Canadian purveyors of amazingness Stars speak with meg about their new album and their upcoming Electric Picnic appearance.
You’re in the middle of quite a punishing touring schedule stretching out until the end of November. Is it a drag or the best part of your job, or a bit of both?
To call it punishing is a little dramatic. Remember that playing music for a living is a blessing, and we take that seriously. We have a new record and story to tell now. And watching peoples reactions is always a thrill. We love playing Ireland. You guys embraced us years ago. The shows in Dublin cork and Galway have always been outrageous
You’re over in Europe for a couple of weeks in September. How’s the experience different over here in terms of crowds, venues, audience reaction?
Well, the first thing that comes to mind is performing in Germany. As a people they understand our darkness and melody. They are great listeners. The difference in the dynamism of the crowds between countries is obvious to me. You can’t compare a Barcelona crowd to a Manchester crowd.
Are you looking forward to Electric Picnic in Ireland? Do you treat festival shows like E.P differently to headline gigs?
Yes. Absolutely. A festival play is a snap shot of the bands aesthetic I think. But at the same time, playing on the same bill as Roxy Music is ridiculous! A true highlight for us. It’s also a great time to meet other artists. Which rarely happens on the road. When playing a large festival you have to keep the crowd engaged without over playing. You need to find a discipline as a band under festival conditions.
Our manager is from Ireland. He’s been telling us to play Electric Picnic for the last 2 years. Can’t wait for the greeness!!
Obviously there’s a crossover in personnel between Stars and Broken Scene. Then there’s Metric and Raising The Fawn as well. How helpful is that to have a community around you? That it’s not just one band operating alone?
Having a community is huge for us. And I have to mention the Dears in all if this. End of a Hollywood Bedtime Story [Dears debut album] was a huge record for us. And they continue to be great friends and compatriots. Chris and I just played horns on their new record.
I’ve always found inspiration from my peers. Jimmy Shaw [Metric, BSS], Kevin Drew [BSS], Murry Lightburn [Dears]. I want them to like what Stars are doing. It’s one of the most satisfying moments for me.
The new album came out last month [btw it's great] there’s so much being said about the death of the album, that you can’t make money from releases anymore, what’s your take on the role of the album these days?
Our duty as a band has always been to make complete records. Not just a collection of songs thrown together.I believe that can’t go out of style. As long as there is heartbreak, death, and love in the world there will always be records. Its just the medium that will change. Also pulling from personal experience is an influence. That’s been a common theme in Stars.
With the 5 ghosts we have an opportunity to be highly creative. Not just musically. But in the marketing. We have control of our curation in a huge way. We just finished a 2 month tour in which we played the record in it’s entirety. Front to back. That was a challenge. We literally leaked the record live on stage. It’s an exciting time in music. You have control of every expect
The Mandatory Influences Question. What musicians/bands do you feel have had the greatest influence on your music?
New Order, Jullian Adderly, Roxy Music, Matisse, summer nights, stark winter days, Clock radios, frozen window panes [note: shamefully I actually googled the last couple of things listed there to see if they were some previously unknown bands...they are not but they are all good ideas for band names in fairness]
What’s on your playlists at the moment? Any recommendations for meg readers?
Think about Life, Land of Talk, Handsome Firs, Flying Lotus, the new Gil Scott Heron record.
