Carbonaut

Interview by: Eli Roberts

Eli: How did Carbonaut come to be a group?
Nick: Carbonaut was formed by myself after the previous band I was in, ‘Burning Artist’ disbanded. I first asked my old friend and former lead singer Chad to come join this new project and he was immediately in. I had been jamming with a guitarist, Adam Sibiley, and asked him to join as well. Finally, my roommate at the time Brian Kinelli mentioned he had played bass when he was younger and I ended up asking him to come play and that was the four that became the core of Carbonaut. After we had been jamming for a few weeks a young man named Noah Zinter responded to a flyer I had put up looking for a second guitarist and after one practice we asked him to join. Those four with myself on drums became the original line-up for the band.

Eli: Where did the name come from?
Nick: The name Carbonaut was a creation of our singer/lyricist Chad. He states: a traveler of the inner workings of those organic substances which compose life and, subsequently, all following inorganic actions and reactions which afflict said living organisms. As much as one would expect a cosmonaut to travel into the unknown of the cosmos in order to experiment, document, become educated on the subject, and then translate that data into reports- so, too, does a carbonaut engage in exploration. however, rather than traveling out to some other setting , a carbonaut's journey lies within, as an analyzing of the self and the home environment are to be undertaken in order to become educated in consistent habits and habitats, and to witness reoccurring patterns in behavior and different results from social experimentation. in a way, everyone is a carbonaut in their own right, as it is not difficult to make a prediction based on evidence of current behavior. this is simply a call to arms to take an introspective approach when digesting pop-culture, media, and most importantly music. Does the music which enters your ear ever really get inside of you? we five musicians have experienced the fabric of our lives being interwoven with the basic components of music. we can say, with confidence, that our carbon is completely dependant upon the patterning of musical instruments played in unison. our organic composition is very much attached to an inorganic operation. the sound becomes physically manifest in our minds and in our beating hearts. and so, our journey has begun, and, hopefully, in the end we will have translated this relationship between the living body and the living song in such a way that there is conscious questioning of what makes up life, other than the basic elements found in human body.

Eli: How is the Philly scene treating you these days?
Nick: The philly scene is actually a very fickle one. As much good music as is being made is met with just as many clubs closing and fourteen times as many unoriginal bands as well. There are a few redeeming DIY type productions companies like HeyDay and Praying Mantis that are always putting on really great shows that we have had the pleasure to be a part of. Recently though we have been getting around the tri-state area playing Jersey, NYC, and CT. We have also headed out to York PA and State College PA to try and get exposure other places than strictly Philadelphia.

Eli: How do you want people to feel after seeing you live?
Nick: After paying witness to a Carbonaut show we simply want people to have a great and let go of themselves for an hour. We are trying to bring back a confidence and the unpredictable unique kind of chaos that has seemed to have vanished from rock music recently. Our live shows have been described as a bar fight set to a waltz and have also been compared to the late At the Drive-In’s live performances which is possible the greatest compliment any band could receive. In the end it doesn’t matter if the audience is completely changed or wowed as long as they were able to step outside themselves and move with us to even the smallest portion of a song.

Eli: What is the formula, or process to writing your songs?
Nick: In writing the songs we try and keep a very organic type process involved throughout. It starts usually with a jam on a riff or a beat and then and collective listening back to what was played. Often there will be a predetermined theme or topic that denotes many of the elements and usually the structure of a song. Because we have a poet for a lead singer the prose used will often cause songs to break away from the standard verse chorus verse chorus end type formula.

Eli: When can we expect a full length?
Nick: We are currently writing songs for a new album which should be pressed by May of this year. Afterward we will be out to California during the summer months and hopefully touring quite a bit.

Eli: What are your main goals for the near future?
Nick: For the near future our main goals are to come to a decision on wether or not we want to replace the two guitarists, Noah Zinter and Scott Solemena, who have come and gone through the Carbonaut family. We are writing as a foursome right now while continuing to try out new guitarists. Hopefully by the end of the month a decision will be made and sometime in late March/early April we will enter the studio and record the new album.

Eli: You had some airplay in LA, how has that helped your following?
Nick: Having the airplay out in Cali was defiantly a very cool experience. The main thing we realized was the fact that certain areas of this country are far more receptive to the indie-rock type sound we are putting out. Just the notion that people have actually called in to request a song from a band that isn’t on MTV and that they defiantly haven’t heard before gives us an incredible amount of confidence to continue what we are doing. The best part about the whole airplay situation is certainly that it says the music, rather than a contrived image or marketing assault, can stand on its own.

Eli: One more question, if you didn't have music, where do you think your life would take you?
Nick: If I didn’t have music I honestly would be at a loss as music has designated basically everything I have done since I began creating it. Music is certainly my lifeblood and without being able to listen to or play it I really would be lost. However, before I started playing I used to write short stories so perhaps that is what I would dedicate my time to. But honestly after becoming consumed with the beauty that is music I can see anything else being able to take its place.

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For more info, show updates and music
check out Carbonaut on Myspace.com
www.myspace.com/carbonaut