Making For The Stars

"Starsailor are the first major stars of the new millennium. The impact of their music is as bruising as hearing Nirvana for the first time".

OK, so these words might come from a record company press release, not normally repositories of objectivity at the best of times. But even allowing for the usually high level of hyperbole that typifies such propaganda, this is clearly fighting talk. And it's all the more startling given that the band in question played their first gig less than a year ago and to date have only released an EP of some publishing demos.

However, the ludicrous Nirvana comparison apart, it's clear that Starsailor have something unique going for them. Despite their Northern English origins there is little of the laddish swagger and second-hand anthemic scarf-waving that characterises most of their peers. Naming themselves after the title of an obscure Tim Buckley album gives some clue as to where they're coming from, artistically.

"Well to be honest, Starsailor was the only Tim Buckley album that could be used as a band name," offers the band's permanently grinning frontman and main songwriter Steve Walsh. "We could hardly call ourselves Greetings From LA, or Hello & Goodbye or Look At The Fool could we? It's also one of his rarest albums - you won't find that one in the racks at your local HMV."

Falling somewhere between Coldplay and Radiohead in the sonics department - with more of a focus on the songwriting element - Starsailor certainly look a good bet for major honours at some point in the future. But with an album not due until September, are they not concerned about the inevitable pressures building up and their ability to deliver on expectations.

"In some ways yeah, but we're still modest and humble about everything," Walsh offers. "We're still basically locked in a garage in Warrington far away from everywhere working on the songs. People seem to like what we've done so far, so we'll keep going along the same path. But it's up to the public as to how the new stuff is received."

Walsh cites Neil Young, Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley in particularly as a massive influence on his songwriting. "It all stemmed from the Charlatans really," he elaborates. "They were the first band I got into in a big way in school. Then I started to listen to the stuff they were into and took it from there. The stuff the drives the others in the band is more rock oriented. James [Stelfox, bass player] is into Paul McCartney and Barry [keyboards] comes from a jazz background.

"All artists have their heroes and everyone takes something off someone else," he adds. "Going into a record shop and buying records that people have recommended to me is the main way I'm influenced."

Currently on the NME Bratbus tour, much of the acclaim Starsailor have garnered is clearly due to their impassioned if restrained live performances, as was evident on a recent Late Late Show appearance.

"I think what we do is a reaction against the whole swagger of the Brit-pop era," Walsh opines. "It's going against the tribalism that all that involved. It's music that you can be into because of the music itself and not because you empathise with the frontman and want to be like him. I can't imagine that people will want to dress like me or whatever. I think Oasis were a fantastic band when they came out first. But then they got so big that their fans would only listen to them or bands like Shed Seven. We'd like people to be into Coldplay, JJ72 and Starsailor."

Starsailor's Fever EP is released on EMI records