BIGSOUND Artist Profile: Astral Skulls

7 September 2015 | 9:09 am | Staff Writer

Member/Role: Kurtr Eckardt (everything)

Hometown: Melbourne

Short description of your band and your music: I've refined my own brand of jagged symphonies, swinging across the pop spectrum, stopping in at synth-punk, no-wave and more.

Has the party side of the music industry been all you were hoping for so far in your career? Hahahaha, I think BIGSOUND will be a test of that! Ask me after my set on Thursday night and I'll let you know.

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What is the best thing that's happened to you/your band so far? Having Jonathan Snipes (clipping., Captain Ahab) mix my debut album, Contact:Light! Having a musical hero decide to take on my album and hearing what he brought to it, will be a hard highlight to beat.

Are your ambitions mainly artistic or commercial? Artistic: to create music not only that I love, but that challenges me. While I would love to play and write music full-time, my priority is staying true to my vision of Astral Skulls.

Is your music best rendered in the studio or the live realm? Astral Skulls recordings are nice and clean, and a great starting point to hear what I'm up to, but live it's that sound with scratchy, pointy and noisy elements that only add to the experience!

If you could have any act past or present join you on your next tour who would you tap? Cybotron — an Australian experimental electronic band from the late '70s that were so far ahead of their time it still sounds like music from the future.

What industry lessons would you like to take away from the BIGSOUND conference? I'd just like to chat to like-minded people about where I'm at and about ways that I can collaborate on and initiate cool things for my future.

What acts are you looking forward to checking out at the BIGSOUND showcase? Angie, All Our Exes Live In Texas, Caitlin Park, Cosmic Psychos, Donny Benet, Friendships, Gabriella Cohen, Gold Class, Jonny Telafone, Joy., Major Leagues, Mangelwurzel, Mesa Cosa, Ngaiire, Rainbow Chan, Shocking Pinks and Totally Mild!

Why should people come and see you from amongst the many cool bands at BIGSOUND? New sounds! I will be playing a whole bunch of new songs, many off my unreleased album as well as a couple of my singles. I genuinely feel like I'm doing something original and FUN!