Artist: STARKY
Label:
Loog Records
Label Mates: The Bravery, The Horrors, Duke Garwood, Patrick Wolf. Here's the deal. Here's the BiG DeaL. That
shitty four-piece you've been in with your mates since Year 8 eventually managed
to get some daft industry type to hand over a blank cheque and to tell you were
going to be famous. Very famous. You wouldn't have to talk to your former classmates
at school. You wouldn't have to get up early. They only thing they didn't tell
you was that music was more than just writing songs and shaking your balls on
stage. It was about being there on time. Releasing something on time. It was about
being famous on time. And sometimes. Just sometimes, the big fat gaping jaws of commercial success took that little bit longer to open and swallow the whole, damn sparkly pill you’d been preparing in your pharmaceutical studio. But when it did swallow it – as is likely to happen at any moment, given the sheer Mersey rattling, sugary pop bliss of double A-sided beat single, ‘Is This How It Ends/Hey Bang Bang’ – every platinum plated superlative they were likely to throw at you was a heavy, malleable, ductile, precious, grey-white transition metal thing well spent. And this is how we find ‘Starky’ – the Beatlicious Australian four-piece recently signed to Loog Records – home of Jack the Giant Killers – the Bravery and set up in Jan 2003 by former NME editor James Oldham out of respect of old school indie stables like, Creation, Factory Rough Trade and Heavenly.
The band’s self-titled album, due for release here in early 2007, was recorded in an 18th century Georgian mansion on the west coast of Wales, with Dave Eringa (Manic Street Preachers, Idlewild, Ash, Starsailor, Ocean Colour Scene, South, Lowgold, 3 Colours Red, Tom Jones and even Kylie Minogue amongst many others).
The band is currently touring their native Australia with Hard Fi and Snow Patrol.
"... turmoil, anguish, sorrow, doubt, fear, regret, loneliness and longing... "
Ladies and gentlemen,
I give you STARKY. Signed. Sealed. Delivered.
 How did you get signed?
We just played shows around Sydney and Melbourne to no one for a couple of years, put out some shit EPs, then signed to a cool indie here in Australia, put out our first record which was made in one week for no money, then some majors came calling, we got stuck in a legal quagmire with one of them for a year, then signed with Universal who were cool to us and we just made our second record with them. It was a long and sometimes bitter war.
How did you celebrate?
By the time we signed the deal it was more a relief than a celebration. Not being able to record or put any music out for 18 months while the legal shite rolled on nearly fucking killed us. We nearly broke up a couple of times. When we finally signed we just went and had a few thousand quiet ales then went to bed and slept for the first time in a year and a half.
Did you have any other labels biting at your heels?
Yeah, they bit them good too. Then we dug our heels into their jaws and ground their bones to make our bread. Fuckers.
What would you NOT be prepared to do to promote yourselves?
We were asked to do a TV show recently where we would have had to have played the riff to Wolfmother’s ‘Woman’. We wouldn’t do that.
How famous would you say you are right now?
Haven’t made the tabloids yet so not famous enough
Live circuit or showcase? Did you do it the hard or easy way?
It was mainly playing shows. We played around the live circuit for a few years then did a bunch of showcase things. Then did some showcases plugged into a live circuit.
How did you blow your advance?
On legal bills.
On signing was there anything you were asked to do that you didn’t want to do?
We had to spend the night in a haunted house. It’s a standard clause.
Who was the last band they said they wanted you to sound like?
We’ve never been asked to sound like anyone else but we’ve been told we’ve ripped off bands we’ve never heard of.
How much did getting signed rely on being tied to a scene?
We’ve never been part of a scene really but I think we’re lucky that rock’n’roll became cool again. Before that everyone was out dancing like retards to the end of the big beat revolution. Us and The Vines would play shows together to 4 people. Then live music became cool again and people started coming to gigs and record labels started signing real bands again.
Daftest story they’ve ever invented about you for the press?
The stupidest story is that our drummer drowned in the neighbour’s swimming pool when he was four years old and lost part of his brain, hence his penchant for hitting things with sticks…oh wait, that’s true.
Does your label or your management support or discourage unruly rock n’ roll behaviour?
Our manager was managing bands back in the 80’s, the height or rock’n’roll excess. If he ever told us to pull our heads in I say to him “What about you in the 80’s”. But then he probably wouldn’t remember.
Where’s the strangest place you’ve been asked to do publicity?
Jonny, our guitarist, often conducts phone calls from the bathroom. I can’t imagine he changes this habit when talking to journalists.
Have they made you tour with anyone you didn’t like?
Not really but we’ve supported plenty of bands that have hated us. Especially when we destroy their gear.
Ever burned a copy of an album put out by your label for a friend?
Yeah, we built a fire and melted down all the returned copies of the recent Pop Idol compilation while us and our friends danced around the burning heap.
What was the last major decision your label or your management made that you didn’t like?
We were told we couldn’t do our video idea for our new single. Can’t tell you what it was in case someone steals it but it would have been unreal. Now we’re not doing one at all.
Here’s the deal: you’ve made an excellent record and some unscrupulous hack handling the press release is about to screw it all up with some grotesque misuse of our mother-tongue. What words would YOU use to describe the release?
Turmoil, anguish, sorrow, doubt, fear, regret, loneliness and longing.
How many years do you give yourself in the industry?
I’ll be making music until I die whether the industry cares about it or not.
How dirty a word is the ‘industry’ to you?
It can be dirty, dirty and despicable. Of course there are people in there that give a shit about music and some that actually like it but there are so many ‘industry’ types that have no idea about art or anything. Dealing with these people gives me soul cancer.
If it were all to collapse tomorrow would you go back to your old job?
Sure, I’m not too proud to go back to my paper run.
'STARKY' -
'Is This How It Ends?' Single. Out 20.11.06 on Loog Records.
relevant
sites:
http://www.loogrecords.co.uk
http://www.starky.com
Nosey Bastard for Crud Magazine 2006© |
