Blackpool Astronomy

Started as side project by Jeff McCollough a former founding member of 1990's Seattle Shoegaze band Lapis. In 1998 the project took a backseat to several other endeavors. After a year Jeff had literally worked on over 25 recordings. He would work long into the night using various vintage technologies to create the sonic atmospheres. After a couple large and painful events he got back to work crafting sonic mayhem and he started to piece together the kind of sonic patchwork he wanted. In its 8th year Jeff decided to expand and add industrial to the mix as a result what was once 2 side projects became a well-oiled machine. Fusing the ambient and industrial sounds with Jeff's love of noise and shortwave radio. He added the skills of Ben Madonna on the drums making Blackpool Astronomy a band instead of a solo project. The band released its first release in 2010. The entire album dealt with the hopelessness experienced on all sides of the Iraq war. As thing happened Jeff and Ben found themselves writing more and the bent of the songs while political expanded on the huge sounds was getting from his combo of multiple amps and pedals. The sound started to veer towards more of a gothic shoegaze with a heavy psych bent. They dumped all the material from the first record to write a new set of songs and in January 2014 they went into studio and created “Tripping The Mortal Coil” which was a collection of song inspired by the events around them including a tragic loss of Jeff’s father to cancer and the grief he was feeling. The album made social comments on the state of the City of Seattle that the band hails from as well as talked about greed in all its forms. While bringing a much more open sound which has gotten them high marks from various radio stations, fans and radio stations. The album while not yet released is getting high marks from those who review it. The band will continue it’s forward progress and 2015 will be the year the band gains a wider audience.