if you’ve been reading this thing since day one, you remember that one time when i gushed about that one band from that one place. you know. the UK. stars and sons. FREE EP!!! whatevs.
anyways, i had the pleasure of internetinterviewing mike lord, the spokesperson of s&s’s infinitely mysterious collective. below you can find the unabridged transcript. eat it up, go download their EP, and keep your eyes chronically peeled for a new track & a video sometime next month.
i now present: MIKE LORD KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT THE CUTTING EDGE, or STARS AND SONS: BEST THING OUT OF THE UK SINCE AMERICA
Dory (on behalf of the RIYL crew): the goat show ep is free, and i think this is totally fucking awesome. but it’s also sort of unusual; even with mp3blogs everywhere, a lot of groups are still charging for complete albums. what made you decide to make this first EP a free one?
Mike Lord: I think when bands offer something for free this early in their career it gives people a chance to have a proper listen, and it hopefully avoids the instant dismissal which is so easy when trawling around the interweb looking for bands. I would much rather people maybe listened to the whole EP on their headphones whilst lazing out in some tropical destination, than they listened to 15 seconds off Myspace on shitty laptop speakers. (Let’s not forget the donation button though!)
D: so we’ve all figured out by now that stars and sons is also the name of a broken social scene song. any connection? and maybe more importantly– any thoughts on maintaining the sanctity of your googleability when most of the search results seem to be about another band?
M: Well, I love the song and I found the title really intriguing… [Broken Social Scene] took it from the name of Dave Newfeld’s studio… so I’m just joining the big ‘ole chain of word stealing! Googleability isn’t really a massive concern of mine. (Though maybe it’s the true reason why that bunch were called “the beatles” rather than “the beetles”?)
D: so on your myspace there are four people (or one person who rocks at costumes). i know you’re at least one of them– but who are the others? and who IS that face on the mask?
M: It’s kind of a collective really. There isn’t necessarily a definitive number, but we all do out bit! Maybe its like The Waltons… “G’night John-boy” etc etc. The picture is of our founder David Strauss (recently deceased, ever present.) I think that the less people know the better. It lets us stay upwardly mobile, y’see. Economic and social advancement is surely just around the corner…
D: you’re all the way across an ocean from me, and most recent blogging about s&s has also been from the united states. d’you think that’s where most of your fan base is at this point? how’s the scene in brighton?
M: The scene in Brighton is pretty ludicrous. You can’t walk down the road without seeing 75 people with guitars on their backs. It’s really good that there are so many people involved in musical partakings, but its also kinda shit because no-one really cares when you say “Hey! we started a band!” I bet the people who own the practise studios are giggling with glee though… I had to ring 5 of them yesterday before I could book a slot (ARGH).
D: what’s the best live show you’ve seen recently?
M: The best live show I’ve seen recently was from a Brighton band called Charlottefield. They play incredible urgent and noisy music and (nearly) every other band in Brighton can only stand back and observe shamefully. When you watch them live you have to cling on to every second because they can be grumpy bastards, you never know when they will get pissed off and decide to stop playing! I since learned that they have decided to call it a day since the show I saw which is deeply gutting…
D: anything else new (and free) for the listening masses?
M: Sorry, but we’re changing the template again… For the next EP we are gonna make just 1 physical copy which will be in the form of a wind-up music box and sell that for £900. Times are changing guys: gotta… keep… moving…
in conclusion, mike lord is a badass and i want to be his friend. agree? disagree? do you also want to be mike lord’s friend? let us know.
love,
d
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the riyl revolution 
this is great!
Comment by meaganday May 30, 2008 @ 4:43 pm