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Push to Fire Interview: Dear Superstar
Having grown up knowing each other in some way or another, it was natural that these five lads formed a band together. "Dear Superstar got together in 2004, but previously to that, we’d all been in other bands together so all in all, we’ve all known each other for the past 15 years or so. The lead guitarist and I grew up on the same street together so we’ve known each other since primary school and through secondary school. We’re all a really close knit group. It was always meant to be really." When asked to describe their music for those who are unfamiliar with DS, he described it as being "just balls-to-the-wall rock and roll, that’s all there is. There’s no pretence, no bullshit, just a bunch of guys who love doing what they do and just go out there and play as loud as they can and thrash themselves around the stage for 30 minutes or however long we’re allowed to. It’s just rock and roll." Being from Manchester though, he tells of how their choice of rock music isn’t the fashion there. "Manchester is a cool area, but as far as the type of live scene that we chose to adopt, it’s not really our scene, so it’s kinda cool that we’re really the only band like this from that area. We hope we can kind of change some people’s perceptions and show them that there’s more out there than just indie."
Their music certainly appears to stem from the earlier glory days of sex, drugs, and rock and roll and this is reflected in the influences cited by Micky. "Growing up I listened to bands like Motley Crue and Def Leppard. They’re the bands that really got me into rock and roll. It’s just insane to be playing the same festival as them. I remember when I was knee-high to a grasshopper and I had a copy of the single ‘Hysteria’, the b-side was called ‘Ride Into the Sun’. That song changed my life, and I’ve been playing rock and roll ever since pretty much." On this particular day that they’re playing Download Festival, the main stage headlining act is none other than Def Leppard themselves. "To be playing on the same day at the same festival as them is unbelievable. I’m gonna be kicking it right at the front, watching Def Leppard, it’s gonna be a dream come true." Although this is Dear Superstar’s first gig at the festival, they are no strangers to Donington Park. "We’re totally psyched 'cause usually we’re on the other side of the barrier," he explains. "We’ve done little festivals in the past and things started happening for us this year and our new agent managed to get us onto Download kind of last minute. We were one of the later bands to be announced and we were worried we were gonna miss the boat, but thankfully we got on it in the end."
When asked about what they would credit their success to, the answer was a simple yet determined one as he explains it to have been "just hard work, really. We’ve been touring like this since 2004, we just toured and toured, we literally haven’t gone a week without playing at least 5 shows. It’s nearly killed us, I mean two of us have gone bankrupt in the process but the only way you can break away from mediocrity and the mundane lifestyles of flipping burgers is to sacrifice everything and really try to live as a musician. The worse option would be to sacrifice music." He then sums this up in a succinct phrase that could be chalked up as Dear Superstar’s motto: "never give up, never surrender." He furthers, "the only bands that don’t make it are the ones that quit."
Their hard work certainly has been paying off in recent times as this festival appearance is part of a tour with the mighty Papa Roach and Buck Cherry. "The tour’s absolutely wicked. Papa Roach have massively influenced the band over the years, we love those guys. The first few days of the tour were wicked and we’ve been getting on like a house on fire. We’ve been partying with them and Buck Cherry every night." In the past, they’ve also toured with the likes of Bullet For My Valentine, Wednesday 13, and Hanoi Rocks. "We did the farewell tour for Hanoi Rocks which was a big moment for us personally. They were another one of those bands from the eighties who massively influenced us. We’ve only recently signed over to a new booking agency who booked this recent tour for us, but previously to that it was us just picking up the phone every day and persisting until people gave us a shot. We just grafted and grafted basically and made it happen."
Dear Superstar have also been busy on the recordings front as their debut record ‘Heartless’ was released in October 2008 and they say they’re working on their next album at the moment in between their relentless touring. When asked about the more long term future, Micky concedes that "it’s impossible to predict what could happen five years from now really, I mean the presidents of the world could have killed everyone by then, but as long as we can make music for a living that’s all I care about. I don’t care about having a guitar shaped swimming pool, or eight Ferraris, or the Bentleys, I just want to be able to play music and put food on the table and make sure my daughter’s sorted. That’s it really, we just wanna tour as much as we can and reach as many people as possible. Our goal as a band couldn’t be big enough as far as I’m concerned. Aim high, and you get high."
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