We recently sat down with ESL Recordings' artists Ancient Astronauts and discussed some burning questions. Since they'd never been to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, we thought we'd bring them along and get them acquainted with America's utter dominance of the rest of the world when it comes to military force and space programs. The guys got a little touchy when it came to German cultural influence. Understandably.
all photos: Joel Didriksen
BYT: How did you come up with the name Ancient Astronauts?
Ancient Astronauts: We came up with it because we wanted a name that kind of incorporates our old musical influences like Funk, Jazz, Reggae & Dub, 90´s Hip Hop, Afrobeat, etc (ancient) along with our way to produce new music with the help of modern production techniques (astronauts). We have these old traditional music styles that have influenced us all our lifes, and they will always be a big part of our music, so with these in our heads we write our own music and give it a modern twist with a kind of timeless part in it. From the old, the new.
And actually the name Ancient Astronauts came to our mind through an old episode of Scooby-Doo...
BYT: So, you were watching old episodes of psychedelic American cartoons and you came up with the name for your band. We are mighty glad that you weren't watching The New Adventures of Chip & Dale. Or as you call it in Germany, Chip & Chap:
AA: Ahh no we didn´t know about it...is it good? Is it colder than normal ice cream?
BYT: No. It's neither colder nor warmer. A little known fact about space is that there's actually no temperature. Temperature doesn't exist in a vacuum. (Just kidding)
BYT: Which metal bands are the biggest pussies?
AA: Whitesnake.
BYT: You are absolutely correct.
BYT: How did you like working with Pharcyde?
AA: Actually, the Pharcyde just recently reunited after about 10 years of being split up, so it was just Bootie Brown and Imani still working under the name The Pharcyde when we got in contact with their manager.
BYT: What's up with Fat Lip?
AA: Of course we would have loved to do a track with all of the four original members, but it happened to be [Booty] Brown and Imani. It was a big honor to do a track with them because the Pharcyde is definitely one of the best Hip Hop bands of all times. When we heard they dig our instrumental and were gonna rhyme to it it was like a dream come true.
BYT: We are wondering if you would ever consider doing a cover of the "What's up Fat Lip?" song and perhaps reshooting the video with yourselves in it?!?!
AA: Fatlip is and always was a dope MC and we respect him to the fullest, but it's his video so why reshoot with us in it? To show that white (German) men can jump?
AA: Maybe we should do a video with him and call it “What's up Hip Hop?”
BYT: No, I think that's probably a terrible idea. You should go with my idea about re-shooting his video. Do you consider yourselves to be German?
AA: Of course, man. We are both born and raised in Germany, but also we both have Eastern-European roots. We are Germans, but also we see ourselves as Europeans. That nationality thing is a kind of stupid game, because look at all the countries in Europe: they are all mixed up with people of every nation and culture from all over the globe. We are a mixed up continent, and we love the cultural richness and knowledge that comes from this.
BYT: Please choose one of the following bands/musicians to describe your personality:
A. AggroBerlin
B. Rammstein
D. Scorpion
E. Notwist
AA: none of them at all...we would choose Peter Fox
BYT: I do not know who Peter Fox is, nor do I really care. This was actually a quiz, which you failed. The correct answer to this question is (B) Rammstein. Rammstein is the band that best describes your personality. And to illustrate this FACT, we'd like to play a video. Perhaps one of the best videos from one of the best songs of all time.
BYT: I went to the Oktoberfest in Germany in 2002. The two songs that always got played there were Hey Baby (Uhh, Ahh) by DJ Otzi and Country Roads by John Denver. What do you have to say for your countrymen? This is inexcusable.
AA: Honestly we do not have to excuse for anything. We are both not into the Oktoberfest and stuff like that. We're not even into football if that would be another question. You as an American should know that there is stupidity and bullshit all over the world, in every country, no exception. We make international music and watch what is going on in the world in terms of music, cultural developments, politics, education, etc. It´s wasted time to think you could change something about the bad quality of chart-, pop-, schlager- or whatever you wanna call those types of brainless music. We look to connect with one-minded people all over the globe (and beyond) that dig deeper for quality music and share the love for organic grooves and breaks and melodies...and if these people think we represent a kind of German music culture (which we do) then this is great. There is much more to know about Germany than Hitler, Oktoberfest or The Scorpions...
BYT: And Rammstein.
The Ancient Astronauts will be DJing at Eighteenth Street Lounge tonight and then opening up for Thievery Corporation on Saturday Night at ESL as well. Stop by and whisper sweet German nothings into their ears.
Germany is also known for: Kinder Chocolate and Heidi Klum.
We've got four Ancient Astronauts CD's to give away. Please to tell us your favorite memory of your travels through Germany. Or your favorite German movie. Actually just tell us anything and as long as it has the word German or a variation thereof, you'll be entered to win a cd. By the way, how disturbing is the kid in that chocolate advert?
And, lets finish up with some music:
"Heart of The Future" DJ Mix by Ancient Astronauts
Previously in Downloads:
- 1/27: Download: Axel F 1 Yeah Anniversary Mix
- 1/20: Download: Fatback Mix XXXIX
- 8/22: Download: Ferris Presents; School's out 4EVER!
- 8/19: Download: FATBACK MIX #33
- 8/17: Download: QUE SERA Slaughterhouse Mix
- 8/4: DOWNLOAD: A Busy Season for DAWES
- 7/25: Download: HELL IS FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, Denman Summer Mix
- 6/17: Download: FATBACK MIX 3.3
- 3/17: Download: Fatback Mix #30
- 2/22: Download! Stereo Faith & Micah Vellian "Fr33k3rs"
God loves a cheerful giver.
Jeff I had no idea you knew who Rammstein were/are/is. That's all I got.
SPITZE FOTOS!! DIESE MACHT SPASS!!!!!!!!!!!!
No need for this cd but I was on a train through Germany once when a hot woman appeared in the same compartment. I offered her a beer which she declined so I was drinking by myself in this woman’s presence when her male friend appeared, too. They talked in German then. A failed connection, I thought, and ignored them completely.
The title should read "sprechen sie deutsch" not sprechen die deutsch".
bit of a douchebag this jeff guy eh?
If you're going to go hard in your interviews, at least get your science correct before you publish your work, aka the first rule in journalism. Everybody knows that outer space is not a perfect vacuum because outer space is not completely empty. It contains a plethora of super low density particles, electromagnetic radiation being one. Dark matter and energy as well.
Having said that, if you're talking about what remains when all atoms, particles, etc. are pumped out, then it still has a temperature of electromagnetic radiation. Call that a vacuum if it's a zero temperature.
Having said that, the third law of thermodynamics states nothing can ever get to a temperature of zero, so by that definition there wouldn't be any vacuums.
But you probably already knew that.
I feel cheated in my German experiences. The only time I've spent in the country was in the airport in Frankfurt during a layover. I thought it would be a good idea to buy a box of absinthe truffles and eat as many as possible before I got on my next plane. It was not.
I also have a German friend named Robert, but we always call him Roberto. I'm not exactly sure why we do that. I think Jungen or Dieter would be better.
This is why I feel cheated in my German experiences. It would be rather nice to win this cd if no one has been declared winner yet. Their set was awesome last night.
Einstein: It was a joke. But since you took the time to explain thermodynamics to me, you've won yourself an ancient astronauts cd.
And Katie, you did as well!
for all of you that read this interview we have to say that this interview has not happened like one could think by reading it...we did not sit at a table with him in a face-to-face situation...this guy jeff inserted comments to our answers after we sent him our answers to his questions...he even put words in our mouth we didn´t say...he says that our personality is best described through Rammstein but we said Peter Fox...we even answered a second blog of questions and those answers were never published...he maybe thinks this is funny but we just think it´s dubious journalism...
That is such a Rammstein thing to say.
off topic random note....you should check out Eric Von Daniken's book called Chariots of the God's. History Chanel actually did a really cool segment called Ancient Aliens that will blow your mind, its based on his book. its very thought provoking and will get the wheel's turning! anyways check it out! i bet you'll like it
the name Ancient Astronauts made me think of that...
wag1 boom thing