Noting metal rock bands such as Kiss, Iron Butterfly, and Cream as being memorable influences, Bionaut is ironically an ambient duo. Comprised of keyboardists Paul Eggelston and Chris Green, Bionaut also uses analog and electronic equipment to produce their sound. The duo met while they were in the space rock band Architectual Metaphor in their home base of Massachusetts, where Green was the guitarist and Eggleston the keyboardist. Bionaut's first two releases, Au Naturel and Big Cause Way to Gone, have been distributed by Triptych Records.
Originally from Wakefield, a town on the North Shore of Boston, MA, Paul Eggleston grew up listening to the bands Kiss, Genesis, and Tangerine Dream. The years spent around music served as inspiration to Eggleston and he eventually joined the band Architectural Metaphor as the keyboardist. The band's first CD, Creature of Velvet Void, is released in Italy on Black Widow records. The space rock band's second release, Odysseum Galacti was released domestically. Though Bionaut partner Chris Green dropped out of Architectural Metaphor in 1993, Eggleston continued to perform with the band.
Fellow Bostonian Chris Green's first band experience was as guitarist for a group called the Droids, whose first single was "Mental Midgets." Green also served as a roadie for another local band called the Incredible Casuals. He gained more band exposure by playing guitar for Architectural Metaphor until 1993, when he turned to keyboards and sample machines. Green's creative inspirations from emotions and nature are prevalent in Bionaut's melodic, mellow, and sample layered sound.
Bionaut's loyalty to their countless Moogs and machinery can be seen with the story of their first release, Au Naturel. Recorded in an unheated barn in the middle of January, the two used their only heat source not for their own benefit, but to keep their machines from dying instead. The lack of comfort resulted in the two spontaneously recording half the album in a few hours. Bionaut received some warmth in 1996 when they played the first Burning Man Festival in the Black Dog Desert in Nevada. They have played several other outdoor festivals including Summer Solstice. Bionaut's second release, Big Cause Way to Gone, was released around late December of 1997. That year they also lent an unreleased track, "Loooney Buss," to Cape Cod Underground Experience, a compilation of Boston music acts. Both Au Naturel and Big Cause Way to Gone are distributed by Tryptech Records, which have also distributed such ambient acts as Human Mesh Dance and Psychotic Enemies Network.
