know. I never really know. I’m always writing songs. I wrote basically a full-length with the band this fall. And that’s done. I don’t know what to do with it, probably not do anything with it honestly, probably record it in my basement it as b-sides and release it. I’m putting out so much music this year I don’t want to overplay it. I’m kinda gonna take a break and I want to go back to studying other people’s music after this record is done.”

“You give a lot of music away on your blog.” (Did you know that Deastro has a blog, dear readers?)

“I’m really into making music on the spot. Sometimes I get a bunch of coffee and write a record in like two nights and see what happens, usually it’s really fun.”

“I love that you have a blog,” I tell him, “and some people know about it, but it doesn’t seem like lot of people know about it and folks make comments and you answer them. How cool is that!?!”

“Ha, thanks, well, yeah, I definitely want music to be more personal and I’m always gonna give away my more creative stuff.”

“I love digital media” he continues,  “but at the same time artists should be paid… music should and will get more local and I’m excited about that. It’s just evolving….Musicians have always been an instrument of accelerating culture and most of the musicians of this generation are good people.”

And we discuss the importance of community and how musicians are just part of a larger force of young people helping to bring communities together as they face hard times. The DIY attitude that began in the punk and indie scene prepared us for much of the community organizing that kids in their 20s are now doing in places like Detroit and Chicago and we agree that it’s cool to be involved in it.

I know that Randy has a commitment to his community. It’s something he’s talked openly about before. In his visual art he expresses his views on how society undermines communities. The album covers, and the cassette tape covers that you can see and purchase via his blog are beautiful collages and drawings that show loads of symbolism that simply scream out two words to me: social violence. There’s ragged points and sharp teeth and vicious monsters with gaping mouths, all poised to devour colorful, beautiful, serene nature and social order. Randy’s art is an obvious display of a battle between good and evil.

“A lot of my art is about suffering. I want it to look insane. I like throwing one or two words in monster text so you understand kind of where I’m coming from. A monster saying “feed me,” a super anorexic monster or a super obese monster to play on those themes of people who have too much and people who have too little…individualism to the extent that it’s not healthy, where it makes people feel isolated. Especially in capitalist society, that’s always in danger of happening because it’s kind of the goal. You have to be a shark. And I don’t want to be a shark.” Hunger Pains mp3

I couldn’t agree more, as any of you who know me could guess. And the more we talk the more I think he realizes what a kindred spirit I am.

“I definitely feel like my art symbolizes violence and how crazy evil itself is. That’s why I draw lots of teeth and so on.”

“So would you consider yourself a Socialist, philosophically or politically?” I ask. Continue reading Deastro Tells Tart How He Will Dance For Money (or maybe just continue to amaze us with electro wizardry)