How and when did it all start? Where is the idea coming from?
Wendy Bevan: The Astronomia project started during the lockdown period of 2020. Nick and I had been working together in London throughout 2019 on my next solo album; which we completed just before the pandemic. Suddenly with the lockdown, we found ourselves geographically on the other side of the world still wishing to continue with our collaboration and started writing pieces of music we would send one another. Somehow we were on a quest to pursue the ineffable, and Astronomia slowly became a landscape for the cinematic vision we shared albeit across the oceans from one another at that time. We found ourselves making an ethereal soundtrack to accompany the process of change we were experiencing on a global level during that time. We wanted to establish an atmosphere, that allowed people to dream.
Nick Rhodes: Throughout 2019 Wendy and I had been working on her solo album, it was almost complete and we were hoping to launch in Spring 2020…then the world changed. We quickly realised that it would be impossible for Wendy to perform, make videos or promote her record properly, so we put it on ice and waited to see what unraveled. Wendy had returned to LA and I remained in London, after a few weeks we formulated an idea to continue working together, the concept was to create atmospheric, instrumental pieces as a prelude to Wendy’s forthcoming album. As we were working remotely, the process began with either one of us recording an initial track and then we sent them back and forth to each other to add parts and develop the pieces.
Please tell us about the creation Astronomia, described as music “inspired by the universe.”
NR: Once we had amassed several soundscapes, we began to understand what we were making and this is when we decided it sounded other worldly, hence we chose the universe as a broad theme for the future pieces.
WB: We suddenly found ourselves free of boundaries; the concept opened a portal between the reality we were facing in our everyday lives and something other-worldly that we couldn’t quantify, gazing into the endless possibilities of the future. Once we decided the universe was our subject matter, the sonic world we created became a space for dreams. All fifty two pieces of music we wrote for the Astronomia project have become a memoir locked into a time capsule; musical notation we have released into the mysterious abyss. Inspired by the lustre of stars, we had the perfect setting to create a musical language questioning the great unknown.
How would you describe the sound for those who still need to hear it?
WB: The sensuality of the synths and humanity of the violins create a unique combination, exploring tension in texture, tonality and timing through a sonic tapestry of limitless dimensions and transitions in the Universe; Astronomia is like something you have never heard or experienced before. It is truly it’s own creature, conjuring its own cinematic wall of sound that we encourage the listener to immerse themselves within. Each experimental track unlocks another door in the world of Astronomia, instantly transporting you through its lush and thematic visual narrative of soundscapes.
NR: Ethereal, cinematic, unique and unexpected.