INTERVIEW: If BATTS Had Her Way, She'd Be ‘Dancing On The Moon’

BATTS. Photo by Michelle Grace Hunder.

Melbourne-based musician BATTS is a self-professed space enthusiast. Last year, she released her debut album, The Grand Tour, which saw her working with NASA to sample some of their most iconic missions. She’s done the same on her new track, Dancing On The Moon, which features audio from the iconic NASA Voyager mission.

I spoke to BATTS about Dancing On The Moon, and some of her favourite inventions that are a result of space travel. I also spoke to her about her thoughts on going to space, and whether she’d be game to live amongst the stars.

Ben Madden: Firstly, can you introduce yourself and your music?

BATTS: I’m Tanya! I make music under the name BATTS and my music is constantly changing depending on my mood and current interests. Currently I like to put space samples in my music from NASA missions throughout the solar system and beyond. I go through stages of telling my own stories and creating fictional characters to write about.  

Can you tell me a bit about what inspired Dancing To The Moon – I know it stems from a collaboration with a Philadelphia label?

I received an email in February from Joseph Carlough who runs a tape label called This and That Tapes. He had a song with his band Gravey Train about an ‘astronaut who goes to the Moon’. After hearing my debut album, he wanted me to write the flip side of the tape. When I heard it, the lyric ‘I miss my wife’ stood out. I got up, walked into my studio and wrote a response as ‘the wife of the astronaut’, and that is how it was born. I really love creating fictional characters and using music to build the world around them, so this was a perfect little project to be a part of. 

The song sees you putting yourself in the mindset of the wife of an astronaut – if you had to leave a loved one behind when you went to space, what item would you leave behind that you think would best remind them of you?

Peppermint Oil!

Top 5 inventions that wouldn’t exist without space travel:

1. Artificial Limbs 

2. Land Mine Removal

3. CAT Scans

4. Baby Formula

5. Camera Phones

You can find out more cool things that have been invented or progressed miles in development because of Space Travel here - https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/infographics/infographic.view.php?id=11358

In terms of the sonics used in Dancing To The Moon – how reflective are they of the kinds of songs you’ll be writing for your next project?

This is a good question. To be honest with you, I just don’t know yet. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to be in a room with my band, I can barely imagine it being bigger than what it currently is. However, I can’t wait to reintroduce those elements back in. I am really enjoying playing my nylon string and acoustic though and that will definitely feature more in upcoming recordings no doubt. 

The song samples the NASA Voyager mission – what drew you to including a sample of that particular expedition?

I adore so much about that mission. My debut album is a concept album documenting the moment Voyager left Earth until it crossed into Interstellar Space. I placed samples throughout the album in chronological order taking you on Voyager 1’s journey, through space, through sound. So, for my album I did a crazy amount of research but I also have so many samples that NASA gave me from the mission, so for this song I found one that I thought worked well underneath to help add to the vibe for the version that is on the tape.

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Finally, when do you think that space travel will be accessible to all, and would you be game to go to space?

I honestly have no idea re: when. I think I’d be game, but it would have to be a return trip. I love this planet and the people I have here far too much to ever leave permanently by choice. I know Richard Branson has been working on his Virgin Galactic project and then obviously Elon Musk and so many more people and companies.

I’d 100% go up to the ISS etc. I’d also definitely go to the Moon; I don’t really think I’ll get to go there in my lifetime, but I would jump at the chance if it was available. However, I quite like that it is this special and mysterious place that only 566 or so people have entered into. What a magical feeling and opportunity they have worked so hard for and gained a shared experience because of.

Obviously I don’t believe it will ever be accessible for all because there will always be people who can’t afford it, so it’s almost nicer being this beautiful mystery and we get to live vicariously through the people who are trained to go there and share their stories with us.

You can follow BATTS on Instagram here, Facebook here and Twitter here.