Interview with Martz from Astraea by Jen

First off, tell everyone the background of the band, when you got started, who are the current members, how you all got together, etc.
We have been a band for about 2 years now. After having a few drummers play musical thrones; Our current line-up consists of:
Brad Collins on the Mic; Be-Bop (aka Veedz) on the Axe; Johnny 5 kickin the Beats; And me RockSteady (aka Martz) layin down the funky bass. The band started one day over an intense discussion about Pamela Anderson’s acting abilities at the local Hooters. Be-Bop disagreed that she was sent from Mars to manipulate the human race. So I laced his wings with a little Rohypnol, and next thing you know he starts puking out Bud Light and ranch dressing all over the place. It even made some of the Hooters girls throw up too!! Afterwards we wanted a way to visually recreate that day through some form of artistic medium, and since we were decent at guitar and bass we decided to start the band. We later found Collins and J-5 at Chuck E. Cheese battling each other at Dance Dance Revolution (J-5 destroyed Collins). They both had some pretty impressive moves so we brought them on board and having been getting funky ever since.
Your name means “Star Maiden” and in the Greek mythology Astraea was the daughter of Zeus and Themis. What was the reason you picked Astraea for your name?
We have been told that but we don’t really keep up on the Zeus Clan at all. But Collins used to go to AA meetings when we were trying to come up with a name, and there was this guy in his class who had Turrets Syndrome. After class they would both be outside smoking cigarettes and the guy would always be saying to himself,“….Ash tray….uhhhh, ash tray….uhhhh…” So Collins stole the idea from him.
If you had to describe your music to someone who never heard you before, what would you say? Who do you think you sound similar to?
I would say we sound like taking a shot of 151 proof rock-n-roll, chase it down with some metal squeals and order it without any bad haircuts. Collins sometimes likes to order his with a bad haircut though.
Your sound has a few different styles in my opinion, what kind of kids do you mostly hear from, metal, punk, hardcore, etc?

All kinds. Sometimes even dogs like to howl at us. We are all hardcore kids but have played with so many different styles of bands we get hit up from everybody. I think one of the best was this girl’s mom, who brought her daughter to a show, and the mom was totally trying to get Be-Bop to go home with them. She called him “the son she never had”. Weird huh?!?!
Who are the general influences of the band?
All sorts of different artists influence us. We get a lot of influence from our friends’ bands like Hit The Lights and Throwdown, to other stuff like Wesley Willis, E-40, and CCR.
Being from Southern California, there has to be lots of places to play, have you played a lot?
So Cal definitely has many cool places to play from garages to arenas and we have probably played everything in between. But we mostly enjoy playing the places that support the local scene and don’t do the pay-to-play scam. Its tough though because a lot of venues are starting to cash in on that whole scam and it really hurts the scene. Props go out to the Showcase Theatre, the Cat Club, and the Che Cafe.
How many (if any) releases do you have out currently?
As of right now we have 2 CDs out. The first is our original 3-song demo, which isn’t being pressed anymore. And the second is our Sho-Nuff Ep.
Are you in the process of writing any new material, or have you recently?
We are always in the process of writing new stuff. Most of our ideas are pretty much mapped out in our brains, then we process our thoughts through this mega-computer and it prints out the songs for us.
Have you been in touch with any labels, or has anyone shown an interest in you and your music?
We have talked to a few labels, managers and agents but haven’t yet found someone who wears a size 19 in shoes. Because if they wear size 19 they can kick some serious ass!
What are the top 5 bands you guys are listening to currently?
Top 5 in no particular order: Ice pick; Hit The Lights; Dead To Fall; The Acacia Strain; Too Short
Since myspace is the only website you have right now, explain to us how it has helped you grow your band. Do you feel you are getting your name out to lots of new people because of it?
Myspace has been a huge help to our band and the other millions of bands out there trying to reach new listeners. I think for promoting music it is a definite necessity these days. People don’t even ask you if you have a website anymore they’ll ask you what your myspace is. At the same time I also feel that some kids think myspace will do everything for their band, which is being foolish and lazy. We know it’s a good way to get new people to listen to us but we also know the best way to win fans over is by touring and playing live right in front of their face. That’s why we like to tour so much because not only do we get to play for new people, but also we can hang out with them afterwards.
Any last words?
Thanks to YOU for doing this interview and to all of our fans across the states and abroad. Also thanks to Mountain Dew Code Red, Vitamin Water, Peach Optimos, Del Taco, Mesa Boogie and Jessica Alba.
Hit us up on myspace or see us on tour!!!!!!
http://www.myspace.com/astraeamusic