Here we are with a quick interview of Get Stellar who had one of the top PopScores last week.
Jango: So when did you start in music ?
Get Stellar: Andrew and I have both been playing music for some time now. I got into music production during high school in the late nineties, using free "mod tracker" software on a crusty old computer and sending my songs to the online tracking community for feedback. I also played bass in the school jazz band and DJed at house parties and school discos.
After school I started a live five-piece Jazzy/Housey dance band. Looking back, the music was pretty bad but because we were the only ones doing the live-dance-act thing at the time we got plenty of gigs. Everyone in the band was busy working or studying and no one had any time or money so it only lasted a year.
Andrew was always in bands at school and then moved on to his own one-man-band acoustic rock solo project, writing, singing and playing guitar. We met through a mutual friend one night, I sent over a track I was working on, Andrew wrote some lyrics, layed down his vocals and that was that.
Jango: And where are you based ?
Get Stellar: We're in Adelaide which is the smallest state capital city on mainland Australia and it's often the butt of jokes from the bigger cities. Despite the size, we have a healthy music scene and night life, with artists like Donnie Sloan (Empire of the Sun), The Hilltop Hoods and The Swiss all hailing from Adelaide. A smaller city makes everything more accessible so it's a great place to get started.
Jango: Tell us your three most important influences ?
Get Stellar: I would have to nominate Philippe Zdar from Cassius. The "Cassius 1999" album was the first time I heard the French House sound and it came out around the same time I first started going to clubs and fell in love with dance music.
Andrew is a huge fan of Phoenix, whose latest album coincidentally was produced by Zdar.
As the third, we have both been influenced by Adelaide local Donnie Sloan, from his early projects like Phat Albert and Juno all the way through to his chart topping work with Empire Of The Sun.
Jango: How would you describe your sound ?
Get Stellar: We describe our sound as "indie disco". The vocals and lyrics have an indie rock feel but the beats, bass and synth have an eighties disco feel. Andrew's vocals are quite unique, they have a rough edge, he keeps the Aussie accent and it works in well with the smoother, electronic backing.
Jango: Any new releases in the works ?
Get Stellar: At the moment I am working on remixes for The Vanish from NYC and Monk from Germany, two fantastic groups with a similar sound to us. Remixes are a great way to increase our exposure and lift our profile. We are also making steady progress on our debut album that will be out later this year.
Jango: Do you perform live ?
Get Stellar: We don't have enough original material to get a band together and start performing live yet but it's definitely on the horizon. I have just resumed DJing so we'll be pushing a Get Stellar DJ Set for the clubs soon.
Jango: And lastly, any tips for Airplay artists ?
Get Stellar: There is so much music out there, so many different genres, sub-genres and sounds that are constantly changing with fashion, when you're starting out it's difficult to find your target audience. Jango has allowed us to position our music alongside established artists in our niche and effectively target new fans. The reporting is invaluable as it ranks which established artists our fans listen to, along with all the demographic information. Our advice to other bands would be to listen to the market- let go of any preconceived ideas about what bands you sound like and who your fans are and let Jango work it out for you.
Thanks guys, we'll see you on the dancefloor