The Phoenix, Arizona group Jupiter Cyclops are stepping into this week’s Meet The Band spotlight. Their debut album is Age Of The UFOnaut. Vocalist Aaron Peltz, guitarist Dustin Lyon, and bassist Jake Melius introduce us to their band.
Give us a brief history of Jupiter Cyclops.
Aaron Peltz: The band started as a two piece doom/sludge band when I moved to Phoenix in 2019. I didn’t know anyone in the area when I got there and looked around for some projects to keep me busy. I found our original drummer, wrote some riffs and we were playing live pretty quickly. We also recorded a demo and coincidently “UFOnaut” was a section of a song that was part of a 10-minute long tune. Dusty and I met around that same time when we were in an Iron Maiden cover band and we hit it off well and had a lot in common musically. I asked him to join up and we started the process of changing from doom to classic metal. Jake moved back to Phoenix and we contacted him from an ad he had posted. He has serious bass chops that are rare to find and is a real bassist. Kyle (Eades, drums) was in an active band around Phoenix and when they stopped playing we asked him to jam with us and boom here we are.
Describe the songwriting process for Age of the UFOnaut.
Dustin Lyon: We started jamming to see what happened and what we could come up with. I’m really picky and over think all my riffs so working with the other guys is really nice. I’ll play a warm-up riff or an exercise-type riff that I play to get going, and Aaron or Jake will like it and we can take it from there. Sometimes we write full songs and present them to each other and play around with them to get the structure and parts right. Other times one of us will come up with a verse or a chorus and have someone else add on to it. So the songs are coming from all over the place.
What will be your strongest memory of the recording of the album?
Dustin: I love the process as a whole, so that is a hard question. I’d have to say it’s playing off each other and making the music better than it could be by ourselves. We all contribute to the writing and it’s fun to bounce ideas off each other and see the final product come to life.
Aaron: For me, probably the shift from releasing it on your own, to working with a label. It went from fucking around to being more serious with deadlines pretty quickly.
Jake Melius: Due to being in-between drummers at the time, hearing the drum tracks back from LA and then the first rough mixes of everything together.
What was the biggest challenge in its creation?
Dustin: The biggest challenge for me is knowing when the song is done and has everything it needs. I could add tons of guitars and all kinds of parts for fun and overload the album very
easily. It’s always a struggle for me to say, this song is done and we can move on.
Aaron: Changing drummers during the recording and having two different recording sessions were one of those “Red Alert” moments for sure, but we all have pretty chill personalities and just rolled with it.
How would you characterize its style/sound?
Dustin: The style would be classic metal with some ’70s-style rock n roll mixed in. Almost like if Deep Purple had more influences and was a more modern band. I have a heavy hand, so I tend
to make things heavier and faster. The sound is a mish mash of all our influences which could be anything from Black Sabbath to Pink Floyd and everything in between.
Aaron: It’s definitely a classic sound, but there’s more to it than just classic metal. We really wanted to focus on the years 1971 to 1981. Deep Purple and Sabbath to Maiden and Angel Witch for example. There’s also other styles in there, though.
Jake: High energy rock-n-roll with dashes of ’70s grooves and ’80s British metal.
What lyrical topics do you cover?
Aaron: I like telling a story about what’s happening in my personal life and writing about weird shit that interests me. For this album, it’s UFOs, demons, doomsday prepper fun, black magic, dreams, Lumerians, and Orwellian prophecy.
How did you come to sign with Rockshots Records?
Aaron: I actually was playing bass in a band on Rockshots called Angel Black. After I stopped playing with them, the Cyclops’ EP was done and I pitched it to Rockshots and they were down to sign us. Considering we are a more classic metal band I really wanted to go to a European label and we were fortunate enough to work with them.
What are your goals and expectations for the album?
Dustin: We would love for as many people as possible to hear the album. We love sharing the energy with our fans and feeding of that. We would also love to play some shows in Europe
and party down with the fans.
Aaron: Yep, getting people to just hear the band outside of your hometown is the biggest obstacle for any band, especially when you’re not playing trendy music. Some of the best bands in the world will never be heard, because it’s so difficult to get the business side of things going. So this album is our gauntlet and we are throwing it down.
What has been your most memorable Jupiter Cyclops live show?
Dustin: We opened for a band called Earthless, they were similar to us, so the crowd was our style. It was a great show with great energy, and everyone was vibing together.
Jake: Playing down at the Club Congress Hotel in Tucson, Arizona. That place was awesome and haunted.
What are your upcoming show/tour plans?
Aaron: We will see what happens. We are in a great spot in the southwest US and close to several major cities. That being said, I would love to make it to Europe and play where the metal shines the brightest. We are looking for an agent right now to represent us.
How did you get started in music?
Dustin: I got started early in a school band. I saw the movie Back to the Future when I was really young and the scene where Marty plays “Johnny B. Goode” blew my mind. It was like a calling.
Once I got older and started playing in real bands with other people, I couldn’t get enough.
Aaron: Once I got a taste of the metal as a teenager it was all I wanted to do. I would play air drums and/or guitar to my favorite albums. Played in a garage band like we all do early on and then after school I joined the Marines. It was while I was in the military that I decided I was going to pursue music.
Jake: My dad was really into blues and rock, he played guitar and harmonica. I heard a lot of Stevie Ray Vaughn and Deep Purple growing up so I’ve always been surrounded with music.
Who were your early influences and inspirations?
Aaron: Iron Maiden far and away is my biggest influence, that’s for vocals and guitar. Then it’s ’80s thrash; Metallica and Slayer were constantly played throughout my life. Listened to a ton of Sabbath, Kyuss, Sleep, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, and a bunch of NWOBHM.
Dustin: Ritchie Valens and Chuck Berry were big for me. I listened to them all the time as a young kid. Then I discovered Guns N’ Roses and Metallica and it really opened my eyes to a new
world. MTV in the ’80s played music videos all day and I loved that era of rock, it was so fun. Then in my teens years I got way more into Black Sabbath, Pantera and Slayer, bands like that. I
wanted to go faster and harder.
Jake: Grand Funk Railroad, Metallica, Molly Hatchet, Allman Brothers, Band of Gypsys, Cactus, Stevie Ray Vaughn, early Green Day. Many blues jam nights as a teen/early twenties.
What was your first band, and what style of music did they play?
Dustin: My first band was a punk band I formed with a friend of mine who also played guitar. We loved all the underground bands and just playing fast and jumping around.
Aaron: I can’t remember the name of my first band, but we were playing crossover hardcore thrash. It was like a bad version of D.R.I. (laughs) We had fun though, but never made it out of the garage.
Jake: First band was called Never Dawn. We had three guitar players (including myself), and no one wanted to play bass. I grabbed my brother’s bass and became the bass player which was the best decision I have ever made.
What was the first rock/metal concert you attended?
Aaron: Iron Maiden of course. I’m going to see them twice in October in Phoenix and Las Vegas and super stoked for that.
Dustin: The first metal concert I attended was White Zombie opening for Anthrax. It was truly amazing for me.
Jake: Green Day during the Pop-Disaster tour. They were playing their earlier stuff and still had piss and vinegar in their veins, before the pop punk crap. Watching Billie Joe Armstrong command the stage made me think, “I want to do that!”
How is the heavy music scene in Phoenix these days?
Dustin: The heavy music scene in Phoenix is iffy for me. It kind of vanished as people started to move away. There’s a couple of legacy bands here but we don’t really fit in with them. We
are trying to find our scene here and a place to really fit in. But I believe that we would do a lot better in Europe and other parts of the country.
Aaron: Phoenix is a very big city of 5 million people and also really spread out. There’s certain scenes that are active, like nu-metal is having a comeback. For us though, playing classic metal, there isn’t much of an audience for that. We play mostly in the stoner rock/metal and doom scenes since those scenes accept us for being inspired by ’70s metal.
Jake: Lots of doom and stoner rock bands. There isn’t a local district or strip where a lot of bands are playing since Phoenix is so spread out. It makes it difficult to form a scene.
What are some of your non-musical interests and hobbies?
Dustin: I’m a huge golfer and surfer. Most people can see I’m a surfer but are surprised to find out that I’m a single-digit handicap golfer. I also love to paint and make abstract art.
Aaron: Yeah, Dustin is way more of a Renaissance man than me. A lot of family time and chilling with my dogs. I play a ton of video games, right now I am playing the Control, really digging that.
Jake: I’m having a child in July so any day now! That’ll be a big change, otherwise playing video games, spending time with my partner and family, waiting for Arizona monsoons. I have cats.
What’s currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Aaron: I go in cycles, but right now it’s Angel Witch, Demon, Tygers of Pan Tang, just lots of old NWOBHM. Maiden and Mercyful Fate never leave my playlist, though.
Dustin: It’s all over the place. Metallica, Slayer, Deep Purple, Gojira, Pantera, and High on Fire just to name a few.
Jake: Strapping Young Lad, CKY, Powerman 5000 (first album), Volbeat.
Anything else you’d like to mention or promote?
Dustin: We made a video for “UFOnaut” and have done a couple of other videos for some of the singles off the album. We are also writing a lot and coming up with a ton of great new music.
So we will be going back into the studio to lay down some more sweet riffs!
Jake: Many new songs in the pot that we’re really excited to start recording, keep on the lookout!
(interview published July 20 2024)
Watch Jupiter Cyclops – “Between Worlds” Video
