History of Sad Astronauts

Nashville-based indie alternative rock duo Sad Astronauts have a chemistry that’s so strong, they wrote the dozen tracks for Adult Fears, their debut album, with remarkable speed. Vocalist/keyboardist Flash E. Shepard recalls what it was like to work with guitarist Erick Cole: “The first time we sat down together to start writing for Sad Astronauts, we wrote four songs. Then the next two times he came in, we wrote three songs each time. So we literally wrote the record in about four sessions together.” This resulted in instantly memorable stripped-back guitar-based alternative rock with a melodic pop element.

They chose the band name “Sad Astronauts” because they felt like it really mirrored the attitude that everyone seems to share these days: if ever there’s ever been a time to yearn for getting on a spaceship and head to another planet that’s more Utopian, this is surely it. 

This theme is particularly evident in the track “In Space No One Can Hear You Weep” — for which the band released a mesmerizing video late last year, as a preview of what was to come with Sad Astronauts. The song’s lyrics paint a picture of a human soul trying to find its way to escape from all the heartache and hatred in the world.

Another lead track, “This Is Gonna Hurt Me More Than It Hurts You,” reflects on the way relationships can change (or disintegrate), and the need to progress and leave certain things behind. This theme is also evident in the poignant ballad “California,” which encapsulates the experiences (good and bad) that Shepard and Cole each had during their past years living in the Golden State. The track “Trick,” with its catchy falsetto verses, also looks back on life in Los Angeles, this time with a jaunty vibe. In each of these songs, Shepard’s lyrics are highly personal, yet they surely will resonate in a universal way with listeners.

Sad Astronauts are also capable of taking a more offbeat approach, as they show on “MoriaMaximillion,” which offers the unusual pairing of existentialist lyrics with an exuberant backdrop. That dichotomy, at once so joyous yet introspective, perfectly encapsulates the band’s daring yet accessible capabilities. “It's a weird jam,” Shepard says of this song. “It's kind of an esoteric look at somebody struggling with themselves.”

In keeping with these songs’ deft introspection, the album title Adult Fears sums up the common reaction to these tumultuous times, when everyone is surely feeling the effects of the pandemic and the many socio-political divisions happening in the world right now. These are the issues that weighed on both Shepard and Cole’s minds as they wrote these tracks, resulting in songs that offer a deeply moving and introspective look at the human condition.

Still, there’s a certain sense of optimism to these songs, too. “I want it to be a bohemian album, taking joy in the things that matter, and finding beauty in the ugliness,” says Shepard. “The album is a big lightning bolt of joy through this darkness. I think there's an exuberance to what we do as artists, Erick and I, when we're writing. So while there's a sadness to the record, I also feel like there's more hope in it than anything else.”

Shepard and Cole started writing for Adult Fears when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, splitting songwriting duties 50/50. After that, the album’s dozen tracks only took Sad Astronauts about a week to record, which they did at multi-instrumentalist/producer John Mark Painter’s studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Painter played bass on the album, as well as serving as a co-producer alongside Shepard and Cole. Drummer Peter Furler completed the lineup for the sessions.

Though they’ve brought in other musicians to work on this project, Shepard and Cole are the true duo at the heart of this band. They’re able to work together so effortlessly, Shepard says, because “we instinctively know what the other guy is thinking when we start writing together.” Their musical relationship and friendship actually started the late 1990s, when Shepard was launching his successful solo career. Seeking an exceptional songwriting partner, he found Cole, who was already an in-demand session and touring musician. They clicked, going on to collaborate on Shepard’s 2001 debut album, Stereotype Be (which was released under his given name, Kevin Max). They’ve frequently written and toured together ever since.

To differentiate Sad Astronauts from their previous collaborative efforts, Shepard and Cole deliberately changed their writing approach. “My strategy was, if I normally play guitar in a certain way, how can I play something different from that this time?” Cole says. For his part, Shepard stepped back from being the in-charge solo artist, instead focusing on sharing the experience equally with Cole. 

With Adult Fears complete, Shepard and Cole are embarking on an entirely new phase in their respective music careers, which they each started at an early age. Although they grew up in very different places — Shepard in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Cole in Nashville, Tennessee — they share striking similarities in their backgrounds. Both of them displayed an early talent for music that led their parents to encourage them to begin performing. Both had a musician parent who gave them their first lessons. And both gravitated to alternative rock such as The Smiths and R.E.M. — an aesthetic that serves as a solid foundation for their current work.

Now, with Sad Astronauts, Shepard and Cole have taken all of these similar influences and life experiences — and their own individual strengths and insights — and turned them into something that is utterly unique. This distinctiveness gives Adult Fears a certain timeless quality. “I think this record is relevant for anyone alive right now — but I also think that it transcends that,” says Cole. “If you were to hear it ten years from now, I believe it will still sound relevant.”

As Sad Astronauts, Shepard and Cole are celebrating the culmination (and evolution) of the collaborative work they started two decades ago — and it seems likely that they’ll continue creating and innovating together for at least twenty more years to come.