Starseed
Making their second Download Festival appearance, Starseed are becoming a force to be reckoned with. They chat to us about moving to the UK, album sales and touring.
-For our readers who might not know, who are you?
We're Starseed, originally from Johannesburg, South Africa. We moved to England in 2001 and we've been playing hard rock stuff ever since.
-What prompted the move over here?
Well, a number of factors. The music industry is really small, and demographically rock music doesn't really have a massive scene.
We just felt that we could do better things and explore our music more professionally if we came overseas. To this day, it's proved true for us. It's worked for us, and that was pretty much the main driving force behind it.
-Was it hard making the move over here and getting started?
Well, yeah. We've been here 10 years but we've only really gotten ourselves together in 2007, when we became a 5-pieces.
That's when Starseed started to benefit. When you move over here, you've got to start a new life.
Settling in, meeting people in the industry, that takes a long time, a lot of work. That's why it's taken so long, but it's a game of patience.
-Well, for any unsigned band it's hard starting out. How was it for Starseed?
It's still really hard. We just keep on plugging away. It's just a case of meeting as many people as possible.
The more you show your face, the better chance you have of meeting people to help you on your way. It's been a tough road, but it's been enjoyable as well.
It's an honour to be at Download the second time. The first time we played acoustic, so this is a serious dream come true for us.
-Is it intimidating at all because of the legacy Download has, or are you just excited to be back?
Privileged really, and honoured to be playing this festival. To finally play it, is amazing.
I don't think it'll ever really sink in really. Donington, the home of rock really, the best festival in the world for rock and metal.
-See Through Your Lies just came out as a single. How has the reaction been to that?
Pretty good so far. It's not even been a week since it's gone out, but it's got some fantastic reviews.
Download put a link up for us on their website, which was great. We're really happy with that, that's not bad in a week.
-Lately there's a been a general decline in album sales. Does that make festivals and touring more important for a band?
Yeah, definitely. People just have to pay for it, whereas everything else is free. That's great, it gets it out there, but it does make touring a lot more important.
It's the only way to fund your band now. During Skindred's set Benji was shouting to people to support live music and buy albums. It's so true.
Honestly, a t-shirt sale is petrol to the next gig. If people don't come to gigs, we don't get another gig.
-Is it better buying at gigs rather than online?
Buy at the gigs, because then you're there anyway. The other reason is, at that gig, any money changing hands is going directly to the band.
You know that for certain, but if you buy something online, there's multiple entities taking a cut. Definitely get it at the gigs.
-What can fans expect from your live show?
Loud. A lot of passion and energy. We pride ourselves on our live shows, it's where we're really at home.
It's one thing to buy the Peace Machine album, but for us it's doing it on stage. So far, it's put us in good stead.
-Do you have any plans for a follow-up for that yet?
Yes, it's a work in progress. We've already got a good 15 skeleton tracks ready. We're really excited about it, but there's a lot of work to be done. It's coming, but don't hold your breath!
-Are you focusing on live shows then?
I think we've done quite a lot of work on the live show front, and we'll continue that. We'd like to focus on gettig out to Europe and the States, that's a really high priority for us.
You've got to keep the gigging up, because you don't want to lose momentum. Our singer is about to have his first child...well, his wife will.
We're going to have a bit of downtime the next month or two. We'll really focus on writing some stuff. As for when we'll record it, we'll have to see.
-Do you have any other festivals dates?
Not at the minute, this is the climax. Our booking agent has a lot of pencilled shows, so I can't really confirm any of it.
There's a lot of dates coming up soon, so keep an eye out on our Facebook, website, mailing list.
-To round off, what final message would you give to anyone reading this?
Please have a listen to our album and support live music. Watch as many gigs as you can.
Female First - Alistair McGeorge
Tagged in Download Festival