Lifting Off With N.A.S.A.

N.A.S.A. is a massive party-collaboration project orchestrated by DJs Sam Spiegel (Spike Jonze’s little brother) and DJ Zegon (pro skateboarder Ze Gonzales), who hurdled the globe to reel in a potluck collection of music’s biggest names to contribute to their five-years-in-the-making debut album The Spirit Of Apollo.

First conceived at a packed party in São Paulo, Brazil, the fantasy collabo-record is a brilliant tapestry of diverse flavors and clashing styles that somehow hit a perfect harmonic pitch unlike anything before it. A dazzling assortment of high-profile artists, from M.I.A. to David Byrne, from Chuck D to Tom Waits with a dash of Kanye, The Spirit Of Apollo is a beat-centric party album that transcends genre and style in the most danceable of ways.

The goal now is to turn the N.A.S.A. live show into a high-octane multimedia extravaganza, with the help of some friends in the heart of the art world. Some have already lent their visual talents resulting in some badass animated music videos for several of the album’s tracks. Check out their latest visual spectacle, for Whatchadoin – featuring Santigold, M.I.A., Yeah Yeah Yeah’s guitarist Nick Zinner and Spank Rock.

A full-length documentary was recently completed that includes interviews with many of the artists who contributed to The Spirit Of Apollo, as well as behind-the-scenes footage from the studio sessions. We tracked down Sam Spiegel to find out a little more on the project, as well as what’s next for the most ambitious duo in music today.

Antiquiet: First off, what the hell is it about the scene in Brazil that makes people not want to come back? Is it really that incredible?

Sam Spiegel: Brazil is an incredibly rhythmic place. I think it’s the epicenter of rhythm in the world. Everything there is on beat. The way people talk, they walk on beat, the sounds in the street. I really is one of the more musical places in the world. Also, people there are just really really fun loving and warm and open minded..

Antiquiet: Correct me if I’m wrong: the track with Karen O, Fatlip & Ol’ Dirty Bastard was the first song for the record- did that define the album for you, as a touchstone for where to go next?

Sam Spiegel: Strange Enough really gave us a direction for the record. It was such a crazy collision of genres, so unexpected but somehow perfect, that it made us realize that we should make a record about bringing people together from different worlds through music. Just as myself and Zegon came together trhough music, we wanted to make a record that explored that theme on every song.

Antiquiet: Dirt recorded his parts right before he died. He never actually made it to the studio though did he? What happened?

Sam Spiegel: In true Dirt style, he flaked on the studio, then he flaked the next day, but he sent us vocals that he recorded at home. I asked him to make some changes, and he surprised me by actually doing them. I feel lucky to have been blessed with some of his best vocals and some of his last.

Antiquiet: There’s such a wide range of music – do you ever stop and say ‘Jesus, how the hell did we just get from Strange Enough to Gifted?’

Sam Spiegel: Ha… not really… Our taste is so eclectic, it just made sense for us to make a record that spanned the musical spectrum.

Antiquiet: How did you manage to avoid any distinct timestamps? There’s not much that places any song on the album in a specific sonic trend. Lyrically, I imagine that was more difficult.

Sam Spiegel: We were very cognizant of that. We wanted to make a record that felt timeless. We did this by avoiding being trendy with whatever was happening at that moment in time, but rather staying true to ourselves. We also tried to avoid any lyrical timestamps. I remember David Byrne wrote a lyric with Cheney and Bush referenced in it, and I asked him to change it as to avoid just that.

Antiquiet: Did you give the vocalists a general concept of what each track would be about, or did you have a hand in the lyrical designs?

Sam Spiegel: It was always different, sometimes we wrote a chorus, sometimes we just gave them a topic or concept, and sometimes we just let them do their thing.

Antiquiet: Can you describe recording with Tom Waits in a log cabin in the Bay area?

Sam Spiegel: It was so fun. He’s a great dude! I really liked talking to him and his wife and kid…

Antiquiet: Was there any rhyme or reason to your process of selecting artists & animators to work together?

Sam Spiegel: Sometimes, artists just fit with certain songs. For instance, I was trying to find an artist for the song Money (The Root Of All Evil), and I opened up Shepard fairey’s magazine Swindle, and the centerfold was a big dollar bill exploring the evil side of capitolism. It just made sense.

Antiquiet: When will we see the full documentary? What’s in store?

Sam Spiegel: The Doc should come out at the beginning of 2010. It’s half live footage of shows/in the studio with everyone on the record, digging records in Brazil, hanging with Sizzla at his rasta compound in Kingston/etc. and half animation.

Antiquiet: What brought you to Anti Records?

Sam Spiegel: They are an artist run label that is very ectlectic and does cool records with some juice behind them, but also completely indie…

Antiquiet: Any tracks not make the record? What will become of them?

Sam Spiegel: We’ve got a bunch that didn’t, with De La soul, another with Lovefoxxx and Del and Tippa Irie, another with Cee-Lo… we’ll finish them and get them out soon enough..

Antiquiet: We hear you’re putting some special things together for the El Rey show in Los Angeles (Aug. 12th)… any hints you can drop?

Sam Spiegel: No hints. But be prepared for a cosmic voyage.