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Hailing out of the industrial wasteland of Manchester, Dear Superstar are blazing a debauched booze filled, drug induced rollercoaster ride up and down the country.
The band will launch there second album 'Heartless' on October 20th via Demoliton Records, who the band recently signed with, and album that was produced by Romesh Dodangoda who counts Bullet For My Valentine amongst his happy clients.
Sitting down with vocalist Micky Satiar and drummer The Minge is an experience in endurance. There's certainly no shortage of booze being offered, well perhaps offered is the wrong word, more demanding that you share with them. Dear Superstar want to feel like they're hearkening back to the days of Motley Crue and Guns N' Roses terrorizing the world, and these boys aren't about to pull any punches.
You're nearing the
end of the tour with Firewind now. How have you found the dates so
far?
Micky Satiar: It has
been a bit of a roller-coaster tour to be honest. We all have an
insane amount of equipment on this tour, so load-in and sound checks
have been taking quite a while - but that's ok coz we can just
kick-back alleviate and dig into our rider... Infact Mike, do ya want
some Fissu?
But the crowds have
been wicked - we had a certain amount of worry of how the FIREWIND
crowds would take to Dear Superstar as we aint anything close to
Power Metal - were just 5 rockers straight from the gutters of
Manchester who like to make a lot of noise! Obviously there are the
odd Geek-Metalheads who instantly think were gay, but it gives me
great joy knocking em down!
You're joined on the
bill by Finnish rockers Kiuas. It's said there is some history
between the two of you. Care to elaborate?
The Minge: Yeah man,
its all water under the bridge now. Kiuas are like brothers to us
already and we've had a kick-ass time with them on this tour.. But
all wasn't so sweet, as the agent double-booked both Dear Superstar
and Kiuas for the Finland support of Bullet For My Valentine!
Unfortunately Kiuas were the casualty and didn't end up supporting
Bullet, so initially there was a bit of bad blood. But were all
adults and were all in the same boat ultimately - like I said, we
love Kiuas!
Rumour has it that
the next stop is a tour with Hanoi Rocks this November. Can you tell
us a little more about that, and what it means to you to be heading
out on the road with a band you cite as one of the bands big
influences?
Micky Satiar: Yeah we
can now confirm that we will be going out on the road Hanoi Rocks on
their UK Tour this November.
We all grew up
listening to Hanoi Rocks, so to be sharing the stage with them will
be a true honour! Hanoi Rocks helped shape the 80's rock n roll
scene, a lot more than people give them credit for. Had they not been
hit by such tragedy in the early days, then maybe Guns N Roses and
Motley Crue would never have emerged as the pioneers of thier time.
So we have the utmost repect for them and we will certainly be on our
trademark Dear Superstar "Best Bad Behavour" for this tour - 5
day party!
All of your recent
touring is leading up to the release of your 2nd album Heartless. Can
you tell us a little about the album itself and the tracks
themselves?
Micky Satiar: Heartless
is a testament to hard work and sheer grit and determination. We set
out to put our live show into everyones bedroom - so people can party
to us, fuck to us or fight to us!
Minge: Lyrically, most
of the songs are written with some element of truth or personal
experience. But Heartless isn't some kind of self-loving ego-fest -
It's a just a party album! So grab a bottle of port and hot chick,
spin our disk and get drunk!
Micky Satiar: The album
starts out with every rock n roll cliché in mind. Thunderous riffs,
sing-along chorus' and debauched lyrics of booze, babes and the
blues. But we throw in tracks like "Cant Write a Love Song",
which is a heartfelt track of fucked up relationships and the metal
influenced Live.Love.Lie which covers life on the road.
But the Heartless is a
seriously good album to rock out to with your mates - turn your amp
up to 11 and blast out Hollywood Whore and Signposts to Bedposts
which show our bad-ass side!!
Production duties
were handled by Romesh Dodangoda. What made you choose him to produce
the record, and how did he help define the direction it took?
Minge: We looked at a
lot of producers. Me and Micky headed up the duty of looking at the
best and most suitable producers in the UK. It wasn't until we
started to speak with Romesh that we felt a real connection. We knew
pretty much straight away that we could trust our album in the hands
of Romesh.
Micky Satiar: And we
need a producer that could party hard with us and still do a good job
- I'm so glad we worked with Romesh. This record had to be right
as we gambled our lives on it!
The album features a
guest appearance from Bullet For My Valentine's Jason James. How did
that come about?
Minge: Bullet were
rehearsing in the same studio as us for their world tour, so we spent
a lot of time in each other's company. Micky's vocals were pretty
much shot by the end of it, so Jay stepped in and gave us a helping
hand... That guy can fucking scream!
Micky Satiar: Yeah man,
Jay went above and beyond the call of duty and we are eternally
grateful for that. Live.Love.Lie is a standout track on the album and
the guest vocals just set it off perfectly!
What are you honest
expectations for the record? What would you see as the point where it
had become successful?
Micky Satiar: We expect
a lot from the album because we have sacrificed a lot to make it
happen. Heartless is the album we have always wanted to make - When
we recorded the album we moved away and spent every last penny we had
- that pissed a lot of people off! But as bad as it sounds, we just
didn't care because this album had to be made no matter the cost or
cause!
Minge: We just hope
this album earns us the respect we deserve from years of toilet tours
and bad luck. All we want is the ability to carry on making music for
a living and hopefully have the staying power to make a decent career
out of music.
Micky Satiar: I'm
really well driven person, so I don't think I can ever be satisfied
by a certain level of fame, record sales, whatever!! But this really
isn't about money; money doesn't drive me at all. Fuck, if money
did drive me - we would all be doctors or footballers... We do music
because we love it!! As long as we can keep doing that - I'm
happy and I will consider us successful.
You've said in the
past that as a band you write predominately on the road. Do you
expect that to change in the future?
Minge: Our debut album
was completely written in the back of a shitty Ford Transit. As soon
as we had a bit of cash, we recorded it - the result was "Confession
of a Twisted Mind". With Heartless we had all the ideas for the
album, written from the back of that same shitty van, but we knew we
had to work harder on the tracks to make it work better than
Confessions.
We took our 10 chosen
tracks and locked ourselves away in a rehearsal room, working on new
ideas - new structures, lyrics etc. So the tracks could be as good
as the could be. This worked really well for us, as we went into the
studio knowing exactly what we wanted. Pre-production with Romesh
only took 2 fucking days!
Musical influences
aside, what inspires you when it comes to the subject of the music
you write?
Micky Satiar: Life
experience is what inspires everybody. The problem with today's
society is hardly anyone does anything which could be construed as
life experience anymore!
Sat on my ass watching
Coronation Street night after night as life pass me by scares the
shit out of me. Frighten yourself once in a while, get a tattoo,
crash your car, fuck a prostitute - I don't care... Just do
something with your life! THAT is what makes a musician want to write
songs.
We experience some
fucked-up shit in life and I wouldn't have it any other way! Every
word in Heartless has a meaning to something in our lives!
Minge: Yeah Yeah, that
and we write about booze, babes, bumming and the blues... Baby!
You've signed with
Demolition Records, and the album is set to come out on October 20th.
What drew you to Demolition?
Micky Satiar: Once the
recording process was over, we kicked back and looked at our options.
Self-release or hold-out for a label. We had spent every penny we
could get our grubby hands on with the recording of the album, so we
needed to find a label and money! But we knew our album needed to be
out there asap, so we had to act quick!
We drew up a list of
suitable labels and right at the top was Demolition Records. We
approached all the labels and hit an inevitable brick-wall at every
turn! But we started touring in March and pretty much lived on the
road, whilst pestering the labels to sign us.
Minge: It wasn't
until June, that Demolition agreed to meet us. It was the relentless
touring and self-promotion that made a very attractive business
proposition. We wouldn't let them say no and met every concern with
a solution! The rest I guess is history and we couldn't be happier
now!
You were quoted as
saying it was an honor to be on a label with so many bands that have
influenced you. Hanoi Rocks is one, but what others particularly
stand out for you, and how have they influenced you personally, and
as a band?
Micky Satiar: For me it
has to be Sebastian Bach. Skid Row was my favourite band growing up
and they pretty much still are. To share a label with him is insane
and it still hasn't sunk in. But add to that David Lee Roth,
Wednesday13, Hanoi Rocks and Twisted Sister - it's a fucking
dream come true!
Minge: There isn't a
band on the Demolition roster that haven't influenced us at
somewhere in our music. We can learn so much from all the legends on
the label, so were so lucky for that!
You regard
yourselves as a touring band. With the changes we have been seeing in
the music industry over the last few years, is that something that is
becoming easier or harder for you?
Micky Satiar: We've
never had it easy with regards to touring. Just as it is for many
emerging bands - its expensive, tiring and sometimes demeaning. But
this gives us a real appreciation for life on the road. Touring now
is so much easier for us - were playing to decent crowds and have
an amazing road crew! What more could we want?!
Minge: Now when we
tour, we get a decent rider and payment. We are so grateful for that
and we totally don't expect it. So I guess touring is actually
easier for us now, even thought the music industry is in turmoil.
Yeah, there isn't as much money floating around but that doesn't
matter to us.
Obviously real world
situations also cut in. Are you concerned that the increased costs of
touring due to the current financial situation around the world, and
the average person having less money to spend are going to inhibit
your touring prospects?
Minge: One thing that
binds us all is our love for music and that will never die, no matter
what the financial circumstances. From a business point of view, we
do have to keep our heads above water, which is harder these days.
But for us, as long as we can put Diesel in the bus and food in our
mouths - were happy!
Micky Satiar: Hopefully
record sales will go well, which will keep us on the road. People
always want to see a live band, because everyone loves the atmosphere
and connection you get with a band!
Dear Superstar
project a very modern take on the balls to the wall attitude of
Motley Crue and Guns N' Roses. Is that something your comfortable
living up to?
Minge: Here - have
that! Down that! Try that!.... What do you think Komodo!?
[Komodo
Rock could not possibly comment on anything that this refers too...
Ed.]
Micky Satiar: We do
have a reputation of being gutter-rat disasters, who drink too much
and party to excess! We don't have that reputation through here'
say and legend - we're more than comfortable to take the baton
from the likes of Motley Crüe.
Live however, you
also seem to have a large Papa Roach influence sliding into the mix.
Where does this come from?
Micky Satiar: Papa
Roach are a modern balls-out rock n roll band, just like us.
Musically, we often get the comparison and to be honest that is a
huge compliment.
Minge: We all lived
through the horrors of Nu-metal, but it's the kick-ass bands like
Papa Roach who adapted well to change and are still around kicking it
harder than ever! Lets hope we get to share the stage with them
sometime soon!
Even though
Heartless is yet to be released, are you already looking towards your
third album?
Minge: Yeah totally!
You are the first person to ask us that question. We plan on touring
the ass of Heartless for quite a while, but we already have a concept
for the new album, which is really exciting us all. But for now,
that's under wraps so go buy Heartless ok!?
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