Features : Astrofix, Blending Rock Genres Into Its Own Sound, Releases New Single “Hell Or High Water”

Astrofix just naturally brings a lot of diversity to their rock ’n’ roll.

Showcasing that variety is one of the reasons the band chose “Hell or High Water” to be the first song released from their upcoming EP, T.I.D.A.L. (light).

“We’re really excited about the single coming out,” said Jamie Merideth, vocals, keyboards and guitar. The song drops on May 9. “It’s kicking off the T.I.D.A.L. (light) EP, and it’s one of the songs that shows our versatility.” The EP drops on June 10.

“Hell or High Water” has a classic, rock-ballad feel with piano and a softer tone, but with metal and grunge riffs.

Astrofix is Merideth; Phil Cooper, guitar; Andy Jones, bass guitar and vocals; and James Caruso, drums and percussion.

“We listen to or come from a lot of different backgrounds, but I think one of the things that we like about our sound the most is that we have this nice little kind of Venn diagram overlap as well,” said Jamie. “We come together from all of these places to form the Astrofix sound.”

His background is classic rock, amended: “I say classic rock, but obviously I fall within the ’90s as well. My age puts me squarely in the Nirvana explosion.”

Phil puts his tastes and experience in early ’90s grunge. “Bands like Tool and Queens of Stone Age have played a heavy part in my musical upbringing and kind of how I go about writing, and other lesser known bands like Amplifier and Failure as well.”

 “I love the ’90s as well,” said Andy, “but my playing is probably more like pop-punk type of stuff. I love having lots of energy and messing around.”

“I come from a metal background,” said James. “I’m the oldest one of the group, so some of my roots date back to ’80s and ’90s heavy metal. ”

T.I.D.A.L. (light) will be the second part of a two-part project. The first part, T.I.D.A.L. (dark), their third release, came out last year. T.I.D.A.L. is Tales in Darkness and Light.

“I like to make sure that we have a balance of messages,” said Jamie. “It’s positive stuff, but also acknowledging some of the hardships of life as well.”

Most of the lyrics are handled by Jamie and Andy, but the music comes from the entire band. Wherever the ideas for music come from, the band, together, blocks out the song and then shapes the music through writing sessions and rehearsals and in the studio.

“We always serve the song, though. That’s the ultimate goal,” said Jamie.

T.I.D.A.L. (dark) may have an overall darker theme than (light) will have, but the variety is evident in its six tracks. With the different mixes in each track of classic rock, metal, grunge, instrumentation, and pace, there is never any feeling of having heard a song before.

But there is the Astrofix sound.

James said, “I’m here to provide the proper dynamics to each song — what kind of sound we hear, make sure that the delivery happens at a proper dynamic, depending on what we’re shooting for with that particular song.”

“Given our diversification of artists, our sort of overall musical spectrum, I think it offers an opportunity to bring a lot of people together, fans of all various sub-genres of rock and roll, to kind of all band together under the Astrofix flag,” said Phil. “We want people to ride with us.”

“You’d hope you could bring a diverse group of people together to enjoy music. I almost don’t like the idea of classifying our band into some certain genre. I think that people nowadays are like, ‘We like this group because we like the music, and we don’t really care what genre they fit in.’ That’s my take on it.”

“Astrofix is about experiences,” said Jamie, summing up. “Whether that’s listening to just a single song, an album or EP, or coming out to our live show, we’re all about providing an experience for the audience.”

He said they want to take their music “as far as it will take us.” They have been together since 2016, starting in the local Springfield, Illinois, area. They have expanded into the region, Chicago, Quad Cities, St. Louis, all over Illinois.

“We all have day jobs,” he said, “but we would love to be full-time working musicians.”

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