Pete Astor has been a staple of the British indie scene since the early ’80s, fronting a diverse number of outfits including the Loft, the Weather Prophets, the Wisdom Of Harry and Ellis Island Sound. He launched a solo career in 1990, as well, and is also a senior lecturer in music at the University of Westminster. Astor’s latest release is One For The Ghost (Tapete). He’ll be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week, writing about the origins of these songs and how they relate to the LP’s theme of past and future, complete with illustrations he created with Susanne Ballhausen.
1981
Astor: Once upon a time, many years ago, when all this stuff started, I had ideas about what it took to make things; specifically, to make music. To do this I believed that, if I was very lucky, I would be lying in my suburban bed, the yellow streetlamps shining through the orange curtains, not a soul about, the last dog walkers locked up at home. Then, a beam would shine down from above. In this moment of illumination and inspiration, I would be gifted with the skill and talent to make the music I always wanted to make, to walk in the footsteps of Lou, Bob and all the rest.
Of course, I was very wrong.
Years later, having gone beyond reading about music in the NME and similar, I realised that that the “beam-of-light/divine inspiration” idea wasn’t how it actually worked.
