Komodo Rock Talks With Dear Superstar Print E-mail
Monday, 06 October 2008 16:55

dearsuperstar-band.jpgHailing 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!

dearsuperstar-heartless.jpgMicky 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?

dearsuperstar-micky.jpgMicky 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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Last Updated on Tuesday, 07 October 2008 13:02