Starflyer 59 | Artist

Starflyer 59 is an American alternative rock band formed 1993 in Riverside, California, by Jason Martin (guitar, vocals), Andrew Larson (bass), and Dan Reid (drums). The lineup changed frequently, with Martin being the only constant, The present-day line up has Martin along with Steven Dail (bass), and Trey Many (drums). Jason's brother, Ronnie Martin is half of the synth-pop duo Joy Electric. While Jason Martin has written nearly all of Starflyer 59's songs, the band has included a number of different musicians over the years, including Jeff Cloud, Frank Lenz, and Richard Swift. The band's sound was initially identified as an outgrowth of the shoegaze movement of the early 1990s, but their music gradually evolved to the point of little resemblance to that of its early days. Starflyer 59 was signed to Tooth & Nail Records, their original and current label, after Jason Martin gave a demo to Brandon Ebel when the two met at a music festival in 1993. The band was one of Tooth & Nail's original signees. Their debut album Silver was recorded and released in mid-1994. The album exhibited heavy shoegaze influences with significant usage of reverb, phaser, and delay. The following year they released their second album Gold. The sound was similar to their debut but Jason Martin continued to add layers of guitar riffs to each song. This album is considered instrumental in developing the "shoegaze" sound. In 2016, Pitchfork Media ranked Gold as the number 41 best shoegaze album of all time. Lyrically, the album continued the trend of somewhat depressive and lovelorn content in contrast to the message of the band's Christian record label. 1997 saw the release of their third studio album Americana, with several changes to the lineup, with Eric Campuzano on bass and Wayne Everett on drums, both players were previously with The Prayer Chain. Americana had a more rock bent with more uplifting and explicitly religious lyrics. The release of The Fashion Focus in 1998, which is arguably the band's most critically acclaimed release, signaled a significant change in the direction of their sound, largely due to the influence of producer Gene Eugene. Where previous albums had emphasized guitars and loud rock and roll, The Fashion Focus was a significantly softer album, introducing keyboards in the music, which replaced layered guitars, making for a more pop-friendly sound. The band has gone on to release a total of 19 studio albums to-date, right up to 2024's Lust for Gold. Plus they have release several live albums and many excellent EP's and Singles. Standout studio albums include Silver (1994), Gold (1995), Americana (1997), The Fashion Focus (1997), Leave Here a Stranger (2001), and Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice (2005). In terms of the band's sound, reviewers have compared them to shoegazers like My Bloody Valentine and Smashing Pumpkins, reflecting their more intense side, through to the likes of Travis' dreamy, mellifluous alt rock, a little closer to pop and not quite so crushingly depressive. They were even dubbed 'Radiohead lite' by one reviewer, who picked up on Jason Martin’s vocals being very like Thom Yorke’s, with melancholy sleepy dragging out of syllables. Outside of his musical activities Jason Martin has a day job as a truck driver, in and around California.

Artist Website: wikipedia/Starflyer_59

Featured Albums: Starflyer 59

Related Artists: Jason Martin, Bon Voyage, The Lassie Foundation, The Prayer Chain