Belinda Heiman/The Lantern
(From left to right) Pat O' Neil, Raad Shubail, James Allison, Jacob Halpern and Matt Whistler make up The Blastronauts.After years of musical creativity, middle-school friends James Allison and Jacob Halpern of the indie-psychedelic-pop band The Blastronauts have found a niche in Columbus.
The two met in middle school in Westport, Connecticut and remained friends throughout college. After a series of jam sessions in 2007, the duo decided to record their material. "We started recording when we jammed and it turned out pretty decently," Allison said.
Halpern is a student at Boston University and travels to Columbus where Allison established the band's studio. When it comes to the band's passion for music, distance is no barrier.
"We are making do with the situation," Allison said. "We can take it from two fronts; Ohio as a base for the Midwest and Boston as a base for the Northeast ... at this point we are so far along in college and have so much invested we might as well finish the year out and then ideally all be together at the end." Both friends remain full-time students and play weekly shows.
Allison said he takes a personal approach to help build a following. "You are never going to meet a person by mass-messaging; you have to actually meet them," he said.
"Every one we've met has become a fan," Halpern said. "We are trying to attract people with an appreciation for goods music. We want the student body to know we are awesome. I want to get more into the industry stuff," Halpern says. "A lot of industry is what you are doing yourself and if you are not really active you need to create something on your own." He said people look for "a special way in" to the industry, but all it takes is personal drive.
Building a tradition
Outer Sounds is a collaboration of acts created by Allison that play weekly at rock venues throughout Columbus.
Allison originally created the Outer Sounds as part of his hobby and passion for music in 2007 after the release of his "Interstellar Groove Machine," recorded at EP Studios with producer Tony Stewart.
The group began as a festival in fall 2007 at Scarlet and Gray Cafe on High street when the groups played two nights of back-to-back music. The event soon became a tradition and now every Thursday the Outer Sounds plays at a Columbus venue.
For more information on the band, go to www.myspace.com/blastronauts.
Belinda Heiman can be reached at heiman.72@osu.edu.
Be the first to comment on this article!