Courtesy of ChromaticPR
Acclaimed Montreal indie veterans Stars are here for the holiday cheer. As part of their “Together Tour”, the band is returning to the States for their once annual Holiday shows. Having become a staple for the band in their formative years, these shows have continued being a testament to the Stars fandom and their dedication. As they set out on the road again and gear up to release their ninth album next year, we spoke with Torquil Campbell about performing in a dystopia, trust and getting ripped off by Spotify…
Allston Pudding: You’re setting out on tour again, but this summer you played a drive-in show in Toronto correct? How was it being back on stage?
Torquil Campbell: What happens if a dystopia becomes real? It’s not a ‘Topia’ anymore. It’s life. It’s great people came out, but it’s like 700 parked cars. It is not a “show”. I appreciate all the promoters and organizers, but I don’t think anyone was under the illusion that it was an awesome way to play. Everybody separated. But it was work and we needed to work. We’re excited to play real shows though.
AP: Any songs that you’re looking forward to playing the most?
TC: Some songs we haven’t played in years, or some we’ve never played. Some new stuff too. It’s a big release for us, not that we don’t love the songs people want to hear, but we try to find that balance. That’s the whole idea of being an “old band”, you don’t have to repeat the same shit. The band has done an amazing job with a wide selection from the late 90s until now… Jesus H. Christ… I can not believe we’re still doing this thing.
AP: What sets the annual December shows apart from the rest of the year? When did you all realize this was becoming a thing?
TC: We started doing them in Toronto, kind of as an end of tour thing. We would always tour in the fall and we planned shows through Christmas, so they just got Christmas-y. Then we saw the same people coming back specifically for those shows. Our band lends itself to a sort-of sloppy celebration, and the Holidays can be a time of release but they can get messy. We enjoy being with people in that moment of catharsis. Should be a very emo-Christmas.
AP: Collective reckoning of trauma… perfect Christmas party!
TC: With glow in the dark candy canes! We’re bringing out all the stops!
Courtesy of ChromaticPR
AP: What are some of the challenges and rewards of working in a sextet?
TC: It’s intense. You got a lot of smart people with a lot of good ideas. But it’s the only way we know how to do it. For the first 10 years it was problematic but now… it’s still problematic but it just doesn’t happen without being at that level. You have to trust people, and we agree more often than not. If we had really different tastes we wouldn’t be in a band. And you know we make fun of each other a lot… We secretly hate each other [laughs].
AP: How did the pandemic have an effect on the band?
TC: We weren’t together for seven months. We were going to make a record, but we were just sharing ideas. When we got together we kind of panicked for a moment, it just felt so undercooked and distant. We have to sit in the room together to do it. But the pandemic has been hard on everyone. Fortunately, in Canada we were getting paid for a year and we had our Patreon page which really blew up. It’s been a huge source of income and a place to have a community to make stuff. I mean we’re not gonna make money on Spotify, so things like Patreon are going to be the future for directly supporting musicians.
AP: You have a new album coming out next year, anything you can say about it?
TC: I really dig it. Made it with Jace Lasek of The Besnard Lakes who opened a studio called Breakglass, where we worked for years. It’s very much a Montreal sound. We’re working with people we’ve known for a long time and it’s much more orchestral, lots of guitars, lots of strings. My catchphrase is “it’s prime mid-90s Morrissey, without the racism.”
AP: What would you say to streaming executives who knowingly rip off artists every day? And what would you say to the listeners who maybe don’t understand the extent of the situation?
TC: There’s nothing to say to the executives, they live in a system of logic that they have rationalized for themselves. All of these corporations have fundamentally immoral business practices, but they distract people. Like Spotify removing the shuffle feature for Adele, “oh, they really care about their artists!” It’s going to come down to the listeners to make choices to stop giving money to these corporations.
AP: Any advice so you’d care to pass on that you’ve collected over your years of touring & recording?
TC: Advice?? Don’t take advice from me [laughs]. Be nice to waitstaff, and always call your mother.
AP: Classic words to live by.
TC: It’s Christmas, I wanna go classic. Also, never follow a hippie to a second location. Solid Sarah Silverman advice.
Stars play Brighton Music Hall tonight, for more information click here! Follow Stars on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for more!