ATP Performer Profile: Starsailor

Little Big Man Before their recent rise to stardom Starsailor
perfected their foraging skills, just in case the whole music thing
didn’t work out.

By Christine Lee
Daily Bruin Contributor

Four young Englishmen, in their twenties, meet in college, form
a band, make some music, and get some immediate critical acclaim.
Sound familiar?

Maybe, that’s because this seems to be the prevailing
story of many of the bands coming out from the U.K these days. Out
of the multitudes of bands coming from the United Kingdom, there is
one band that seems to have a particularly bright future ahead of
them — Starsailor.

Comprised of James Walsh, James Stelfox, Ben Byrne and Barry
Westhead, Starsailor is a band at the forefront of the prevailing
Britpop sound. Their album, “Love is Here,” is a prime
example of the sensitive, acoustic rock coming from across the
Atlantic. Full of lulling melodies rounded out by James
Walsh’s gentle but eager voice, Starsailor is continuously
being called the “next Coldplay.”

“It gets quite tiresome when people regard them [Coldplay]
as our mentors when they’re only six months ahead of us. I
just think they’re another band making good music.
They’re not a band that I listen to everyday,” said
Walsh, the guitarist, lyricist and singer of Starsailor in a phone
interview.

Starsailor draws their music from American influences such as
Neil Young, Tim Buckley and Jeff Buckley. Starsailor’s
worship of these American singer-songwriters is an uncommon trait
compared to their compatriot Beatles followers, Oasis. Something
about those American music heroes inspired and resonated deeply
with Walsh and the band.

“It’s a kind of organic sound really,” Walsh
said. “The album that we were listening to a lot at the time
was Neil Young’s “˜Harvest.’ We wanted to create
something which when you listen to it you felt as if you were in
the room with the band, instead of something really labored and
stuff “¦ We wanted something musical and I think we’ve
achieved that.”

The American influence isn’t the only defining factor of
Starsailor’s sound. The band uses a keyboard instead of the
traditional second guitar, giving their music a distinctive
sound.

“I just thought that the piano fit the melodies
better,” said Walsh. “And I think it’s a more
understated instrument. Quite often with a second guitar player,
you become a guitar band. And the songs sometimes get lost under a
sea of noise.”

But the crux of Starsailor’s sound would have to be
Walsh’s voice. Its soaring, aching quality enhances many of
the melancholy tunes. It is because of Walsh’s natural
instrument that many critics are swooning to Starsailor’s
melodies.

Walsh’s voice may resound with a tinge of melancholy, but
the lyrics give the songs a more optimistic tone. Even the title
“Love is Here” has a note of optimism in it. According
to a chuckling Walsh, their music doesn’t have a
“manifesto or anything,” but he hopes that it gives a
positive message.

The band is doing their best to keep everything in perspective.
The boys are well aware of their level of success as musicians, and
they know they’ve still got a long way to go to prove to
themselves and the world that they are as good as the hype.

“I don’t think that we’ve succeeded yet until
we’re respected by other musicians,” Walsh said.
“People are still suspicious of us because we’re so
young and so successful. We’ve got a lot to prove “¦
it’s just a beginning really. Just settin’ the elements
in place.”

Starsailor is not sure what the future holds for their music,
but listening to Dion records should give the band another
interesting angle to their sound. For now, Starsailor is quite
happy living in the present and very satisfied with their current
album.

“This album is really quite impassioned and full
on,” says Walsh. “I think that this album is winter and
the next album will be summer.”

Starsailor is playing a sold-out show on March 12th at the El
Rey Theatre.