VAST
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | Austin, Texas, USA | |
| Genre(s) | Industrial, Alternative, Progressive Rock | |
| Years active | 1998 in music – present | |
| Label(s) | 2Blossoms Records & Media | |
| Website | Official site | |
| Members | ||
| Jon Crosby Michael Austinmoore Ben Fenton Tabber Millard |
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| Former members | ||
| Thomas Froggatt Steve Clark Rowan Robertson Justin Cotta Patrick McGuire Dustin Williams |
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VAST stands for Visual Audio Sensory Theater, and is the brainchild of Los Angeles, California-based singer-songwriter and musician Jon Crosby.
The musical outfit began when Jon Crosby was sixteen, and at the time the other members of the group consisted of a drum machine and a bass player. VAST's concerts included elements of performance art as well as music, employing display monitors and other visual effects onstage.
The band first had some success when a local radio station gave one of their demo tapes consistent air-time. Crosby sent demo tapes to several New York City recording companies, eventually signing with Elektra Records. Thomas Froggatt, Steve Clark, and Rowan Robertson made up the hastily-assembled band along with Crosby. After touring America and releasing their first album, named simply Visual Audio Sensory Theater (1998), they began work on a second album, entitled Music For People (2000). Before it was finished, Robertson left in pursuit of a solo career. After auditioning, Justin Cotta was chosen to replace him. The new quartet began another US tour. In 2001, Cotta and Clark decided to leave the band to form their own band.
VAST's next album, Nude, was released on February 24, 2004. Two months after the release, the band began the new tour with a new lineup.
Towards the end of 2003, Crosby had started his own label, 2Blossoms Records & Media, and after the 2004 tour began selling a double CD of the Turquoise and Crimson albums (which had previously been available only in mp3 format), mastered and with new artwork, entitled Turquoise & Crimson from his website. This release featured songs that were not included on the retail release of Nude, along with alternate mixes of the songs that did appear on the Nude record.
Since then, three more "official" VAST releases have been made available: A Complete Demonstration in 2005, which is a compilation of early demo tracks. April in 2006 - a version of the latest VAST album recorded all in one take; the 'finished' version is set to be released in early 2007. And, in September 2006, a live recording entitled Live At CBGB's was released. These latter two releases were only made available as digital downloads.
As of December 2006, Jon Crosby has been allowing fans to submit questions pertaining to specific VAST albums that are subsequently answered in "Q & A" audio commentaries and distributed to members of the VAST Fan Club. Thus far, commentaries have been made for Music For People (December 2006), Visual Audio Sensory Theater (January 2007), and Turquoise & Crimson (set to be made available in March 2007).
Another album, entitled Closed Romantic Realism, is set to be released in late 2007 or early 2008.
[edit] See also
[edit] Discography
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