I was studying television production until I got my heart broken and needed an outlet for the pain. I started writing and thus a career was born. From transformative emotional pain to the physical, Anthony Ferraro would have become a classical musician (he trained for nearly two decades) had it not been for his childhood-diagnosed arthritis flaring up while studying music at the University of California, Berkeley. With his hands out of sorts, he could “no longer…play etudes or concertos with the vigor they demanded,” so he dropped out of school. He did not, however, drop out of music. Ferraro began playing music of another variety under the name Astronauts, etc., (apparently he’s a space cadet). He didn’t lose his respect for musical refinement, however. His pop is recorded with a live band of trained jazz players (Scott Brown on bass, Derek Barber on guitar, Aaron Gold on drums, and Doug Stuart on keys and vocals).
In watching the video for “I Know” we must assume that under the skin of Ferraro’s head lies not a skull, but a disco ball, to which we are invited into. It’s pop, but refined pop. Smooth pop, intelligent and perfectly performed pop. It has a soul, and could very easily be classified as indie rock, but for the story of the classical musician who lost his hands and discovered a parallel universe I’ll call it – pop!
Astronauts, etc.’s debut album, Mind Out Wandering, comes out September 18th on Hit City U.S.A.
Watch the video for “I Know” below, directed by Vinyl Williams.
