Blaster The Rocket Man

The year was roughly early 1994 and a youngster, well not that young name Daniel Otto Jack Peterson fell to the ground and knocked his head on the toilet and an idea to write a punk rock opera called "Blaster the Rocket Boy," came to his head. Well unfortunately the opera never came into existence (fortunately in some minds). But instead of the opera Blaster the Rocket Boy became a punk rock band in the truest since of the word, pulling from influences from all aspects of the old school, and blending them together with Sci-Fi, their wacky imaginations, Sci-Fi, religious beliefs, Sci-Fi, and Otto's quirky, Jello Biafra-esq vocals, and did I mention Sci-Fi?



After many lineup changes in the early days, Blaster. pretty much settled down to the lineup of Otto on vocals his brother Dave (then only 13) on drums (and the main songwriter too!), Mike on Bass and Chrissy (Pigtails) on guitar. This lineup lasted through late 1997.



In late 1994 Blaster. hooked up with Boot to Head Records, which would form a union between the two of us until 1998 when they would move on to Jackson Rubio Recordings (and then back again to BTH from late 1999/2000 to the present). The First Blaster. release was a full-length cassette tape called, "Disasteroid". This would prove in time to be a great break for them, getting loads of airplay for a cassette, and building a loyal fan base. This was a quirky release, more melodic than later releases, and a bit more poppy (kind of like a toxic mix of the Ramones, the Adicts, the Dickes, and the Dead Kennedys). This release quickly sold out, and was out of print for quite some time, but was faithfully released on CD with bonus tracks in the summer of 1998 only to go out of print again and re-released in a packaged double cd "The Anatomy of a Monster" in 2002, along with the "SSFFTV" album.



It was late 1996, basically early 1997 when Blaster the Rocket Boy released their second full length this time on CD titled "Succulent Space Food for Teething Vampires." This would prove to broaden their appeal even further, with a more refined, chaotic/space-like/noisy feel (kind of like a mix of the Dead Kennedys, the Misfits, Man or Astroman, & the Dickies). Their CD did amazingly well and solidified Blaster as a force to be reckoned with.



1999 saw the band change their name to blaster the rocket man, and the release of the bands most impressive work to date, entitled "The Monster Who Ate Jesus" and with a title like that you can be well assured that they rocked the boat from within and without. This record was so good I'd even go as far as to say I think it is one of the best punk releases in the past 10-15 years or so. its simply inspiring. The got both harder and more eclectic and melodic at the same time, adding more elements of western swing and honky-tonk as well as some more 60 rock influences throughout.



Blaster never really were much for the touring life, half the band had families and this made it a difficult to get out beyond their home state of Indiana and surrounding states. They only embarked on two such voyages, the first with the Huntingtons in 1998 I believe, and the second being a headlining tour to the west coast in 2000, both of which did amazingly well in their own right, though the band broke up on the way home from the west coast tour.



In 2002, blaster reformed with a new lineup and began writing new material in hopes of releasing a new release on boot to head later that year, but between Dan preparing for his move to Scotland, tying up loose ends and selling his house, etc. and all things were slow in coming and nothing got recorded besides two live performances before he moved.



So even though we didn't have the new material we were hoping for, boot to head decided for the sake of our sanity and yours to re-release both of blasters cds on a double disc, since both were out of print again and decided to make a spectacle of it, the package is loaded up with extras (including one of these live shows from 2002), fully remastered, and the whole 9 yards and low and behold, people still wanted blaster.



2004 saw the boys get up on a cornerstone stage again while Dan was back in the states on a vacation, they had planned on trying to do a mini-tour, but only had time for one local Indiana show and the 2 cornerstone performances, both of which rocked the crowds into a frenzy, and reminded us all why we fell in love with blaster so long ago.



With Dan currently (and I believe permanently) living in Scotland it makes working on material for a new blaster release pretty difficult, but like all good things, they come to those who wait. or at least that what we're told. so will it happen? Who knows. all we can say is, we'd like it to happen and in true blaster fashion it will happen when it happens and that's the end of the story.



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