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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 22, 2004)
New York City-based rock outfit stellastarr* will play in Portland at Berbati's Pan debut album in September and has toured extensively since then. Courtesy tomorrow night. The band released its self-titled stellastarr* stops to chat about chance at starr*dom New York band stellastarr* plays Thursday in Portland By Ryan Nyburg Senior Pulse Reporter New York City-based rock band stellastarr* joined the national music scene with the release of their debut album on RCA Records in September. Since then, the four-member band has toured extensively across the country. Recently, drummer Arthur Kroner found time while on the road to talk to the Emerald about the origins of the band, touring and audience reactions to the music. Emerald: What sort of influences do you think the band has? AK: Well, that's kind of a hard question to answer. I don't mean to be vague, but everybody comes from a different background. Me personally, 1 think everything is an influence to me — even stuff I don't like. You always learn something. It's never really a thing where I hear an artist and I want to sound like him or play drums like him. I'm more interested in the creative solutions that artists come up with. It's sort of inspirational. Say someone like Bjork, you know, someone doing something interesting and creative and expressing themselves in a way that people can connect to it. That's very inspirational. Emerald: How did you guys get together? AK: Me, Shawn (Christensen, lead vocal/guitar) and Amanda (Tannen, bass) all went to school together. We started a band together, kind of a joke band. We were all novices, didn't know how to play our instruments. After school ended, we went our separate ways. I kept up with Shawn and kept nagging him to start a band again. We got in touch with Mandy again, just called her out of the blue and asked her. Mike (Jurin, guitar), we met after he moved into my old apartment in New York. I went back to get some mail and told my old roommate 1 was starting a band. He told me that the new guy living there was a guitarist. So we invited him along for rehearsal and he was fantastic. Emerald: So it just kind of clicked? AK: Yeah. We really just got together to have fun, you know? It was something to do on a Tuesday night. We were never thinking that we ought to go out and get a record deal and be this big band. We just wanted to get together, write some songs and have some fun. • Emerald: How does it feel to start out that way and to now come into something bigger? AK: It's great. But it's hard to look at the big picture though, you know, because when you're inside of it, things move really slowly. We didn't just get a record deal after our second show; we've been doing this for four years. It was really building up gradually. Now it's kind of like a job, but when you step back and look at it, you think, "This is incredible. We're touring the world and people are loving us and throwing money at us." It's really the opportunity of a lifetime. Emerald: What would you say is the strangest concert experience you've had? AK: One of the strangest was one where we played the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. This was for a contest. Shawn and Mike broke both their guitars and their back-up and I really hurt my wrist playing drums. It was just a disaster. We lost the contest as well. Emerald: Who did you lose to? AK: Some band, I can't remember the name. That show was rigged or something. But I'll let bygones be bygones. Another show in Orlando was like that. I broke my kick pedal, Shawn lost his voice. I kept dropping sticks, breaking sticks and all. But the' crowd was just going wild, they loved us. We couldn't get through a song and they were screaming their heads off. I think we played four or five songs and just had to leave because we couldn't perform. They loved us though. It was weird. stellastarr* will be playing Friday at Berbati's Pan, located at 10 S.W. Third Ave. in Portland. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 the day of the show. Contact the senior Pulse reporter at ryannyburg@dailyemerald.com. CLAPTON continued from page 8 former Beatle George Harrison and his wife Pattie Boyd and the loss of his 4-year-old son, who fell to his death from a 53rd story window. On this al bum, he takes Johnson's original vi sions and meshes them with his new vocal and guitar innovations. Songs come to life with a full band of drums, bass, Hammond organ, piano, harmonica and guitar. Two rollicking standouts are "They're Red Hot" and "32-20 Blues." The former is a jumping tune about hot tamales for sale, driven by piano and drums. Its hopping piano could get anyone bouncing. As a vocal ist, Clapton hardly exudes the spirit of his 59 years — instead, he comes off as youthful and jovial. Given the genre (and Johnson's cir cumstances), most songs are woeful. "Me and the Devil Blues" is a declara tion that "me and the devil are walkin' side by side," which is probably how Johnson and Clapton felt at their low est moments. The unrequited love bal lad "Kind Hearted Blues" is a generic lonesome brood declaring, "I love my baby, my baby don't love me." The al bum makes a declaration of sadness, as most track names end in the word "blues" — "Traveling Riverside Blues," "Stop Breakin' Down Blues" and "Milkcow's Calf Blues," plus the few others mentioned. Clapton makes use of modem mu sical instruments and technology such as an electric bass and overdubbing to shed new light on Johnson's sound. But there are times when he overdoes it. In "Milkcow's Calf Blues," booming guitar and drums erase any blues essence, while a weak background pi ano tries to keep the old sound alive. "If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day" is overpowered by a confusing, unbalanced mix of all the aforemen tioned instruments. The collection's last track, "Hell Hound On My Trail," is a hopeful look to the future, and therefore a powerful finale. It shows both musi cians' perseverance through hard times by way of Clapton's passionate interpretation of the lyrics, "I got to keep movin', I got to keep movin'/ blues failin' down like hail, blues failin' down like hail." "Me and Mr. Johnson" is a re spectable homage from one blues lover to another. Clapton leaves his mark on Johnson's compositions by adding a little of himself to the songs, though he does it not in a vain way but rather to express an emotional connection to Johnson's work. Contact the Pulse reporter at natashachilingerian@dailyemerald.com. at THE BREAK 12 pool tables video arcade ■ DDR big screen tv table tennis ■ air hockey take a break emu ground floor TM6 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON CULTURAL FORUM PROUDLY PRESENTS DJ SPOOKY THAT SUBLIMINAL KID with MATHEW HOWE (KWVA) & BOTOX (MEDIACLAST) THURSDAY APRIL 29, 20Q*rSolHWLL EUGENE ADVANCE TIX AT EMU BOX OFFICE ■?is?Sr MCDONALD THEATRE IS °utlets or cal1 Y AI1 concerts will feature an opening band unless (800) 992-TIXX Service charges may apply ^ otherwise noted Times subject to change Interactive show Information available atwww.mcdonaldtheatre.c o m LIVE IN THE LOUNGE I DJ DAN-O-MITE FR1 APR 23 SAT APR 24 8 PM DOORS 9 PM SPINS 21 + na ms mais FRI APR 23 SAT APR 24 tO PM TO 1AM LOUNGE 21 + MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN zm GOT A STORY IDEA?giveusaca" §-a at 346-5511 .W<3 000
