Maybe the complex sounds catch your attention. Maybe it is the mask behind which they hide that draws you in. Whichever reason you choose, Stars and Sons should at least be seen as an artist for the sheer innovation they bring to the table. With the assistance of Mike Lord from Stars and Sons, we were able to get a few answers on the happenings and thinkings behind this artistic exploration.
MusicUnderFire: When/How did the concept of Stars and Sons first come about?
Mike Lord: Well basically I finished university last summer and went back home to work at Colchester Zoo. I spent 4 months selling melting ice-cream to satanic children. I remember seeing a sign on a particular enclosure which read “Do not be concerned, the orangutans may look sad, but they simply do not have the muscular ability to smile”. I realized how fitting this was of my current situation. Everything was turning a bit emo. Every week my boss would ask me when I needed to leave work to start the new university term. Every time I would explain “Look, I’ve finished, this is it for me now. Please don’t make me go and find another terrible job”. In October they realized I was still coming to work and they let me go. I spread my bruised wings and moved back to Brighton with aspirations of dole payouts and music making. Stars and Sons was formed as a bit of a retreat from this dull identity forged at the zoo over this time.
MUF: The atmosphere you create with your music comes across as something that a motley crew of guys would be playing at an old time saloon? What do you see Stars and Sons as?
Mike: I would like to think of Stars and Sons as unreliable, vague, unsettled, elusive... though in reality we’re just a slightly odd pop band. I’m a big fan of pop but I often feel that its presentation is a tad… safe? It is too easy for bands to settle for convention and simply do what current trends are prescribing in order to be successful. I’m not saying that Stars and Sons intend to be particularly GROUNDBREAKING but I’m hoping we can remain slightly unpredictable in our presentation. Basically, it depresses me when I watch George Lamb introducing a video exclusive of The Feeling live at the V festival complete with focus-group approved smiles and waves. A music school down the road from me in Brighton blasts out Kooks look-a-likes by the dozen. They spend 3 years pretty much learning the definition of “safe”.
MUF: Where does Stars and Sons get their creativity from?
Mike: Hmmm… well it’s hard for me to admit but I seem to have spent a large part of my childhood listening to Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals. My brothers rescued me in my early teens with their Elliot Smith and Ben Folds Five albums. I literally couldn’t believe how good this stuff was, but it was too late to rescue me from Webber’s icy-cold clench. I would be doomed to a lifetime of writing slightly theatrical, escapist pop music. Worst things have happened I guess.
MUF: The face that you guys have depicted all over your myspace page and your press releases, what is this face trying to tell your audience? Are you guys hopeful, happy, surprised- what are you guys feeling with this one picture depiction?
Mike: I’m just trying to make people ask questions. And then I’m gonna refuse to answer them. I can’t get enough of intrigue. Can you?
MUF: How secret are the faces behind Stars and Sons that aren't being revealed?
Mike: They are as secret as you want them to be. Be prepared for a lot more masks though; the cast is increasing, (though my printer is running out of ink...)
MUF: How long did the composition of The Goat Show EP take?
Mike: The EP was written and recorded over a period of about 3 months. We haven’t played any of it live yet so it was a really interesting experience... no artifact existed before the bedroom recording. Sometimes it was a case of write the lyrics, and then record them before you forget them. Then maybe double them up with some funky glockenspiel. We hadn’t refined the songs over a grueling yet ultimately rewarding tour schedule, and we never wrote this one during sound check in Atlanta so its sounding pretty raw. The songs aren’t about the road, they are about the bedroom, as well as the sofa. The bass lines were recorded in between grueling bouts of watching Garry Rhodes on daytime TV. Rock and Roll!!
MUF: When and where will people be able to catch Stars and Sons perform?
Mike: We are hard at rehearsal at the moment. We’re just making sure that the sound can be as full live as it is on the recordings, no cutting down to the meat and veg of the song. I want glockenspiels! tubular bells! trumpets! choirs! wheres my choir dammit!!
Mike: OK so maybe we will be using backing tracks for the additional instrumentation. But I don’t think it would even look particularly good having a million people on stage. I prefer to see a focused entity. I saw Arcade Fire at Brixton Academy a couple of months back and it just looked slightly confused to me, what with about fifty people competing for your attention. I like watching stuff like Cornelius, Deerhoof, Les Savy Fav, Gogol Bordello, people who really understand the best way to present themselves. Cornelius in particular. What a show!
MUF: What's up next for you guys?
Mike: Well at the moment we’re making a video for a new song. We’ve hoping someone will want to snap it up to release as a single. Its called In The Ocean and I’ve borrowed my Dad’s video camera so that me and another masked comrade can make it on a tasty budget of £zero. Its going to be a Michel Gondry inspired trip-out fest featuring a cast of salty celebs and aquatic pin-ups, bound together by some woefully discount/ultimately incredible video techniques. Woo!
Check out Stars and Sons myspace page and get their free Goat Show EP. If you like what you hear, donate at their myspace.
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