With their latest album, Resolution Of Happiness, Astari Nite open up their sound, moving in a brighter, more vibrant direction heavily influenced by the nineties. They haven’t abandoned the atmospheric gothic style of their past releases but have instead allowed the varied influences of the band members to seep in. The result is an album that feels both nostalgic and fresh, echoing the past while forging a new path forward. In the following interview, frontman Mychael discusses the making of Resolution Of Happiness.
Making Resolution Of Happiness, were there any major differences in terms of the goals or process behind it?
Mychael: I guess jumping in from putting out the Here Lies album a couple of years ago, we wanted to steer away from the gloom. We wanted to do something a little bit brighter as a nod to the nineties, which we were heavily influenced by during this record. And I think jumping down and speaking about facts in my life kind of put color to what the boys in the band were putting together musically. I was able to tell more of a story rather than hiding behind this shade of gloom, I guess you could say.
You mentioned that there was a nineties influence. Were there particular bands that you feel were an inspiration behind this?
Mychael: I’ve always been infatuated with Mazzy Star and PJ Harvey, so I kind of pulled from that direction. Whereas the band itself, they were very influenced by, let’s say, Nine Inch Nails and Placebo, Pet Shop Boys. Just naming those bands right there; they were very inspirational in the nineties. And of course, bands like The Breeders, I played off of that as well, a little Nirvana as well.
It was just very organic. It came naturally. We just didn’t sit there and say, “Hey guys, let’s write this nineties dedication album”. It just flowed. It’s what we were supposed to do during our journey.
Did it perhaps make you re-evaluate any older material and perhaps affect the way you perform it now?
Mychael: A couple of songs. For me personally, I feel as though as a singer, I’ve progressed quite a bit in range, so I’m allowed to do a couple of different peculiar things than, let’s say, I was on the Hear Lies album. So I’m totally thankful for that. But as far as the writing, I keep on getting back to that. I feel like I’m actually not hiding behind words any longer. I’m telling my story personally. That was very important for me during this writing process. It felt more fun with this album; the other albums were great, but it was a different period of my life that I was writing about,
Especially on this album, I feel that a lot of songs have really strong melodic hooks to them, but also a lot of really interesting atmosphere as well. I’m curious kind of how those factors intertwine in terms of the creative process.
Mychael: Some of these songs have, let’s say, a verse or a chorus written by Danny and Howard maybe a couple of years ago. And then they kind of put a song together when we were at our studio and it just poured out. It was that real. It just felt so comfortable with the music that we were playing. The guys all know how to play each other’s instruments, even like a drumbeat to a certain extent. So if one of them wasn’t there, someone else filled in and it just all came together. It may sound silly, but sort of like the Bee Gees. We were actually listening to the Bee Gees when writing this, and it felt great. It was beautiful.
Given that process, I’m wondering if the band has a lot of musical ideas floating around and then only some of them end up being used in songs on the album?
Mychael: When we released, let’s say, “All Else is a Curse” and “Ashtray Ballet“ and “Bowie in Daydreams” it was during a part of my life where I lost my brother and then I lost my father and I didn’t know how to breathe anymore. I don’t want to sound sappy, but it was a lot of weight on my shoulders. And then my mother was stricken with dementia, so I didn’t know what to do other than put those out as singles during the time.
They were supposed to be as they are now on this album. But during that time, I wanted to release the album, and then after I found a way to actually breathe again and to realize that death can be happy, you can learn from it, you can grow strength from it. All these other songs just followed suit, and then we were able to put them on the album. So as far as the writing, I really believe in fate. I’m not one to throw shade, so to speak, on religion, but if I am to believe in anything, I believe in fate and fate tends to bring magic to you. So whether you believe in fairytales or not, whatever is your truth, if you’re super duper kind to people and you respect one another, a lot of good things are going to come to you. You’re going to grasp that positive energy, and I believe the universe gave us a gift during our writing process and it just all came together.
As the band, do you feel that either live performance or recording has more importance, or are both equally important to you as musicians?
Mychael: Both important. So when we hit these songs in the studio, we’re writing them as if we’re performing on stage. I think that’s what makes things … I guess it makes it more of a better memory, if you will. When we’re on stage jamming these tracks to our audience, I know personally speaking in my head, I’m thinking about that night when we were in the studio and we were all happy and we were rocking this track, doing it in one to three takes. So when we’re on stage, we give it the same amount of love as we were giving it in the studio.
Could you give a brief history of the band?
Mychael: So I met Illia, who’s my best friend in the whole world. I mean, all of the bandmates are best friends, but I met Illia before I met Howard and Danny. So I met Ilia in 2006. And he and I, we wrote a couple of tracks, this and that, and jammed with other people, but it wasn’t until about 2013/2014 that we put out an album. So in our heads, we came together in about 2013, but we’ve known each other for quite some time. We opened for Peter Murphy in Miami. And then shortly after that, we got invited to play Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig, Germany. Then it was more or less Ilia and myself with other musicians, until we found Danny and Howard. So I’d say between 2013 and 2016, it really was a point for Ilia and I to meet the right people. And now it’s just love at first sight between the four of us.
Now that the album’s out, how extensively do you think you’re going to tour?
Mychael : We have specific shows set up. Honestly, we’re not the band that wants to play on a Monday, Tuesday, and a Wednesday. We have careers as well, but for the times and chances that we do get to play, it’s beautiful. We get to meet new people and experience different parts of life and different parts of the world. It’s gorgeous. Now, if a different type of opportunity presented itself and we fly over to Europe or the UK, that’s cool. But I really don’t see myself in a tour van playing a show on Monday, and unless we’re opening for the Pet Shop Boys or something, then I’ll open any Monday you want.
You do a lot of gothic festivals and gothic shows. Obviously, that’s a really great scene and community. Are you concerned at all about maybe being pigeonholed, given that your music does bring together a lot of influences and you may have a wider potential audience?
Mychael: That’s the gift of Resolution of Happiness. It’s an alternative album with influences from other genres. It’s not just goth. Now, if you listen to the Here Lies album, it totally sounds goth, but I believe that this is kind of a breakout album for us to spread a little bit more cheer in other genres, if you will. It’s dark indie, it’s indie, it’s pop, it’s alternative, it’s goth influenced. At the end of the day, it’s anything that anybody that is a listener wants it to be.
Is there anything else coming up that you want to mention? Any videos in the works or anything else besides the upcoming shows?
Mychael: We released the “Tongue Tied Galore” video, which is great. A lot of people love the fact that, and we’ve seen comments and people have messaged us where they’ll say, “Oh my God, you are actually in the sun, in the sunlight playing and having fun and smiling. You’re not just this dark gloomy band”. So what does that tell you? Once again, Resolution of Happiness is for everybody. People are seeing that and it feels refreshing to us knowing that we kind of broke out of that. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the goth scene. Everybody is super-duper nice and they have always been so kind to us, but our music is for everybody. It’s just not for goths, it’s for whomever appreciates a tune.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Mychael: Once again, our message is about love and creating memories for people and making memories with others. We’re a really, really positive band. We’re happy that we get to travel and we’re happy that we get to meet people. Just sometimes forgiveness is needed, so anybody that’s listening or watching or that’s going to read this, there might’ve been something in your life, that you’re carrying the weight around. Sometimes just looking the other way, but knowing where you came from it, it’s a lot easier to live your life. And I think I’ve learned that from, again, death. I just have a different perspective on life. Helping my mother every day with dementia, it provided me with so much patience. I hardly go on social media, but when I do, it just tends to be like this red flag, this just dark abyss of saturated nonsense where people are just complaining to one another or people are saying, “Oh, this is that and that is that”. There’s a whole other life out there. Go teach somebody how to plant a tree or garden and post about that. It’s far more beneficial than giving somebody a like or a heart because they hate something.
