Starsailor

Biography

Starsailor, who are named after a Tim Buckley album, comprise of four members. Their guitarist, vocalist and lyricist 21 year old James Walsh. James "Stel" Stelfox on bass, Ben Byrne on drums and keyboard player Barry Westhead. They all hail from various parts of Northwest England where they met at Wigan and Leigh music college in Leigh.

Stelfox and Byrne had been on the music scene playing together for a number of years. When they're usual singer fell ill the younger Walsh was drafted in after being spotted in the choir. Walsh had already been singing since the tender age of eight. "I just opened my mouth and it came out in tune unlike the other kids" he explains. He was always considered a misfit at school due to his shyness and sensitivity. After trying his hand at sport and failing, he turned to music. James began to play piano at the age of 12 which progressed to song writing by the age of 14 "I wouldn't want to hear them back though" he giggles "I didn't really get any good until I was 16" he explains in his softly spoken Lancashire accent. James had just bought a copy of Jeff Buckley's "Grace" album when he joined Ben and Stel. "It really opened doors for me" he smiles "I loved the honesty of it. When I heard him I found someone who genuinely touched me, and I knew that's what I wanted to achieve."
The band went through numerous unsuitable guitarists, feeling unhappy with their sound. Then in early 2000 they managed to convince their friend Barry Westhead to give up Tai Chi and playing at the local crematorium to play with them. Once Barry joined, and James began playing guitar the band realised they'd reached the sound they wanted. "We just keep it simple and play for the songs, not ourselves, it just sounds better that way" Stel smiles. James Walsh's brother Andrew, a heavenly associate saw their potential and after changing their name from Waterface put them on at the Heavenly social. A glowing review followed in NME and a slot at Glastonbury 2000 a record label frenzy occurred. Starsailor's music was being described as "a raw melodious collision of intense emotions and skyscraping atmospherics". "It was just physically impossible to go around and meet everyone" Andrew Walsh explains.

After signing to EMI: Chrysalis 2001 began with a frenzy of press interest and a slot on the NME brats tour. Starsailor were the first band ever to be offered this prestigious slot before releasing a single. They received an NME award for "Brightest New Hope" the week their debut single was released. "Fever" was made up of the band original three demos, "Fever", "Coming down" and "Love is here". The band did no promotion for the single yet it still landed them an appearance on TOTPS after going straight in at number 18. "It was madness" Andrew who now co-manages the band says "We just wanted it to go top 75, then I get a phone call saying the mid-week chart position is number 10!"

The band embarked on their sell out headline tour in March and received amazing reviews from all corners of the press. After travelling on tour with them David "Mouldy" Mould shot their video debut "Good souls" at Pinewood studios on March 8th. The video was aired exclusively by MTV and was played religiously by Radios 1 before charting at number 12. The success of the single saw the band on TOTPS not just once, but twice!

The band were relieved when it finally became time to go into the studio to work on their debut album. In May they disappeared into Rockfield Studios for six weeks with producer Steve Osborne. The result "Love is here" wasn't the acoustic sounding album many were expecting, but was a stunning mix of both electric and acoustic based tracks. "We wanted it to be somewhere between Jeff Buckley's "Grace" and Neil Young's "harvest"- a really live sounding album" Walsh explains. But why call it "Love is here"? "Well love is here is the theme of the album, it was meant to be uplifting and positive" The album was preceded by "Alcoholic" the bands most dramatic and emotionally turbulent songs. Although many thought the lyrics were too direct for it to be a hit, it went straight in at number 10 and saw the band in the TOTPS studio for the third time.

But what do the band want to achieve? "I just want us to have the same effect on other people that Jeff Buckley had on me" James concludes quietly "if we could be anywhere near as intense as that, I'd be happy. If one lad somewhere goes out and buys our album and thinks "F***king hell, I'm into this" or goes off and forms a band himself, then that's enough.

After three hit singles numerous festival appearances and raving reviews Starsailor set out on their second sell out UK tour and released their much anticipated debut album "Love is here" on October 8th. The album went straight into the UK charts at number two. "We just really wanted a top 5 album" Walsh smiles "to prove that all of the hype that had been surrounding was justified" Just remember though James it isn't hype if its true.
After the dust had settled on 'Love Is Here' the band dissapeared for a while. James Walsh started a family with his girlfriend and they had their first baby together and work began on Starsailor's follow up album. Legendary record producer Phil Spector showed keen interest in the band and eventually ended up producing the new album. Starsailor have commented that the producer opened up their eyes to new ways of creating music and that every song on the album could be a single.

The recording of the album was spoiled when Phil Spector was arrested as a suspect for the murder of a young woman found at his home. Spector was known for his dangerous ways and one such event saw him running off with the recordings of John Lennon's 'Rock N Roll' album in 1975. However the album has been officially named 'Silence Is Easy' and is due out in September 2003 along with the single of the same name. What the future will bring is anybody's guess but Starsailor must do well with this album if they are to regain their place amongst the great bands.