Today we’d like to introduce you to Billy Azurdia.
Billy, before we jump into specific questions about your work, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Jane Astronaut started as a studio-only project sometime in the first decade of the 2000s. It was initially a response to the local music scene in the South Bay, but soon after became a channel for expression and connection. After a couple of shaky lineups in the early days, Jane as a whole went on an unplanned hiatus for a couple of years. In that time, I (Billy Azurdia) met some new musical friends and explored a couple of new music projects, including Big Slumber, and Mind Monogram. At the tail end of 2017, Jane saw a spark of new life. Suddenly new songs were being worked on, a couple of old ones dusted off, and some lovely humans became solidified members of the project. With its first new piece of content out in over five years, Jane is once again ready to embrace existence.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The path for Jane has been a curvy one. Early on there were a lot of starts and stops, lots of lofty expectations, and lots of disappointment. It makes sense looking back, but at the time I couldn’t figure anything out. My head was deep in the sand about how anything worked, so when some things didn’t go as planned, I’d get so bummed. Seemed childish now, but I’m glad I eventually learned that disappointment (i.e. curves/bumps in the road) are all just part of the process, and when things don’t go your way or fall through, that’s just the process guiding you to where the right way is. It’s like solving for X in a math problem. You’re crazy if you think plugging in the same (wrong) number is gonna make it right eventually.
Please tell us more about your work. What should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Jane Astronaut is a musical project. The songs are indie rock, with sprinkles of psych, jazz, and pop. In-studio all the songs are written and arranged by Billy Azurdia and live, Jane, is brought to life by a 4-piece, consisting of James Kennedy (guitar/keys & vocals), Adam De Leon (drums & vocals) and Phillip Alaniz (bass).
As content, I am proud of the writing. None of it is particularly difficult or complicated, but it is just to the left of a lot of things happening right now. The musical ideas and gestures are honest and feel well expressed.
As a live unit, we are proud of how far along we’ve come. It’s been a journey for sure, but we’re much closer to sounding the way we’d like to sound than when we first started.
Jane is in the eye of the beholder. I like to think that sonically, Jane is “chameleon-esque”. It can pull towards many genres within the same album and sometimes within the same song. There are hints of familiarity, but sometimes a hair eerier, or weirder, or spacier, but always with a feather-anchor of pop sensibility.
Lyrically, the difference is split between literal and metaphor. Purposely, a lot of Jane lyrics have a “shroud” of surface-level appeal. There’s enough there to take at face value, but can be easily read into to be about almost anything, therein lies the magic. Jane is whatever you want it to be. It’s play-dough for the brain. It’s pop, it’s indie, it’s sad, it’s happy. It depends on where you’re coming from and what you like.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
The definition of success has changed for me over the years. It used to mean something so specific, and that used to make me so unhappy. But that’s kind of the thing, when you need something very specific to happen, the more specific it is, the less the likelihood of it actually happening. So my nets are wider now and I feel much more at ease with everything.
Nowadays, success comes in all shapes and sizes. On top of something like “getting paid”, success is everybody being stoked on a rehearsal, having a chat with someone at a show because something about it resonated with them, thinking I forgot a pick but then finding one in my pocket! It’s different now. Although Jane is goal-oriented, success is one of the many facets of the experience. Jane is also an opportunity to get out and play, spend time with each other, connect with other musicians, collaborate with other artists, etc. All successes!
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janeastronaut/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaneAstronaut/
Image Credit:
Nikki Neumann, Andy Garcia, Daniel Chavez, Beverly Salas (single art)
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