Borrowing everything from The Beatles to T. Rex, Astra Heights ignore their Hispanic heritage and instead dive bomb into power pop pastures. A safety net? Doubtful. Meshing the sound of The Strokes and Queen is pretty ballsy. Hell, even the gritty Black Crowes influences of single ‘The March’ is hard to deny off their debut Good Problems. We sat down with Mark and James Morales to talk about growing up in a musical family, being pop in their world and that crazy Morrisey love affair in Latin America.

Pensatos: Nearly everyone in the band is brothers; was there a decision to start a band or did things just kind of end up that way?
James: We were in our church choir growing up so we learned harmonies from there. Outside church we learned music from Motown. But as far as starting the band, it happened when Mark and one of our other brothers came home and we all got together - it just all fell into place. We all picked up instruments together for the first time and it just clicked.

Mark: The first thing we learned was Beatles covers. We had one of those white music books, you know? The ones you always learn an instrument with? Not a bad place to start we thought.

There’s this sense of machismo in the Hispanic culture. With Morrisey, there’s not that; he’s in touch with this softer side that we aren’t allowed to be. That’s what I’m drawn to.

It seems like it would be crazy playing as kin. That sibling tension. Is there anything rewarding when playing music as a family?
Mark: Ninety percent of the time when we are recording or begin the process we are on the same page because we all grew up listening to the same stuff. So in our minds, there’s no outside person who likes - say - Jazz or something off the wall that we would just look at and say “We don’t get it.” There was none of that. We would talk about a song and one of us would sit down and start playing. And then one of us would be like, “Yea - that’s it. Now elaborate on that.” James would then jump in on bass. It just made the music really easy and on the same page. I would say that was the biggest benefit. No learning curve; we just get each other.

James: On a cheesy level; playing with your brothers is a cool experience. It’s great to care about people you are playing with. [They start laughing at each other]. But no seriously, we aren’t like Oasis or something - we all get along.

Mark: For the most part.

James: We get along famously [laughs].

Where do you draw inspiration for your songs?
Mark: [whistles]

James: Man where do we start.

Mark: I know.

James: A lot of it has to do with Brit Pop. Blur. Those bands of the nineties. I would have to say though that as far as love of the music goes, it would have to be Morrissey. We’ve been listening to him since the third grade.

That’s an amazing point. I remember reading an article by Chuck Klosterman where he bared this insane Latin American following for Morrisey - long past his Smiths craze and solo career fizzled in the US. I mean, not to put it bluntly; but they are rabid for this guy. Why is that?
James: I was thinking about this today. I mean, it may not come out right away in our music but I really love Morrisey. A lot of people laugh that we are these Latin American kids who think they are from Liverpool. He wears his emotions on his sleeve. There’s this sense of machismo in the Hispanic culture. With Morrisey, there’s not that; he’s in touch with this softer side that we aren’t allowed to be. That’s what I’m drawn to.

Mark: It’s that softer side that gets me.

He’s gotten a lot more of a hard ass as he’s gotten older.
Mark: [laughs] That’s true.

Is it hard to separate your Hispanic heritage from your music?
James: We have been asked by several people to introduce more Spanish songs into our catalogue. But as of right now - I don’t think so. It’s just not right with us.

[Being brothers] we aren’t like Oasis or something – we all get along.

‘The Whole World Changes’ stands out as a very ethnic and raw track - different from the rest of the album. Why the departure?
James: We probably recorded three different versions of that song.

Michael: Yeah, that’s a really old one that we’ve had to go back to and redo several times over the years.

James: That’s how our song writing process is I guess. We just start playing, collaborate, and then the song just comes out. This one just happened to come out with the ethnic sound but we never intended it to be that way. And it got more so over the years. We still get a kick out playing that song years later.

What are your plans now with the record deal and the new album?

James: Right now we’re working on some cover tracks. A T-Rex song, a Yellow song, and some others. Of course there was South By Souhwest.

The tequila.

Michael: Oh yes. Six shows in five days.

You’d need the tequila then.