Starfucker ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons
From the very beginning, the date of Starfucker’s demise was published on their myspace page: 12/21/2012. Smarty pants people will recognize that as the date the Mayan Calendar ends. Thus they were always a temporary and ephemeral being, a band who’s main goal was simply to be best soundtrack a house party might find as long as people remained interested. They were aiming to be the opposite of a band that was gunning for stardom, the opposite of a band that they used to be, one that two of Starfucker’s members had moved to New York City to try and “make it” with a few years previous. I interviewed Starfucker nearly a year ago at their first show at the Vera Project, where Josh Hodges described their new philosophy this way:
… I was just really focused on being in the music scene and industry. Just thinking about all this shit. And shows were not fun. [The Sexton Blake material] was kind of boring depressing music to play live. I like that kind of music a lot, but live I don’t like to play it, or even sometimes to watch it unless is really special to me.
Why it’s named “starfucker” partly, is that. Ryan and I used to live together, and fuck around in the basement and make loops, and do rude noise stuff. That’s more kind of keeping me interested, it’s more fun. “Fuck thinking about any aspect of the music but the music.” That was how it started I think.
This notion “nothing but the fun” translated to their music and gradually, largely via word of mouth based on house shows and some strong local support, their reputation and songs spread. I certainly remember being handed the original Starfucker E.P. and thinking there were two instant hits with “German Love” and “Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second.”
At the end of 2008 following their first L.P., this DIY dance band suddenly found their songs tapped for commercial use by the likes of IBM, and in more recent months Target has come knocking. The name also caused some consternation and confusion though. There is also a European Starfucker. In one instance they were under consideration to be an opening act for Animal Collective, but then apparently unasked due to concern’s over marketing the name. Losing a touring opportunity of that magnitude must have stung, and no doubt contributed to them now leaving the Starfucker moniker behind. Last Friday’s show was to be their final Seattle show as Starfucker. (A Halloween set in Portland will be the last show ever as Starfucker.)
In that first Vera show, almost a year ago, they played on the venue floor to a fairly reserved crowd of about forty or fifty, just enough to form a ring around the band. Following a sweaty crowded set this July at the Capitol Hill Block Party where the young crowd was unusually rowdy and challenging for the security team working the Vera Project sponsored stage, Starfucker was invited back to the venue for what was sure to be an exciting sell out event. Day of, it certainly proved to be that and more, though taking note of the difficult crowd situation that happened at Block Party might have been wise. The kids were no less excited this time around and during the first few songs, it’s a wonder nobody broke a bone or sprained an ankle. Those of us in the middle were live action weeble’s, helplessly tipping back and forth with the sway of the crowd. After a few songs of attempting to right myself against the irresistible riptide of people, I had to extract myself, which never happens. It was too much. (I’m not being modest. A mosh pit at my back doesn’t scare me anymore. Uncontrolled 16 year-olds on the other hand…)
Outside the melee at the back of the crowd the sound was great, and Starfucker’s mid-set cover of Cindy Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” may have received the biggest cheer of the night. I had my “old-man-at-an-all-ages-venue” moment, shaking my head thinking most of these kids have probably never even heard the original or know who Cindy Lauper is, but then promptly got lost in the delight of a cover well done. One that I was appreciating for being even more bubblegum than the original. Wrapping up with “German Love” and then “Dance Face 2000″ proved once again to be a winning combination, with singer Ryan Bjornstad taking a dive atop the tightly packed audience during German Love, while making a go at being a model dance face himself during the latter.
After a short encore, the merch table was mobbed for what was sure to be a landmark night for Starfucker sales. One could sense throughout the performance, in the smiles passed between members and the occasionally goggled-eyes surveying the crowd, that moments such as this are still what they live for. Yet moments such as this also confirm their growing appeal and that moving forward with a new name so they can reach even wider success is the right decision, however distasteful it may seem. In the year since their first Vera appearance, they’ve outgrown the venue and their name in a way that has topped anyone’s wildest expectations.
Strangely once the gentlemen of Starfucker had given up seeking popularity, it came seeking them. And the end of Starfucker came sooner than even the band themselves had mapped out tongue-in-cheek, as not an end at all, but a new beginning with their full potential still to be realized. Despite their name, they’ve become an example of how a band can survive and build momentum through clever licensing, recording a smart cover, and maintaining a fan focused position (largely all-ages). The name was itself a challenge to their former selves, yet going forward with it has proved too much of a challenge to a whole lot of other people, and so now the boys themselves are giving in. The irony of the entire situation is inescapable and might be humorous if it was piled so high.
In the draft for this post I had written as a last sentence, “Let us hope they can find a new name that continues to communicate their philosophy of making music (and by extension having fun) on their own terms.” Little did I know that today the new name would be revealed for all. After Halloween Starfucker is PYRAMID (caps are intended).
Oh wellz. I was probably too much to ask for them to come up with a new name as good as ‘Starfucker.’ Whatever the name though, their music is going to take them places.
Starfucker ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons
Starfucker ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth
Starfucker ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth
Flickr: Starfucker at the Vera Project, October 9, 2009
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