VAST, as they are commonly referred to, didn't start as a "they." Jon Crosby, the leading man behind VAST, had the almost essential
dull and troubled childhood common to modern
musicians. His childhood centered around a small town in
California, where the beginnings of his musical influence came about. Starting with
Beatles and other such
Brit-pop, Crosby began his guitar playing. As he got older, his playing style changed, he became more interested in harder sounds and
80s music, and he moved to
San Francisco. There, he joined a
guitar workshop, and began sending
demo tapes out. One such demo went to the president of
Shrapnel Records, and it landed him a place in
Guitar magazine, at the young age of 13.
Crosby's career bloomed from here on out; he became interested in punk and at the age of 16 he was introduced to electronic music, where he began his group under the name VAST. Radio stations played a VAST demo tape regularly, and Crosby soon signed with Elektra Records.
His first official debut album, "Visual Audio Sensory Theater," hit the charts and had two quite popular singles, "Touched" and "Pretty When You Cry."
VAST's style is a mix of heavy rock and metal sounds, mixed with the sounds of women's choirs and Bulgarian chant, and orchestral backgrounds. Altogether, VAST has created a definitely unique sound, recognized by many current artists, such as Metallica's Lars Ulrich.
The second VAST album, "Music for People," is due out September 12.