Simul Astra is an upcoming band from St. Joseph founded by Teriq Newton. Influences are scattered across classic country, 90s alternative rock, and 60s/70s Asian & German psychedelic rock.
Simul Astra will be releasing an EP in spring 2025.
LP: How did Simul Astra start? How did everyone join?
TN: Simul Astra is a nom de plume for myself. I was going to just go with my name, but a band name sounds way better.
I started writing songs alone in my home in KC in the winter of 2023. I wrote the guitar parts, vocal melody and lyrics myself, but I'm used to writing with bandmates. It was tough, but I became a much better songwriter and vocalist in the process. Once I had enough decent songs, I started hunting for band members to play the songs live and in the studio.
Until very recently it was just me and Anthony Hernandez on bass. About 18 different drummers told me no before Casey Huffman reached out to me to play drums. He’s a godsend and a killer drummer.
I’ve known Anthony for a long time, I even toured with his brother’s band. I reached out to him based on his resume of killer bands he’s played in throughout the years. I think we first met at the Shawnee Manor, a defunct house venue in Shawnee, KS. I reached out to Anthony first and he ended up joining as a bassist.
LP: What are the origins behind the band name?
TN: I named Scruffy & The Janitors as a joke when I was 18, and it stuck for over a decade. The name is kind of silly, and we never made silly music. For this project I wanted a blank canvas, I created the name using Google Translate. It’s kind of made up Latin - Simul (pronounced Sigh-mull) means together or plural or something, and Astra is the Latin word for star. For me, the band name is a reference to binary star systems which have two stars that orbit each other, like the twin setting suns of Tatooine.
LP: Who are your influences?
Teriq: Hank Williams Sr., Foxboro Hot Tubs, the White Stripes
Anthony: My influences range from 90s alt, 60s/70s Asian/German Psych rock, East coast hip-hop and old school country
Casey: Radiohead, Elliot Smith, Wilco
LP: If you could tell someone one thing about your band/music, what would it be?
TN: You can dance to rock-n-roll. Go to a local show. Have a drink. Try it out.
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