STARSKATE

Santa Rosa band Starskate, formerly Batman vs. Predator, disassembled me. I told them of the disassembling and they handed me their CD so I could now disassemble at terrible will.

Unlike a lot of the bands discussed up to this point, Starskate are obsessed with form. The music is so exact that it’s like reimagining Tortoise as a force with no regard for human life (arbitrary comparison due to extensive Tortoise-listening prior to show’s start, these mental implications probably mean nothing). They so yield to the whims of form that when they disregard it one has no choice but to shake off his/her own form in return. I held a camera to their violent display but hardly filmed anything of use, trembling against the wall.

I left that show equally rebuilt by music that initially tore me asunder. That is the desired effect, to be so thoroughly molested that your limbs start rotting from the inside and your sense of identity retreats behind reinforced mental doors. To so thoroughly trust that music as to let it reassemble you, though it will reassemble you incorrectly—when you first intend to walk you will twitch in place, you will want to wave a hand goodbye but your limbs will invert and shiver, you will initially appear a wounded animal but you are quite healed and elevated, having gone into the light and come straight out of it, having transformed in its heat. Having been iced by the black hole. - Desperation Noise

I found Starskate through a melancholic kid who was simply ecstatic to know the guys personally from their, quote, "mad balls in the face while your face is melting" live shows around Washington.

I started this blog out with the intention of reviewing the EP. It was stocked and ready, full of delicate phrasing, eager comparisons, and shotgun assaults of genre naming. Fortunately for fans of band—and unfortunate for fans of my delectable album reviews—I was able to get a hold of Shaun (drummer) from Starskate. While I expected a personable young man with a good sense of humor and passion for his music, I got a seething, angry quintessential front man who yelled capitalized insults at me via myspace. Actually I think I got that backwards.

Formally known as Batman Vs. Predator, as a duo (Mikey Bellonio on Bass), the band recently changed their name to Starskate with the addition of guitarist Guy Henry Mueller from The Iditarod and Low Five.

(I decided to let Shaun speak a bit about his music and the addition of the guitarist himself, instead of trite comparisons and esoteric phrasing).

“We have always liked the idea of playing with a third member. When we were playing as BVP we would occasionally add a third member whenever we felt like it. We had someone doing samples and keyboards for a couple of shows” Shaun said.

“We also did 2 tours with Ethan (Total Bros/Chores) playing a floor tom and running around screaming at people through a megaphone”

To properly enjoy Starskate live it is essential that a man is screaming in your face with a megaphone.

With the addition of Mueller to BVP, came a new name.

“We changed our name because we felt like it was the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. We don't play the old BVP stuff anymore and our new stuff has a completely different vibe. It feels like a new band to us.” He explained.

Describing the sound of the band is a point of contention among fans and reviewers alike. I settled with something along the lines of: The sound is frantically driven, yet entirely controlled by the thumping beats of drummer Shaun Wagner; zealous screams of distorted guitar and bass dance around and in between taps of snares and cymbals—or something equally pompous. I then developed a clever plan to find out if I was keeping up Joneses.

How do people generally describe your sound?

“People used to always compare us to lightning bolt which I thought was kind of unoriginal and lame. I really like lightning bolt but I don't really think we sound like them. Also hella came up a lot. We got kinda lumped in with the noise scene in the bay area which was good and bad.”

I guess I was a bit lucky to talk to them before I wrote in my comparison to Lighting Bolt—which I had every intention of doing.

What are some of the craziest descriptions of your sound you've heard?

“Someone wrote a review saying we sounded like world war 3. That was cool. Another time we played at a bar in a tiny town with just the regulars there and some guy told us we sound like Pink Floyd on acid”

Which is equivalent to saying “Ol' Dirty Bastard on crack,” or “Bob Marley stoned.”

Anything you'd like to leave your fans with?

“The apparent difference between the many is due solely to difference in motion and not substance. The secret of creation lies in the wave. UNLIMITED FUTURE!” - take your blog to work