New Band Feature: Saturna!

Photo by Justin Dylan Renney

Today’s USOUNDS new band feature brings the spaced-out, jovian sounds of Portland, Oregon’s Saturna. Band members Ryan, Eric, and Steve sent us a really catchy mp3 called Pop Rocks, and answered a few questions about the new album, Chuck Norris, and how much ass they get as a band.

USOUNDS: What can you tell us about your new album, All Night?

ERIC: We concocted it in Steve-O’s super-secret underground lair, fueled by credit cards and bountiful amounts of lousy Mexican food. The last song is the same as the third song. And we’ve never met the girl in the All Night photograph, but we’d like to tell her thanks. Thanks!

USOUNDS: Where does the band name come from? I can’t help but notice that Uranusturna doesn’t exactly flow. Also, where did you guys meet, and does your band typically get a lot of ass? I guess that’s really a three-part superquestion.

ERIC: We were all in a different band together, but we thought it'd be fun to change the name to some planetary shit and start all over with some new songs. So we did that. I don't know if we get a lot of ass per se, but we do get a lot of shit for being planetary. And for being jerks.

RYAN: We originally started off with Uranusturna, but people kept pronouncing it wrong, so we tried Venusturna and then Neptunoturna. We finally settled on Saturna, which amazingly people still pronounce wrong! We've actually all been friends for years. Steve and I played in Veer together in the late nineties and Eric started playing music with us a few years ago. I met Eric when he was interviewing for a job with a temp agency I worked for. He got the job, if you know what I mean.

USOUNDS: Did you know that some teachers are using Pop Rocks in the classroom to teach chemistry concepts because of its wild foaming reaction?

RYAN: Pop Rocks are a fun explosive, but have you seen the guys that use Mentos to create massive fountain shows. They even got invited to do their show in front of the Bellagio. Our next song is going to be called Mento Bombs.

ERIC: If our Pop Rocks help just a few young kids learn about the basic elements of chemical reactions, we'll have done our job. It's cheaper than baking soda and vinegar, and some of the other stuff you can get on the street.

USOUNDS: Yeah, that reminds me of when I accidentally bought real rocks from the ground from some street dealer one time. Like, they were actual stones. And a total rip-off. Would you be able to freestyle a Chuck Norris random fact?

ERIC: Hmm, tough one. If Chuck Norris and John Norris went head-to-head on 'Jeopardy!', John would win because he'd have Kurt Loder around to script all his answers.

USOUNDS: Whoa, I didn’t see that one coming since Chuck always prevails. What's next for Saturna? Tour? I think a hot-dog eating contest on the next tour would draw in some new and unsuspecting fans.

RYAN: We're putting together a west coast tour for later this fall and hope to hit some major east coast cities as well. We're finishing up our first full length which we will release early 2007 and then hope to hit as many of the festivals as possible. Since I'm a vegetarian I'm putting together a Worthington's Big Frank eating contest. They come in cans and are big and juicy. I know I could eat a whole can, and I'll be there to see if anyone can beat me!

ERIC: Also, we talked about opening a convenience store in Renton. That way we could play our own CD in it, so when people are buying some diapers and baby formula on their way to Ikea, they'd hear us. We'd get loads of new fans that way. But we might just tour instead.

USOUNDS: Thanks guys, we'll be looking for tour dates and cans of Big Frank soon!

Posted by usounds at August 29, 2006 09:28 PM | TrackBack

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