Blending dance music and heart-wrenchingly honest lyrics, the five-piece indie-pop outfit Stars will grace Madison with their presence at the Barrymore Theatre this Friday night. With ten years of touring and five albums under their belt, these rockers have set out to ""make the live show better and more compelling, more fun to watch.""
Hailing from Canada, the band was originally formed by vocalist Torquil Campbell and keyboardist Chris Seligman in 2000. With a lineup filled out by guitarist Amy Millian, bassist Evan Cranely and drummer Pat McGee, Stars has a wide range of influences and a unique sound.
Touring in support of their fifth album, The Five Ghosts, which came out this past June, Campbell said they've ""still got some tricks up [their] sleeve"" on this tour. His philosophy is that ""every time you go out there it has got to be a little better, you've got to work a little harder."" But with tunes as infectious as the poppy ""We Don't Want Your Body,"" it shouldn't be hard for them to get the crowd moving.
""In terms of just doing what we wanted to do and set out to do,"" Campbell said, ""it's the best record we've made.""
He explained the darker sound of the new record, saying ""It wasn't the plan going in, I mean, it was affected by a lot of really intense shit that happened to us. My dad died in the middle of making the record and he was a great friend obviously, not just to me, but to everyone in the band.""
That doesn't mean the music is all dark and moody. Far from it, in fact as Campbell said the band ""was very committed to making a dance record."" A sad dance record, Campbell's favorite type.
He did say that looking forward he would ""like to make a record where for the next year and a half I'm just like ‘yeah, let's fucking party every night, let's do this!'"" In light of the traumatic events the band has gone through in the last few years, Campbell says ""it's heavy for me to have to sing these tunes over and over again; I'm finding it a challenge because they take me back to a part of my life that was extremely painful and extremely hard.""
With a base of material that includes five EPs in addition to their five full-length albums, the set list for Friday night's show could include almost anything. Campbell explained how the band goes about choosing a set to assure the audience isn't ""shortchanged"" on its favorites. The band members, however, want their say as well, and ""finding those ten or twelve tunes that are up for grabs is very hard."" ""Elevator Love Letter"" is one of his favorites.
""Every time we play it I always love it, I always finish the song thinking ‘wow, what a great song that is, I really love that song,'"" Campbell said.
This tour marks some changes for the band, with Campbell being a relatively new father, and Millian and her partner Cranely expecting a child this coming March. Campbell jokes that ""there's a hell of a lot more booze laying around than there used to be."" He's very serious about parental love however.
""Now I know how much your mother loves you and let me tell you dude, she loves you so fucking much, and that's an amazing thing to find out about the world,"" he said. ""It's hopeful: it's a nice thing.""
A tour of this size is refreshing in an economy of big tours, bringing fifty bands to town for ten minute sets over the course of one afternoon.
""I find it's a bit like wandering around Wal-Mart,"" Campbell said of festival-style tours. ""There's so much shit you end up not really experiencing any of it.""
Working hard to find unity with their choice of opening band, Campbell tracked down Wild Nothing, a band with a similar style and sensibility to Stars. Campbell described Wild Nothing's debut album, Gemini, as his ""summer time record.""
With all of the hard work and heart put into this tour, this Friday night at the Barrymore promises to be a great experience.
