MUSIC INTERVIEW: STRFKR

Making Party Music May Not Always Be Fun, But Playing At Great Parties Always Is

Whether they are in a hotel room in Austin, in a studio owned by the Dandy Warhols in Portland, in a luxury karaoke room in Tokyo, or on a stage anywhere in the world, the boys of STRFKR (or Starf*cker, if you prefer) want to have a good time, and they want you to have a good time too. Their latest album, Reptilians, provides the perfect soundtrack to a celebration, and even if the lyrics don’t always match the mood, that tension is just another part of the fun. Buzzine’s Stefan Goldby sat down with the boys at this year’s SXSW Music Festival and tried to stop laughing for long enough to help make some sense of the central Starf*cker conundrum: How does a band whose name cannot be said on the radio make the perfect record for radio airplay?

 

Stefan Goldby: Could you begin by telling us how you all became Starf*ckers?

 

Josh Hodges: I started playing drums just by myself and writing stuff, and then I added Ryan over there to the band. He was the second member.

 

Ryan Biornstad: We used to play in other bands, like Sexton Blake, together…

 

JH: … and it was kind of slow and sad… I just wanted to make fun dance music.

 

RB: It’s kind of just a f*ck you to the music industry too: We’re just wanting to have fun and not care about stuff.

 

JH: But we’ve been slowly adding members, and this is the new band member [pointing to Ian Luxton].

 

SG: It seemed like it was going okay before. So what new elements does Ian bring?

 

JH: He plays guitar really well, and keyboards…

 

Ian Luxton: …And congas and stuff… I’m a good percussionist.

 

JH: He can wail on the flute…

 

Shawn Glassford: …skin flute. [Laughs]

 

Keil Corcoran: We haven’t really figured out how we’re gonna have flute in the band, but hopefully someday we’ll be able to use Ian’s skills.

 

SG: For you Ian, what exactly was it about these guys that was enticing?

 

IL: I just felt like I could help expand the sound. In Josh’s songs, there’s lots of layers, like bongos and extra guitar and stuff… Lots of bongos…

 

JH: We got him this bongo rack – it’s like five stories high…

 

IL: I think it sounds good now. I think adding me was the right choice. It’s rich now that there’s five people.

 

JH: You made it suck a lot less.

 

IL: I didn’t really like you guys until I joined. [Laughs]

 

JH: Yeah, I didn’t like us until you joined either.

 

SG: When it came to going into the Odditorium (Studios in Portland, Oregon), what did you want to do with this new album that was different from what you had done before?

 

JH: We wanted to make the production a little bit better for sure. That’s why we brought Jacob [Portrait] in. He was the producer that worked on the album. We were mainly just trying to make it sound better… and less amateurish.

 

SG: Is there a day from the recordings that stands out more than any other?

 

RB: Maybe like the 18^th straight day that we were stuck in that studio. We were going crazy. We were holed up mixing for a long time. We were losing it by the end. I don’t know what day we cracked, where we actually lost it…

 

KC: I lost my sense of rhythm altogether. After playing the same drum part so many times, I forgot how to just keep the beat.

 

ShG: We had to record over and over and over and over and over, just to try to get him back on track.

 

SG: It turns out that making a record for people at parties isn’t as fun as just going to the parties?

 

ShG: Not really. It’s actually a lot of work, believe it or not.

 

SG: What are you happiest with about this record as a whole?

 

ShG: I’m happiest with my parts. [Laughs]

 

IL: It is good bass tones. That’s one of the first things I noticed.

 

ShG: Totally, yeah. That was all me.

 

KC: There’s some more live drums on this one. Not just to talk about myself…[Laughs] There are some more live drums, which I like. I think it’s a more diverse sound than Jupiter…just by watching us, you wouldn’t think there’s that much extra percussion in it, but there’s lots of layers on the album. If you listen to everything, you can pick up the bongo parts and all the extra little percussions, and we try to do as much of that as we can live, which is part of the reason we asked Ian to join. 

 

JH: I'm happy that we got to use good equipment because the Odditorium was pretty stocked with stuff. We went to a couple studios to finish the album…and they all had really good gear.

RB: The art turned out good too.

 

IL: The art is cool. Whoever did that…

 

ShG: The artist’s name is Sohale Kevin Darouian. He’s done all of our album art. He’s an incredible artist. He doesn’t really do albums that much usually. But he’s our album artist… [Laughs]

 

SG: Someone else not in the group that has a lot to do with the finished album is the philosopher Alan Watts? Why feature Alan Watts?

 

JH: I’m kind of obsessed with dying, and he talks about that a lot. I think I have cancer all the time. I just read WebMD all the time... I have all the symptoms.

 

KC: He actually is a hypochondriac. A legit hypochondriac.

 

ShG: He spent like an hour in the food mart trying to read the ingredients on candy bars to make sure they didn’t have a lot of corn syrup…or hydrogenated oils. He ended up with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. [Laughs]

 

JH: Those were the healthiest ones!

 

KC: And he’s always showing me stuff on his body. He’s like, “Is this a cyst?” I’m like, “No, dude, that’s your knee. There’s nothing wrong there.” 

 

ShG: It’s just Herpes, dude. [Laughs]

 

SG: Undertones of death and STDs aside, you have made a great party album – I hope you see it as a party album. Everybody I’ve ever played it for is like, “Yes! Party album!” Is it your intention to be a band where you are having fun?

 

JH: I think that’s definitely the intention of the album, just to…

 

ShG: Party all the time…

 

JH: Yeah. I think the lyrics are all about death and dying, but then the music is all about having fun.

 

KC: We want people to have a good time when they listen to it and dance, and have it played at parties, and we want DJs to play it…

 

IL: And then get depressed.

 

KC: [Laughs] Yeah, it’s like subconscious. But we obviously think it’s really good music too, so we hope it has more staying power…

 

RB: I think it sucks. [Laughs]

 

KC: But we hope it has more staying power than just a flavor-of-the-week party album.

 

SG: That wasn’t derogatory. You’ve got to learn how to take a compliment…

 

KC: [Laughs] No, but I do take it as a compliment, definitely. And especially for the live show. When you can see people enjoying it like that, for me, that’s such a huge compliment. When people are dancing in the audience, it’s so great.

 

IL: People are singing along – it’s crazy.

 

RB: We like to let people forget about their mundane life for a minute, and just let go for a second, and enjoy themselves and not think about work or Japan falling into the ocean, or all the BS that’s going on.

 

SG: When you guys are playing live, between the five of you, how do you know when it’s a great night?

 

RB: I think it’s good when we enjoy ourselves. If our stage sound is good and we can hear everything good and we actually have fun, that’s really all I care about. And if the crowd can hold me up if I jump out… I like to get in the crowd a lot.

 

 

RB: I try to make them have as much fun as possible. But sometimes they don’t catch me.

 

KC: That’s true, yeah. [Laughs]

 

RB: That sucks, man. I just want to inspire them with my dance moves a little. Just try to break through.

 

ShG: If we’re having a good time, it’s infectious too. Then the audience will have a good time. So it’s a give-and-take there for sure.

 

RB: Definitely.

 

SG: How exactly does a band called St*rfucker get in a Target ad? There had to make for a very interesting marketing meeting within the Target Corporation…

 

RB: It was really through this agency based out of Portland called Wieden+Kennedy and Target is their client, and they’re all artists and musicians, and we’re friends with some of them. And it just happened through them. It didn’t really have much to do with Target, I don’t think.

 

ShG: And they never knew it was from a band called Starf*cker.

 

JH: They had no idea. We had to tell them it was Josh Hodges.

 

RB: That’s a stupid name. (Laughs)

 

ShG: You picked the name yourself too. [Laughs]

 

JH: Yeah, my real name is Paul Allen. [Laughs]

 

ShG: You pick names like Keil picks his t-shirts. [Laughs]

 

KC: I don’t know what you’re talking about: I’m sponsored by the Grim Reaper, so I have to wear his shirts. That’s how I knew you would like me and want me in the band.

 

SG: Even more random than Josh's name changes and Keil's t-shirts for most people is the idea of a mutual link between Portland and Japan? And yet you managed to get a free trip to Tokyo out of that...

 

RB: This airline company was adding direct flights from Portland to Tokyo, so they wanted to do this big promotion thing where they took Portland’s stuff to Tokyo to show them how cool Portland was, and vice versa, to promote the direct flights. But somehow we miraculously got a trip there, and it was amazing.

 

ShG: What they were trying to do was take the Portland model – like we have the 'First Thursday' where you go to different galleries and do all that stuff, and have shows…so they were trying to make something like that happen in Japan to promote cross-breeding mostly. They were originally going to take a different band, and somebody else was like, “Oh, you should take Starf*cker,” and they checked us out and decided to take us. It was awesome…

 

It was weird, though, because there was no communication, and we got there and we didn’t even know about the party First Thursday aspect of it. They were like, “Oh, you’re playing a show,” and then…I don’t know. It was kind of weird. But it was fun. We got to go to Japan. And it was paid for.

We got to check out these really nice karaoke rooms that really famous people got to sing in before. One is like a stadium, and one is all plush with pillows and velvet, and they’re all different. And they cost like $300 a day. It’s crazy.

 

RB: Shawn is obsessed with karaoke.

 

ShG: I love karaoke. I’m really a horrible singer, so I like to practice.

 

RB: He’s got a beautiful voice. He doesn’t admit it, though.

 

ShG: I have this fake band called Doll Head. It’s like a joke because it’s really bad...

 

RB: He’s the only one that doesn’t sing, and we don’t let him sing because he’s got a way better voice than everyone…

 

KC: You don’t want the bass player to be better than everyone else…

 

RB: Then he’d over-shadow us.

 

ShG: [Sigh]

 

RB: How does Shawn sigh when he’s stressed?

 

Everyone: [SIGH]

 

KC: Shawn gets so stressed.

 

ShG: I get super stressed.

 

JH: He’s grumpy until like 5:00 p.m., when he’s awake.

 

ShG: I have all these blankets that I bring on tour, and I lay in them…

 

RB : Dude, I hate your blankets.

 

KC: Sometimes he just naps through sound-check and we’ll wake him up when it’s time to actually play the show.

 

ShG: I’m tired, man.

 

RB: At least you quit smoking. That was probably making you more tired.

 

ShG: I wanted to smoke so bad last night.

 

RB: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shut up.

 

ShG: Come on, man. I’m tired.

 

SG: Okay, so that leads me into my final question and the one that suddenly I am the most interested in the answer to: What exactly did you do last night that you’re so tired?

 

IL: Casiokids, man! They killed it. We were dancing on the chairs. It was crazy.

 

ShG: We ended up getting kicked out, actually, because we were getting in fights.

 

SG: With each other?

 

shG: [Laughs] Yes! We were! Seriously.

 

KC: Josh and Ian disappeared for a while too. We couldn’t find them.

 

ShG: Ian was on a girl-hunt.

 

KC: Girls were on an Ian-hunt. They were like [high voice], “Ooh, who’s the new guy?”

 

Starf*cker (or STRFKR, if you prefer)'s latest album, 'Reptilians,' is out now on Polyvinyl Records.