Q: I was reading that you have a record coming out soon?

A: We do. It is almost done, about 12 or 13 songs. We are currently finishing up with the recording while we are shopping to the industry.


Q: is there a specific title or theme?

A: We are putting our heads together with that as well. I want a lot of meaningful audio samples in between tracks on the record, for example: Before the track "Just the way she Planned," I am going to place a voice mail left by the girl I wrote the song for. We are currently selling homemade burned copies as a limited time EP with 9 songs entitled "Essentially." This will not be the title of the finished record, this means "Essentially " the record.. ha ha


Q: Did anyone help you with recording and development of the record?

A: Immediately no. In the past I have learned a lot from Producers : Kris Roe (the Ataris, Antifreeze, Useless ID), Johnny Collura (the Ataris, Antifreeze, VS the world), Thom Flowers, Angus Cooke who all have produced and/or engineered on records my old band Antifreeze put out. I also have been working at a local recording studio as an engineer/producer for over 2 years which help me learn a lot about production from a different perspective. I have always been more of a producer/songwriter then a musician. In all bands I have been in, I was always the guy telling everyone what to play, where to play it, how the song should be formatted.. etc.


Q: Do fans recognize the whole antifreeze history? And does that help you in any way in terms of generating a buzz?

A: Yes. Antifreeze had a pretty good following, especially about 4 years after our debut indie sold about 30,000.. and supported a lot of national tours (Sum 41, The Ataris, MXPX) I would say a higher percent of national Starrs fans learned about us from the Anti-freeze history.


Q: Are you all from Wisconsin? If so, how is the current music scene?

A : Rick grew up in Los Angeles, and moved here 2 summers ago to join Anti-freeze as a guitar player. He ended up staying here even after Anti-freeze disbanded to join The Starrs. Currently we all reside in Appleton, WI a town near Green Bay. I think the music scene is pretty good for the size of the town. I have played a lot of towns in the states, small and big and I would give it a pretty good rating. Most people from here would say "it sucks" but another thing I learned is every kid everywhere thinks their hometown sucks. We used to ask that on stage.. "So what do you guys think of (town we are in)??" and we would hear "booo"and see thumbs go down or fingers go up..


Q: It says in your bio that this is a side project. Does that mean something temporary or a long term venture?

A: That is outdated. It started as a side project while Anti-freeze was still together. After the disbandment, Derek, Rick, and I decided to give it all to The Starrs.


Q: I listened to some of your songs and I get the message about life struggle, love etc.. is it that simple and is that what inspires you the most?

A: My favorite lyrics are the ones I can relate to, every song I have fell in love with lyrically were the ones that reminded me of a specific moment in my life. Good or Bad. When I am not on stage or in the studio, I am just a normal guy who runs into the same hardships a lot of my listeners do. I try to write songs people can relate to the way I did to the songs I fell in love with. Most of my songs are true-life experiences and I can't control much of that.


Q: Are you in talks with any record labels?

A: Yes. People from RCA, Republic, Epic, J records, Columbia and American recordings.


Q: Do you have plans to tour once your record is released?

A: Yes. that is our favorite part about being in a rock band.


Q: Any bands in particular you would like to share a bill with?

A: Any bands that drink .


Q: What would you say drives you the most to be in this current project?

A: Well, everyone has to have some sort of a career and I would like to build one with what I love doing more than anything.


Q: I read that you play music without intent and just play what sounds good? So are you saying there is nothing that influences your style?

A: Well we definitely are pop influenced. We say that because a lot of people assume pop bands write songs to sell records. A lot of people think bands "sell-out" if they change their style a little bit toward the pop scene. I will admit that I love pop music, and I write it because I love it, not to sell records. We had an entertainment attorney tell us he would represent us if we were less pop... we didn't change. Pretty funny how these days you could "sell out" by making your music "less pop". We know there are people out there that love the kind of music we love, and we feel we don't have to change it to sell records.


Q: I believe in some way that every musician wants to be a “rockstar” and get really big, and from listening to your music I hear that commercial direction. Is that how you see your band?

A: If that happened that would be totally cool, but if it didn't.... It only takes one fan to make me feel good about a song I wrote, and it only takes one fan to make us want to rock out. Even if one person comes over to our house and they want to hear us play a song, we will go to the rehearsal room, and play it just so they can hear it live.


Q: I read that you shared the stage with Tsunami Bomb, Sugarcult etc as Antifreeze? Those are some big names. Have you gotten any exposure like that with The Starrs?

A: Not yet. The Starrs has been a band for about a year, and that's including writing, recording and rehearsing, live shows haven't been a primary focus since the birth of the band.


Q: What can fans expect to see of The Starrs this summer?

A: They should expect an LP by late summer.


Good luck to all of you, the music sounds great! We look forward to the new CD when it launches! Thanks for the time.

Thanks Mike. Jon Tyler.

Check out The Starrs here:http://www.altsounds.com/altsounds/bands/2412/