Satellite Train was originally conceived as a fun side project between friends. As the band releases its debut material, Icehouse’s Michael Paynter leads the way with some of his finest vocal performances. Despite the fact that all of the songs have a signature sound, we take you through a variety of musical styles. Musicians from various Australian and American bands make up the band, including Michael Paynter of Icehouse, John Watson of James Reyne, John McCall of The Black Sorrows, Randy Jacobs of Paul Kelly, Shane O’Mara of Paul Kelly, Pasquale Monea of Stephen Cummings, Jamie Muhoberac of John Mayer and Chris Chaney of Jane’s Addiction.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
The interview was conducted with Pasquale Monea, the bass player.
Hey Pas, super nice to have the chance to chat with someone from Satellite Train. What has Satellite Train been up to recently?
We have just released a triple single entitled "Shameless". We're exploring different ways of releasing material, and this is one of them. If you have the equipment, the song "Shameless" is also available in Dolby Atmos (Spatial Audio).
Your latest track is 'Lies'. Can you share with us the background of its creation and did any unusual things happen during its creation?
During the writing of the song, there was an incident that triggered the emotion behind it. One of the other musicians wrote it, but from what I understand, there was a situation in which the lie was blatant and harmful. The lie was perpetrated by several individuals, and it was a blindside. There were life-changing consequences associated with the lie. However, the lyrics are more general than that as well. Public figures seem to have the ability to say that red is green of that green is red and they sometimes get away with it. The song illustrates the helplessness of being subjected to a lie without any recourse.
What lead you to playing bass guitar and how old were you when you first picked up a bass Pas?
My younger brother Vince, had an interest in playing guitar and i liked what i heard and thought i'd play bass to fill out the sound and make it sound like a song as we often played together.
I started playing the bass a year or so later when i was about 15 years old. We took lessons one after another with a local music teacher.
We heard you play drums these days and had to get your bass guitar from storage for the Satellite Train project? How long had it been since you played bass guitar and was it challenging after not playing for a while?
The bass is always lying about just in case, but i have not played it for many years. I have been doing other work transferring a lot of music recorded on other formats to SSD and this has been taking most of my time.
My amp was stored away in a broom closet so i wasn't really a bass player then but did spend most of my free time playing the drums.
I was very hesitant when first approached to play bass on 10 songs as i was so out of shape, so at first i declined the offer. I thought i could possibly get through one song, but not ten.
I gave it a lot of thought and finally realized that it would be a good thing for me to do as i did enjoy the bass very much and this was my chance to understand the bass again.
The first few days were hard as i had done nothing in the way of physical preparation, but it didn't take long to figure out my limitations and where i could expand a little.
What’s your most embarrassing moment?
A funny story. I was in a band doing some medium level interstate tours and there were two songs in the set which didn't require a bass part so i sat out.
On one occasion as the tour budget was small, i was asked to check the tuning of a 12 string guitar for a song later in the set. The only place to go was the band room where as luck might have it, the kitchen staff were having a party.
Now tuning a 12 string is not easy at the best of times and i had a small 90's era tuner. The rowdy staff made tuning impossible as the needle on the tuner would not settle and i was there for ages...until i heard a voice i recognised in the background...'Paz, Paz where are you!!!' coming from the stage. I had to leave the band room in a hurry and did the unforgivable thing of then giving someone an untuned guitar.
Is the artistic life lonely? What do you do to counteract it?
Lonely, no not really...there are always things to do. In my case, i play a little drums, then some bass, then i do some work in my home studio.
I listen to all sorts of music and online documentaries and films. I sometimes meet up with friends and do some work around the house, so i guess being active is the key.
What is your dream musical project?
I like the idea of playing bass to other peoples' songs, or writing songs with other musicians and doing it by exchanging files online, as it was done recently with Satellite Train.
Although there is that element of surprise that i really enjoy when being in a small room with a few musicians and working it all out as we go.
I have a small project with Susan Turner of The Ruby Set where we do just that and really nice musical moments sometimes just come out of nowhere.
I think a combination of the above would make me very happy.
In retrospect of your musical career, what advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your musical footsteps as a musician?
For me the answer is to listen to each of the musicians in a song as each musicians' input makes that song what it is. The other important thing is to listen to the sound of each instrument and vocal. The roundness of a note, the fatness, the tuning, the echo, the reverb tail and how these interact with each other.
But i think the most important thing to listen to is the space between the notes.
If you are known as a musician who really listens (as many do not), it will be of great benefit to you.
When were you generally most fulfilled in your position as an artist?
This might have been in my 20's where i had 5 rehearsal bands that i was involved with. Each band was musically different and i had one rehearsal or jam each day of the week. It was hard as we often payed for the space to rehearse in venues all over Melbourne and it took most of my time, but it was so good to play with such a varied number of musicians.
Can you reveal what you think is the recipe for a musical hit?
A simple catchy vocal melody and a band that has a definite sound.
A simple groove that has swing, an interesting vocalist that may or may not be in tune.
Lyrics that may or may not be simple, but can instantly be understood
What can we expect from Satellite Train in the near future?
We just released a triple single "Shameless" which I mentioned earlier. The next few releases will have a heavy Australian theme, so we are looking forward to releasing them soon. There are a few surprises in store for Australian music fans.