Astro Lasso gives back during first nation-wide tour, motivating youth to explore music and creativity

Jordan Davis and Tristan Martin are long-time friends and now, they make up Astro Lasso, an electronic indie-pop band from Pennsylvania. Throughout the late winter and early spring, Astro Lasso is on a 25 city tour throughout the United States of America.

So far, Jordan says performing in New York City has been his favourite and Tristan is anticipating performing in Chicago and Los Angeles.

While on tour, Jordan and Tristan have launched a partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, spearheading the Mentoring through Music campaign. They’re mentoring and guiding youth of all ages to encourage and celebrate self-expression through creativity and the arts.

We caught up with Jordan and Tristan to learn more about the Astro Lasso story and what it’s like to be on a massive country-wide tour.

1. Where did the name “Astro Lasso” come from?

Coming up with a name is often one of the hardest parts of starting a band. This name appeared in my head almost in the way that a song idea starts.  You can’t plan for a creative idea you can only be ready for it with a lasso. – Jordan

2. You are childhood friends from York, PA. How did you meet?

Jordan and I met through out parents, who are friends. We started playing in bands together in our early to mid-teens. Our first few bands were all garage based, of course! We had such was a blast. – Tristan

3. What’s your earliest memory together?

I had an older sister who would always get to hang out with Tristan, I was a little younger than them so I remember wishing I could play with them as well – Jordan

4. What was it like growing up in York, PA? Please paint a picture for our readers. 

I actually grew up about a half-hour south of York city in some spiraling farmland. It was truly an amazing place to be a kid. Since Tristan and I were homeschooled, I spent many of my free days barefoot in the creek and running around the valley and woods, taking dips in the creek and learning about the plants and animals that lived alongside us. Later in my teens and early 20s, these woods would become the home for my tipi and many long nights playing music by crackling fire. It was nice to have a place like this to grow up. – Jordan

5. How early in your friendship did you start making music?

We started before I was even 16 because Tristan would often have to drive me or pick me up when we would go to band practice! – Jordan

6. So much of my childhood revolved around trendy music – old and new music was always on. What were your first favourite songs or bands?

A few of the bands that had a big influence on me growing up were The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ben Folds Five. – Tristan

I grew up listening to a lot of Bonnie Rait and Jackson Brown. – Jordan

7. Frankie Muniz is managing you, which must be pretty cool! How did you connect with Frankie? How is it working with him?

He’s a great manager. When he was in Kingsfoil he was always really good at the business side of things. He actually loved it! When we started this new project it really seemed to be a perfect scenario. We are all great friends so the team and vibe has been amazing. We’re pumped.

8. So many of our readers are creators, entrepreneurs and artists. When did you realize you wanted to create for a living?

It’s something we’ve always wanted! Working day jobs pay the bills for now but eventually we’d love to make a living from music! – Tristan

From a very young age, I felt like I it was the only thing I could see myself doing. I knew it would be hard but I’m so thankful I get to write and play music. – Jordan

9. Creating can take a lot of energy and it’s often easy to lose inspiration/that creative spark. Where do you go to find motivation and refill that spark when it’s running low?

I’ve found the best way for me recharge that spark is to take a break from music. You can’t force creativity. – Tristan

Taking a break can be good, but for me, sometimes I lose your zone. I have to make sure I’m doing other things, like travelling, meeting people, being outside, watching movies, hanging with friends. These types of things help. I also find it much easier to write when I’m in a new place. – Jordan

10. Excluding music, which other ways do you express yourselves creatively? 

I love taking photos and making videos. That side of the project is a blast too! – Tristan

11. What’s the hardest part about working in the music industry? 

It’s a lot of time and hard work for little or no money, so you really have to love doing it – Tristan

Sometimes for me it’s the clicks, or the scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. I realize that most Industries are like this but it can sometimes throw you off and make you forget about the creative side which is so important. – Jordan

12. You’re currently on tour with We the Kings and have 25 shows planned. Is this the first time you’ve been on such a major road trip throughout the USA? 

For Astro Lasso it’s by far the biggest tour we’ve ever done. We’re so thankful and honoured. It’s actually our first tour as a band! And the first show on tour was our first show ever! It has been an amazing way to get our feet wet as a band! 

13. What has been the best part about the first part of this tour so far? Why? 

Getting to tour with all the awesome bands and crew from We The Kings, Cute Is What We Aim For and Plaid Brixx has been amazing. Everyone has been so welcoming to us as a new band on the scene! The fans we have been meeting on tour have been so awesome to us! We have been getting great feedback on our music.

14. What has been the most challenging part of the tour thus far? Why?

Finding time to sleep and finding good vegetarian and vegan food (I am vegan and Jordan is vegetarian)! – Tristan

Making sure you remember to stay in touch with friends and family… and getting enough sleep! – Jordan

15. What’s being on tour like? Is there time to recharge?

There’s actually not much time to recharge. You feel like you will have down time but things end up being pretty busy.

16. Understanding that being on tour must be extremely exhausting, while also exhilarating of course, you must crave comfort food!! What’s your go to snack while on the road and why?

When we are on the east coast, Sheetz is our comfort food! We try to eat healthy though, because it’s easy to get sick if you’re not taking care of yourself while on tour.

17. Throughout the tour, you’re going to make additional stops through the Mentoring through Music program with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. How many Big Brothers Big Sisters will you visit along the tour route?

We’re so happy to be part of BBBSA, the bigs and littles that come out so far have been so nice. We’re so happy to be part the program! The amount of bigs and littles we meet varies on the tour stops, so far we have met a handful of matches and we loved playing for them, it was such an honour.

18. I hear you’re planning on performing acoustic sets and inviting participants to your all ages shows for meet and greets. What does this opportunity mean to you? 

Music is one of the few things that can bring people together. So it means a lot!! 

19. What impact do you hope “Mentoring through Music” has on Big Brothers Big Sisters? 

We hope it can inspire kids to want to play music, like we said, it can truly bring people together.

20. What’s next for Astro Lasso post-tour?

After we finish this tour at the end the March, we are heading back into the studio to work on a second album! We want to release music as quickly as we can!

For more information on the band, visit astrolasso.com and follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Astro Lasso’s music is also on iTunes and Spotify.