Pop Dee-Lite : Walter Meego : Voyager

If you've been waiting for the right opportunity to bust out your best robot dance moves, look no further than Walter Meego's Voyager, out May 27 on Almost Gold Recordings. Just be sure you don't make the mistake of telling your hip friends about that cool Walter Meego dude you've discovered because Walter Meego is two dudes: Justin Sconza and Colin Yarck. Their live show features third member Andrew Bernhardt.

On Voyager, these two suburban Chicagoans take listeners away to frolic about in a synth wonderland filled with endless hooks and heat-seeking bass lines. Sconza mans the mic with vocals that sound like he's riding a rollercoaster while sucking on a helium balloon. Don't let that turn you off, though. It's surprisingly effective given the whirlwind of otherworldly sound effects his vocals compete with on each song. Case in point, on the eerie Keyhole, (my personal favorite) he does his best creepy stalker-guy impression with a Star Trek-like phaser gun shooting in the background. Letting Go incorporates the sounds of a UFO landing - or taking off - I can't really say for sure. But I wouldn't be surprised if these guys glow in the dark. I'll be watching for proof of that at their live show.

Voyager is ripe for sexy summer pool parties with its flirtatious subject matter (girls, starlets, etc.) and loungey disco pop beats interspersed with a myriad of blippy, bleepy sound effects. It's a fun and bizarre combo that makes Voyager a real trip into electro-pop nirvana.

Walter Meego - Girls

Walter Meego on tour with The Presets:

5/21 : San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine
5/22 : Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
5/23 : Seattle, WA - Nectar Lounge
5/26 : Salt Lake, UT - Urban Lounge
5/27 : Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
5/29 : Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock
5/30 : Chicago, IL - Abbey Pub
6/2 : Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
6/4 : Williamsburg, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
6/5 : New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
6/6 : Kensington, PA - Johnny Brenda’s

Related:

AUDIO : SXSW Interview of Walter Meego
Walter Meego signs with Almost Gold
More New Walter Meego
New Walter Meego
Walter Meego & Imogen Heap

CONTINUE READING AN INTERVIEW WITH JUSTIN SCONZA OF WALTER MEEGO... This interview never went live due to the sheer amount of 2007 Holiday Interviews MOKB did. Glad we can share it now!

MOKB : So tell us what you can or will about the new album coming out next year.

Justin : We've got our first full-length coming out sometime in the first half of next year. It's finished being mixed and it's being mastered this week. we're totally excited about it. We started recording around a year ago this time. We got all these old synthesizers and effects and everything and we basically worked on it all day every day until the middle of this past summer.

We've got a new record deal which we're also really excited about. The album is coming out on almost gold recordings. Everyone at the label is awesome and they've been really great. So yeah!

MOKB : Any musical plans for the 2007 holiday season?

Justin : We're taking the holiday season easy this year. We're just gonna be recording and making up ideas in the studio like we always do. It's good to hibernate in the winter. I know this spring we'll be doing a lot of touring so we need all the rest we can get!

MOKB : What have been your most and least favorite things about the last two years?

Justin : The last two years have been super exciting. Two years ago this time we were signing up with Brilliante Records. We recorded Through A Keyhole and then we did our 'romantic' ep. We went to Iceland for Iceland Airwaves, which was soooooooo fun. That was probably my most favorite thing. At the time, it was so new and crazy to be touring out of the country and in Iceland of all places!

Then a year ago we started working on the album. We got the record deal with Almost Gold. We played SXSW. We went on our first national tour this past August and our first European tour in September. We played at CMJ in NYC, and now we're making music in the studio again. Everything has been super exciting.

MOKB : Where is the best place you've toured over that time? Why?

Justin : Iceland was the most fun for sure. It was four days of non-stop craziness. We had so much fun that I wanted to be bored when i got back just to change it up. After that i would have to say Studio B in Brooklyn. And then after that it was Fabric in London. Fabric was awesome. They have subs in the floor that make your body vibrate with the bass. We were down with that.

MOKB : Where is the best and worst place to eat while touring?

Justin : It's funny because before touring I never really ate that much fast food, but sometimes on the road you don't have a choice. When you're in the middle of rural Idaho on your way to the west coast, it's either fast food or fast food. So we figured out how to make that work and it totally does when you need it to.

The best places to eat are in and around the big cities though. We definitely try to hit up the good food when we can.

MOKB : What's the worst rock n roll injury you've sustained over that time?

Justin : Colin tops that one for sure. We we're in this club in Iceland and it was really cold so one of the side doors was jammed. The door was made of metal, and Colin was standing by the door inside of the club. This guy tried to open it from the outside, and it slammed right into colin's face, which wasn't pretty.

MOKB : Give my your top three hometown hotspots.

Justin : I was born and raised in Chicago so I've got lots of places I like to go for fun. There's this bar called The Burlington in Logan Square, which is awesome. If you're ever in town, stop by and check it out.

MOKB : What weather event most terrifies you? (hurricane, snowstorm, earthquake, forest fire, tsunami, etc...)

Justin : Assuming all of them are at their worst and I'm caught in the middle of it, I'd say a forest fire. How are you gonna get out of the middle of a raging forest fire? That's not gonna be easy.

After that, i'd say an earthquake. With a hurricane or tsunami you stand a chance if you can just stay above water.

With the snowstorm, it depends on the situation. Assuming the worst and you don't have the right clothes on, you're in trouble.

Worst of everything would be a hurricane that develops into a tsunami somewhere off shore, picks you up on a wave, then somehow runs into a cold spot which turns it into a snowstorm. You then slide down the frozen wave into a burning forest fire that's falling apart due to an earthquake. Now that would be difficult.

MOKB : What do you want for (Christmas/Hanukkah/Insert Your Holiday) this year?

Justin : I can't really think of anything. There's so much I need all the time...like a lamp or some new socks. But then that stuff isn't very fun. I guess if i had to think of something fun, I'd like a lot of stuff like that too...an old 60's combo organ would be cool.

MOKB : What's your best holiday memory?

Justin : I always remember there being no traffic on Christmas. It was this weird thing where i'd be with my family driving in the car somewhere and I'd look out the window and there weren't any other cars around.

MOKB : Give me your best holiday get-away.

Justin : The best get-away for me is home cause I don't get tobe there that often.

MOKB : You're snowed-in, who do you want to be stuck with you?

Justin : All my friends, and we'd have a party. Rhat would be fun.

MOKB : What's the best gift to buy for that special someone this holiday season?

Justin : I have the hardest time coming up with gifts to give people. I always want to do something like make them a drawing or a write a little poem or something but then I think that they'll think I'm being thoughtless by not going to a department store and buying a candle holder or something like that.

MOKB : If you were to buy that special someone one CD this holiday season, what would it be and why?

Justin : I just saw that movie Darjeeling Limited and it had a cool soundtrack. So maybe I'd check that out...or I've been listening to a lot of old Rocksteady music so that would be cool...or maybe a compilation of late fifties early sixties rock instrumentals. Those are awesome...or maybe I'd make a mix of everything!

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