January 1, 2004
BIOGRAPHY
PIONEER 10
A SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Pioneer 10: (definition 1): The famed NASA spacecraft and first man-made object to leave our solar system, PIONEER 10 has been exploring the universe for three decades.
Pioneer 10: (definition 2): A new Canadian rock 'n' roll band exploring the genre with passion and fresh energy.
With their very first single, False Alarm, Pioneer 10 serve notice that they are a new force to be reckoned with. Fueled by fiery guitar riffs and the virile vocals of main man Jeff Booth, this explosive track fuses muscle and melody, to irresistible effect.
Just ask Jim Vallance. This legendary hit songwriter (Bryan Adams, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne) will stake his reputation on the rock radio friendliness of False Alarm. "To my ear, 'False Alarm' just sounds like it belongs on the radio," he stresses.
The song also has a positive lyrical message, as its writer explains. "In our memories of life, we tend to have a myopic focus on certain events or emotions, which can become exaggerated negatively," says Jeff. "The song is trying to suggest that you can't rewind in life, but you can hit stop and start again. It offers hope in that sense."
High hopes are certainly held for Pioneer 10, a project that has already taken on a life of its own. "I wanted to write a bunch of songs for friends, and things just took off," says Booth. "We decided to record them properly, so I brought in friends like Ryan Dahle (Limblifter) and Kurt Dahle (New Pornographers) to play on it."
The live-to-2 track recording sessions at Vancouver's renowned Factory Studios captured the primal energy of Pioneer 10, as their debut CD, DELUXE, will affirm.
This is no false alarm. Pioneer 10 are the real thing.
EXTENDED BIOGRAPHY
It seems only fitting that after three decades of relaying signals back to earth from the great unknown that PIONEER 10 should take on a different form. The same month the spacecraft’s last, almost transparent transmission reached Earth, a band by the same name was born in Vancouver, Canada.
With catchy rock anthems that explore everything from the fear of running out of time (False Alarm), a ‘Dear John letter’ retort (Best Phrase), and authentic friendship (The Long Way Down), PIONEER 10’s debut release DELUXE is genuine, straight-up rock ’n roll recorded live off the floor – after months of rehearsal so the performances would be as tight as possible – to 2-track, with vocals added later, at the world-renowned Factory Studios in Vancouver.
Jeff Booth, principal songwriter and lead singer, culled from the best of Vancouver’s recording artists, including guitarist Scratch, bassist Everick Golding, and drummer Ross Brewster. With guest appearances by Ryan Dahle (Limblifter), Kurt Dahle (The New Pornographers) and Ian Browne (ex-Matthew Good Band) among others, DELUXE is a full-on audio assault of the senses.
“I was interested in the emotional impact of shooting an inanimate object out into space, just for the sheer purpose of discovery in the unknown,” says Booth, of borrowing the band’s name from one of NASA’s most venerated projects. “That was a very lonely act – albeit a scientific act for sure – but one that asks a lot of spiritual questions like ‘who are we?’ and ‘is anyone out there?’
“By sending these things out into space (there were other Pioneer spacecraft before and after 10) we’re trying to find out more about ourselves, and that’s exactly what our music is all about.”
In fact, five billion years from now the sun could implode and take the Earth with it—the NASA spacecraft PIONEER 10 would be one of only a handful of man-made objects left in the universe, says Booth.
But the spirit of what stirred Booth initially from the design and launch of such technology reaches further into the core of humanity than might be initially apparent. For example, the song ‘Petaluma,’ about an historic California port town with architecture that spans the century and no history of natural disaster, came to Booth after hearing about the little burg and its pristine condition. So much so that when he had the first opportunity, he made the trek to the town “just to smell the air in the city square.”
“I wanted to provide a wake up call to urban compromise,” he says, adding how troubling it is that more and more it’s not possible to find an urban center – big or small – that hasn’t lost it’s soul.
On the more personal side of things, tracks like ‘Best Phrase’ dig into issues of being on the end of a decision that altogether concerns you, but doesn’t offer any choice in the matter, while ‘False Alarm’ gives the overall essence of the album, encapsulating the theme of being stuck in a rut yet seeing light at the end of the tunnel.
“You may not be able to rewind in life, but you can always hit ‘stop’ and start anew. We should never feel as though we are running out of time. There’s always hope,” Booth offers, a sentiment which also extends to the track ‘Long Way Down’ – perhaps the most thought provoking track on the disc.
“’The Long Way Down’ is an example of compassion a person can feel for someone who is disillusioned and the lengths they will go to, to be of assistance. It’s about being there through thick and thin – the type of support only found in genuine friendship,” he explains of the song’s lyrics:
If the well should last forever/And the bottom’s come up dry/If you need someone to lean on/But your favourite word’s ‘goodbye’... I’ll take the long way down/When you need someone but no one can be found.
The spacecraft PIONEER 10 carries a gold plaque engraved with a message of goodwill and a map showing the Earth's location in the solar system. The spacecraft continues to coast toward the star Aldebaran - ‘The eye of the Bull’ - in the constellation Taurus. It will take 2 million years to reach it.
With any luck, if you turn on your radio, you just may be able to hear PIONEER 10 right now.
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