Biography
During his Jacksonville, Florida high school years, Charles Andrew Bothwell adopted the performing identity Astronautalis before entering the local rap circuit, where he claimed battle victories and appeared at Scribble Jam. Although his quick-witted freestyling earned notice, wider musical tastes drew him outside hip-hop, resulting in three consecutive years on the Warped Tour. While pursuing theater studies at a Dallas college, he concentrated on lyricism and, in 2003, issued his first project, You and Yer Good Ideas, solely through live-show sales with production assistance from Ben Cooper of Radical Face. Orlando-based Fighting Records signed him two years later after witnessing a performance, prompting a reissue of the debut and the arrival of the 2006 follow-up Mighty Ocean and Nine Dark Theaters, which incorporated shoegazer-inspired indie rock textures. Eyeball Records handled the subsequent LP Pomegranate in 2009, after which Fake Four released This Is Our Science in 2011; that history-themed set marked his first Billboard appearance on the Heatseekers Albums chart. Guest spots on projects by frequent collaborator P.O.S. and on The Hood Internet’s 2012 release Feat preceded a new alliance with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, S. Carey, and Gayngs’ Ryan Olson under the name Jason Feathers. The quartet delivered the unexpected alt-rap album De Oro in 2014. Three months after the February 2016 EP Sike!, Astronautalis’s fifth studio album Cut the Body Loose emerged as his strongest commercial showing, registering on multiple Billboard tallies including Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums and reaching the Top Ten on Top Rap Albums.
Albums
