Interview & Giveaway: Stellastarr* @ The Parish Room [Monday]

It's been almost four years since Harmonies For The Haunted -- did you guys take a break for a couple of years or is Civilized the result of all of the last four years' work?

We toured Harmonies for a year after the release. Then we decided to leave our label, so we all had to get jobs. Instead of coming together every day to write, we could only do it a couple times a week. We actually only took a couple months off after we got home from touring Harmonies. Then we started writing this one. We did small East Coast - West Coast tours sprinkled in there. It took us a while to raise the money to record the album ourselves. And after that was done we had to find a label. When I look back at the past three years, we were always busy and working our asses off to finally get here, and I feel so happy and lucky that we reached our final goal of getting our music out, no matter what.

Stellastarr* by Phil Knott

We write songs a couple of ways. It is very collaborative. Sometimes the songs come out of one lick and we jam around it and then form parts around that one jam. Other times Shawn will come in with a verse and chorus and we will all put our two cents in and we all write our own parts around it. But all of us are open to critique. And no part is left behind. It does take us a while to write a song because of this. We all like to feel connected to every song we write together, and that time some extra time and energy.

We have a very close relationship to Tim. He worked with us on our first album, and broke us in. He knows the in and outs of how we work as a band and has learned how to get the best out of us. He can be just as much of a hard ass as we can be, so it is a good match. We have been through a lot together.

Shawn has had some issues with his throat recently -- are those behind him now? What adjustments has he had to make while recording?

They are not behind him, but he has adjusted the way he sings so that it isn’t aggravated as much.

"Graffiti Eyes" was on an episode of Gossip Girl in April -- how did that happen? Are you fans of the show?

Hmmm… it just came together. Some of us watch the show occasionally. We have a company that pitches our music for syncs in TV shows and movies. It is one of the only ways we can make any money nowadays.

What emotions/feelings evoke your "Tokyo Sky"?

Shawn wrote the lyrics on that, but I can tell you what it means to me… the song was one of the few that came together very quickly from a jam session we had during practice. I believe from Michael’s guitar riff. It is incredibly fun to play. To me the song is about looking back on a time in your life with passion and longing, and that period left such a mark on you that everything that has happened since relates to it in one way or another.

"People" and "Warchild" are a couple of our early favorites on Civilized -- can you tell us more about those two?

“People” was a song that went through many changes. When we first demoed it, it had a totally different chorus and an opposite vibe. It was really serious and hard. Tim actually came in a recommended we rewrite the chorus on it, and we did. It changed the song completely. Some of us were iffy on it, but now all of us love the progression, and it is an all around favorite of the band.

“Warchild” was actually the first song we wrote for the album. I believe we were working on it while we were on our last US tour for Harmonies with the band Editors.

"Sweet Troubled Soul" off Harmonies For The Haunted is probably one of our favorite songs of the decade! Is there a personal story behind that?

Wow, thank you, I am so happy you feel that way! The song originated from a riff that Michael brought in. I remember he demoed a part and played all the instrumentation to get the vibe across of where he wanted to go with it. It of course went in a totally different direction, but it sparked thoughts and interest in everyone, and that is what counts in stellastarr*.

Stellastarr* by Phil Knott

Both of my parents were huge music fans. They would take me as a baby to outdoor concerts and festivals. I remember running around naked at a Willie Nelson concert pretty vividly. My father introduced me to the love of music at a very young age. Lots of family car trips involved singing songs while he played harmonica.

Current bands that I admire include: Art Brut, Spiritualized, Longwave, Low, M83, The Magnetic Fields, Jeffrey Lewis.

Would love to tour with any of the above…

There are some incredible acts coming out of Brooklyn these days -- any under the radar Brooklyn bands you are particularly fond of?

Ambulance LTD are friends of ours and practice next door. They toured with us many years ago. The Morning After Girls just recently moved to Brooklyn from Australia, another band we have toured with and that I love. Another one would be Longwave. Hmmm… it seems we have toured with most of the bands I tout.

We enjoyed your set opening for The Raveonettes many years ago at La Zona Rosa in Austin, and also your show at The Parish a few years later. Did Austin leave a mark on your memories or is it more or less just another city on the tour?

Ha! The Raveonettes are another band that has relocated NYC that I forgot to mention.

We absolutely love playing Austin. As a matter of fact we almost didn’t have it as a date on this tour. It is one of the only cities in the south half of the US that we are playing! I specifically mentioned that we needed to get down there no matter what, so we made it happen. We are really looking forward to playing there again!

Lastly, what does the * in Stellastarr* signify?

Ah! The fated question! When we came up with the name, we didn’t want it to look like a girl’s name, like she was the artist. Instead we wanted to make sure it looked like an object rather than a person. To do that, we needed to brand the name into a logo. Arthur and I are both graphic designers. We liked the shape of the letters with the asterisks ending it. The fact that it made people question why it was there, was part of the point of it being there. But alas, it came to bite us in the ass, and we get asked about it all the time. Ha!

Thank you for speaking with Austinist.

Stellastarr* [Official] [MySpace]
Wild Light [MySpace]
Experimental Aircraft [Official] [MySpace]