All The Astronauts

“Church music shouldn’t be boring” is a phrase that All The Astronauts throw around a lot with their Foo Fighters, U2, Angels & Airwaves rock/alt modern worship style. Throw in some modernized hymns and you’re getting close to hitting the mark of describing what you’ll hear.

All The Astronauts (ATA) have been playing together for the better part of a decade as part of the worship ministry at Crosspoint Church in Fishers, IN, but it wasn’t until worship pastor/lead vocalist and guitarist PJ Towle started crowd funding a recording project in the summer of 2016 that the band took on the official form of ATA. Fueled by a deep passion for the church and connecting with people that don’t connect with church as it’s been known, ATA’s sound grew organically as Towle introduced songs to the church. “I started writing these songs working through my own baggage with my faith,” says Towle. “Over the years these guys joined the band at Crosspoint and things just clicked. They all had the same drive that I did: to do what God wanted them to do with their music.”

The guys he’s talking about joined up over time. Long time friend Jon Lambert joined as a songwriting partner and vocalist back in 2011. Bassist Van Roberts enlisted his SoCal punk low end skills shortly there after. 80’s rock enthused guitarist Robby Michael began shredding his way into the hearts of the crowd at XPT fusing his ringing sustain leads with Towle’s ambient/Edge style guitars creating a strange combination of guitar tone that just works for some reason. Luke McDaniel’s history as a drummer spans from marching to metal bringing the solid foundation upon which these anthems are built.

After a successful crowd funding campaign the recording process began to show signs of larger aspirations for everyone involved. Towle explains, “I never wanted to be seen as a solo act so I had this ‘band name’ lined up to keep the focus off me (I’m just a guy who wears a lot of flannel). But as the recording process went on, it was pretty clear that everyone bought into the vision of what this thing was all about.” And, thus, the official All The Astronauts was born.

“We’re trying to do this for the right reasons,” chimes in Michael. And, when you listen to the lyrics of their songs, those reasons are pretty clear. “We’re all broken,” “we all need redemption,” and “everyone’s invited” are common themes in their songs.

It’s obvious ATA wants people to wrestle with their faith. “That’s how it [their faith] becomes their own,” says the reverend (yeah, Towle’s ordained). Doubts? Fine. Crying out to God? Good. Standing tall even when you’re unsure of the next step and still grappling with questions? For ATA that’s what faith is about.

With their debut album, Light The Night, set to release in January of 2017, the guys are already thrilled with some of the feedback they’ve been getting from the crowd funders who were given access to an early prerelease. “#allthefeels amazing rendition of this tune” (speaking of revamped and re-chorused It Is Well); “You’ve somehow managed to connect all the really, really good stuff of my church upbringing with exactly where I am right now.”; “I know these guys have poured their hearts and souls into this Album…and it shows. I’ll tell you that it was well worth the wait!” are just a few of the things they’ve heard so far.

“What it really boils down to for us is doing what God wants us to do,” remarks Towle. “Our prayer through the whole project has been to 1.) be obedient and 2.) that God would use it to help start conversations to help people come to make their faiths their own. We have no idea what’s next, we’re trying to take this all one step at a time and be obedient in each one.”