Dear Superstar Interview
Thursday 13th of March 2008
In your first two years, you had recorded an album and had it signed onto a record-label. Was it all part of the plan or just chance?
As soon as we had enough songs to tour with, we hit the road and started to get our name around. People started to listen and shows started getting busier, but we had no recordings to back up our attitude and frenetic live performances. We pretty much lived out of the back of our Ford Transit van, so each song was developed and new tracks were written on the fly.
When we finished touring, we decided to record all the tracks we accumulated over the 18 months of touring. We literally threw the album together at a local studio, spending every penny we had at the time. The result was 'Confessions of a Twisted Mind', a graphic confession of the past 18 months on the road. We planned on selling the albums at shows, but backed that idea up by sending the album out to a few labels. In April 2006 we had an offer from Copro Records on the table and the album hit all major record stores on 4th September.
I don't think this is anything spectacular, its simply a testament to unshakeable self-belief and hard work!
What did the label bring to the table for the album deal?
The deal wasn't anything huge. It was a deal for just 'Confessions of a Twisted Mind', negotiable after the 1st release. This suited us down to the ground, because we always knew our next album would be worlds apart!
They did our PR, got us some decent shows and got the album out there, that's all we wanted!
You've toured the UK, but also Scandinavia. What's the difference between the two locations for a touring band?
Rock music out there is like pop music. You walk into McDonalds and they've got Iron Maiden playing! You don't see people in hoodies and baseball caps acting like chimpanzees on every street corner, its so much more chilled out! And fuckin cold ha!
I guess the main difference is we can sell out a tour in Finland, where as UK can still be a little unpredictable! That's why this year, UK is ours!
You can see us in pretty much every town and city in 2008!
Your new album, 'Heartless', has just been recorded - but no label; what happened?
This was 100% our decision and we always intended it to be this way. When we took the Copro Records deal, we had an album in our hands and just wanted to take the next step and get it on the shelves. As we only signed over Confessions..' we knew we could be flexible in the future.
"What shines like glitter isn't always gold", which is so true of the Copro Records deal. We have no regrets from releasing the album through them, but we want a label better suited for us for the Heartless album.
We pretty much sold our souls to get the cash together to record with Romesh Dodangoda (FFAF, BFMV, Kids in Glass Houses, Lost Prophets) and we are so proud of what we've achieved. We can't risk making the mistake of releasing this album through the wrong label. It means too much to us!! And owning the record lock-fucking-stock, puts us in a much better position!
It actually feels really endearing to refer to Dear Superstar as unsigned, we're in the right position to take a huge deal next!
What's the new LP got to offer old and new fans?
Old fans will love Heartless, we've re-recorded some of the most well known and loved Dear Superstar tracks such as Diseased & Distraught, so they will still be able to relate to this album. For new fans, we've got a seriously hard rock sound that no-one is doing right now but is completely accessible!
That together with the guest vocals from Bullet for my Valentine on LIVE LOVE LIE!, this album has so much to offer everybody!
It really does kick ass - you will see!
How did you land guest vocals from Bullet For My Valentine?
We recorded our album in Cardiff at Long Wave Record Studios. We spent just over 4 weeks down there recording everyday and Bullet were rehearsing there for their world tour.
We hung out throughout the month and found some common ground. Gotta say they are genuinely wicked guys, killer musicians and a joy to have been around! We asked if they would be up for screaming on LIVE LOVE LIE! which they very kindly accepted. I was so fucking psyched to have them on this track as it means the most to me. Fuck I have LIVE LOVE LIE tattooed across my chest!
Where are you taking things next?
Well we've just taken management from London bases CIR Management, who are currently putting everything together. We have some really exciting times ahead! We've said it before and we'll say it again! Welcome to your new favourite rockstars!
Author: Steve
Found in: Interviews