Space4Space is an intergalactic music project that’s been in orbit since the fall of 2021. Right about now, guitarist Story Moore is probably singing a Grateful Dead tune as she steers the band around the asteroid belt. Psych-rock supernaughts Zach Armstrong (lead and rhythm guitar), Kyle Erickson (bass) and David “Heavy” Hevener (drums) share vocal duties while they try to keep the show on a steady trajectory through the atonal, improvised, psycho-punk chaos of the 9th Universe, but back on Earth it’s story time. Moore enlightens us about the band’s formulation and explains that Space4Space isn’t just an experiment in cinematic rock ‘n’ roll, it was her way to shout a wordless song about her identity loud enough for the entire star system to hear.
Will you describe your sound for us?
This is always hard to describe, and those who haven’t seen us always ask us this. A friend of the band once called us “cinematic psych rock with pop sensibility,” which is fun. I tend to tell people that we’re a blend of psych rock, stoner rock and rockabilly. We’re doomy, punk-psychedelia at times, and we’re always rough on the edges.
What are your lyrics about?
What aren’t they about may be a better question. We have a lot of humor and we like to laugh, and that certainly makes its way into our lyrics. We like to think we take the ridiculousness seriously. Certainly, some of our lyrics are serious and touch on loneliness and heartbreak, but also peace and joy. I think sometimes it’s not really the words that are important to me, it’s the melodic line that we create with our voices to add to the feel of a song.
What bands or genres inspire your music?
Zach and I are Deadheads. The Grateful Dead have all the elements: roots in country, blues, bluegrass and jazz. For me, it’s Weird Al Yankovic, Phish, John Hartford, old country and bluegrass. “Heavy” and Kyle add influences of punk, metal and prog. Our sound winds up having a wonderful genre-melting-and-blending vibe.
What is the origin of Space4Space? How did the project come together?
In the spring of 2021 I started to come out to my friends and family as transgender. It was a difficult time in my life as my own family dynamics shifted dramatically. There is nothing that feels more free and good than when you speak a long-held truth out loud for the first time in your whole life. But what followed was a lot of pain and grief and anger and shame. I found myself in my garage late at night, my amp turned up just enough to feed back. I would create this wonderful chaos of noise looping endlessly, layers slowly decaying while new ones formed. Something about that atonal space releases me from everything — all the sadness, worry and stress.
This is where an idea spawned. I wanted to play two hours of atonal, improvised chaos live. Nothing I would expect people to come out and want to see, but it wasn’t for them, it was for me. What I needed was a space for space. It was perfect. The name and the idea was and still is very much part of the process of coming out. Space allowed me to say the things I needed to say without using words. I [wrote] a nine song suite and ode to the planets and the life forms that live or have lived on those planets. Enlisting our close friend Peter Rice, Zack and I wrote an outline and short blurbs of each planet — and three in the Asteroid Belt, because why not? The idea was that we would interweave improvisational space between the planetary songs. Chaos into structure over and over, never stopping until we reached Pluto — which, of course, we consider a planet. I imagined us on a double-decker space bus visiting each planet, hearing their stories and moving to the next. So it was only natural that we would need a tour guide: a non-musician at the side of the stage with a microphone. The narrations were funny and sometimes sad, joyous or introspective.
How does the spoken word aspect work?
Due to people’s schedules, we wind up enlisting other friends to fill in those roles. It’s been fun, because each person puts on their own flair and interpretation of the journey. We always provide them with an outline of the set and the stories behind the songs, but we always encourage them to improvise and to put their own spin on it. It’s really fun to listen to them as we play in the background. A lot of their ideas become canon and lore and get added to the history books.
How did the project evolve into a live act?
Zack and I found a location to play, but we still needed a drummer and a bass player. That’s when I enlisted “Heavy.” He was not a drummer, but he had a drum kit, and I knew he could play and keep a beat. His friend Kyle was coming by one night to pick up his bass equipment for a different jam and said he’d stick around to listen, but I insisted if he was going to stick around to listen he may as well pick up his bass and play. He never left that night, and the band was complete.
I’ll never be able to fully explain that first show. We invited everyone we knew. Half of the people I invited I had come out to, and half of them I hadn’t had a chance to talk to yet. When I took the stage, I knew I would be as fully formed as I could be: awesome boots, wild leggings and short skirt, guitar strapped on. We took off! I felt like I was floating above myself as the music lifted us off the ground. This idea — this space for space — was real. There was nothing else [besides] me and my closest friends creating in real time.
What are your favorite venues to play and why?
The Albuquerque Press Club is one of our favorites. They’ve embraced our weirdness. We tend to play there once a month, and the building is beautiful and old and weird, like myself [laughs]. Guild Cinema is also a special place. There’s something fun about seeing music there, because it’s a cinema. Go to the lobby, get your popcorn, candy and soda, sit back and watch a band.
What is the best show you have ever played and why?
For me, it was playing at Guild Cinema last summer. Because of its uniqueness as a venue, we wanted it to be special. We hired someone to make projections that unraveled on top of us as we played in front of the screen. We all wore white, so the imagery could swallow us into the scene. We had our narrator and tour guide with their mic connected to the house PA guiding the band and audience along the musical journey. We also had a friend of ours drawing us as we played.
Visit the Space4Space linktree for their music archive, social media accounts, SoundCloud and more here.
Check out the official video for “Cowboy Song” here.
You can cruise YouTube for more videos and listen to Space4Space perform live at the Albuquerque Press club live June 29, 2024 here.