SIX DEGREES OF STARFLYER
by: Tyler Baber

Remember the party game Six Degrees to Kevin Bacon, where you would take an actor and try to link him or her to Kevin Bacon in six moves or less? The premise of the game is that you can link anyone to Kevin Bacon in six moves, and it follows that all actors/actresses are linked in some way. Example: Phillip Seymor-Hoffman was in the 25th Hour with Edward Norton. Norton was in Fight Club with Helena Boham-Carter, Boham-Carter was in the Steve Martin dark comedy Novocain with Kevin Bacon.

Although it is a bit more difficult, this game can also be played by linking bands to each other through producers or band members. There are a few musicians that are the Kevin Bacons of the music world, involved in innumerable projects each with a few different musicians. For instance, you can basically link ANYONE to Orange County, CA band Starflyer 59. The bands ten year history has seen a rotating cast of musicians, but the current incarnation has by far the most branches.

Jason Martin, Jeff Cloud, Richard Swift and Frank Lenz. The names read like an indie all star super group for anyone familiar with the musicians. Martin plays a strong part in the bands bon Voyage, the Emergency and pony eXpress, and he acts as producer for quite a few bands as well. Cloud owns Velvet Blue Music, which gives him links to everyone from Jeff Suffering to Jetenderpaul. He is also leader of pony eXpress and plays bass in recently formed super group of sorts the Party People (with members of Denison Marrs, Ghoti Hook and the Young and the Useless). Swift plays in pony eXpress and does solo work as well as production and studio musicianship with many different groups. Lenz plays with the Emergency, pony eXpress and also does production and solo work. That's just looking at current projects, if you look at all the bands the members of Starflyer 59 have been involved in in the past this list would triple in length.

"I donít know how we all do it." Jason Martin told tangzine when asked how the band operates while continuing to work with all of the side projects. "We just hook up all these things in advance. Starflyer doesnít tour that much so that helps it work." Swift and Lenz are actually the only full time musicians in the group, Cloud works full time with Velvet Blue and Martin works with his fatherís trucking business part time.

The difficulty of maintaining many musical careers does not stop Starflyer from continually pushing the envelope in their song crafting. After ten years of working under the Starflyer 59 moniker, Martin and crew have released six LPs, six EPs and two 7"s and are in the process of releasing a new full length album, a one sided 10" for Burnt Toast Vinyl, and a track on the Never-ending White Lights collaboration coming out. "I always feel like weíre a different band all the time but weíre the same band.î Martin said of the band's longevity. Keyboardist Richard Swift offered his interpretation of Starflyer's history. "I think thereís been a healthy evolution. I think if you put on one of the records it doesn't make sense compared to the last one but they make sense as a whole."

The band's newest album, OLD, is a bit of a different direction for a group used to taking different directions. "We really liked our new record, stoked with how it turned out. We tried to do some of the older stuff we were doing before and mix it with some of the newer stuff we were doing, its more rock and roll than it was. The last record was pretty mellow all the way through, and the new one has some mellow stuff but more signature Starflyer rock riffs," explained bassist Jeff Cloud. The album was co-produced with Aaron Sprinkle, a choice made late in the recording process. Drummer Frank Lenz explains "[Aaronís] a really talented guy. He started out as an engineer, and he had a lot of cool ideas and stuff he wanted to try. We decided to make it a co-producing thing because he actually contributed a lot to the album."

In addition to the more rock and roll style sound, fans can expect a different direction lyrically for OLD. "The album lyrically is about the standard old rock n roll story, a guy who hits it big and leaves everyone else behind. Not saying SF 59 will ever hit it big, but if we do, we have made an agreement as a band not to leave behind those who have been with us and helped us." Martin told fans in a recent interview at the Velvet Blue Music website. The idea of not forgetting the fans who have been with the band since the beginning is important to everyone in Starflyer. With each new album the band has increased their fan base while at the same time strengthening the devotion of those who are die-hard Starflyer disciples. When asked how he felt about fans viewing the group as musical heroes, Martin told Velvet Blue Music "A little embarrassing, but obviously I am glad people like the band. Sometimes at shows people telling me how the band has affected them has really meant a lot to me. I think we left a pretty cool trail to follow, if someone found one of our albums theyíd have a long stream of records they can find." Cloud told tangzine.

Although some groups seem to fizzle and burn after making music for a prolonged amount of time, Starflyer doesnít show signs of stopping. "[Weíll] keep putting out records til something happens. Maybe after 100 years something will happen. Just rock and roll, man. That's it." Martin told tangzine. "Just have like one big song, you know, a kind of single that actually ends up doing something." The rest of the band share Martinís dream of success. Cloud light-heartedly echoed Jason's wish for recognition. "We want a boat. Me and Lenz want to have a boat but we need the big single to have that."

Frank Lenz jovially echoed Cloud's goal. "Why arenít I a millionaire because Iím the greatest rock and roll drummer ever, and the answer would I have no idea because I am awesome."

posted 05-16-03

2003 White Elephant Productions