

Starwood interview with Marten
Andersson
By
Megametal
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Mega Metal: Tell us a little
about your band or current project? (When you formed, Name,
Members, Etc.)
Marten: We played around with the idea of putting together
this band for a while, it finally happened late 2003. In
addition to me, its fronted by Lizzy on vocals/guitars, Joey
Scott on drums and Joe Steals on guitar. We are like brothers,
we have a lot of fun and a great chemistry together and you can
tell when you hear the CD or see us play live.
Mega Metal: Let's talk about your current CD, Where did you
record it?
Marten: It's a balls out rock n' roll album with alot of
influences from Cheep Trick/Kiss but played in a modern style
with some great vocals. The recording and the pre-production
process for If It Aint Broke, Break It! was
put together around November/December of 2003, at The Zanzibar
studios in
North Hollywood, CA.
Mega Metal: Who produced the CD?
Marten: We were all very active in the recording process
which made things a ton of fun but the mixing/producing was done
by Lizzy and Joey.
Mega Metal: How long did you spend recording the new CD? How did
that compare to the last CD(If applicable)?
Marten: The whole process took about 5 months from beginning
to end, counting pre-production, recording, mixing and
mastering. |
Mega Metal: Were you happy with the final product?
Marten: Love it, we are all very proud of it. The response
have been awesome from everybody that heard the CD. The
popularity of it was kind of a shock to tell you the truth, all
of sudden people start telling us things like "one day you'd
never heard of Starwood, and the next day, boom! You are going
to be everywhere!" I hope they are right.
Mega Metal: After listening to it
after the final mix, what went through your head?
Marten: I thought it sounded awesome. We all looked at each
other and said, we are onto something here. I believe with the
current music scene of bands such ! as Brides, Darkness, Velvet
Revolver, and Jets the timing for this release is perfect. We
cant wait to start filming the first video and getting out to
the people.
Mega Metal: Do you have a favorite
song off your new CD?
Marten: Yeah I got a ton of favorites, some are from a
playing perspective others are great dynamic songs I love
listing to driving in my car. "Subculture", "All My Girlfriends
Have Boyfriends" and What's Your Damage are songs that are a ton
of fun to play and listening to.
Mega Metal: What are your current tour plans, if any?
Marten: We are starting out by playing around the Los Angeles
area. Since this is a debut album and a fresh band our
management are looking for a major tour to be a support act on.
There is a lot in the works but nothing confirmed yet. Looks
like 2005 can turn out to be a great year for us.
Mega Metal: Describe your live performance?
Marten: High octane, High intense rock n' Roll with great
backing vocals. Some of these songs were made to play live, they
are even stronger live. We debuted our show at the House of
Blues a month ago and we got a great response. The live show is
driven by a lot of emotions, and about having fun, feeding off
the crowd and putting on a great show in return.
Mega Metal: Do you have a personal favorite song to play live?
Marten: Overall I enjoy the entire set. If I were to pick a
couple I would say "What's Your Damage", Sub Culture or "If It
Ain't Broke, Break It!", Those are some songs that the crowd
really gets into.
Mega Metal: Have you ever had any
mishaps or crazy things happen while on stage?
Well yeah there has been a million of those. I feel off stage
into a hole one time, the crew had to lift me up. I blew out my
shoulder but I finished the show. We have had Amps blowing up on
stage unexpectedly, knocking out teeth of the singer by
accident, people have sex right in front of us while playing.
The list goes on and on.
Mega Metal: What has been the highlight of your career thus far?
There has been so many, I look at it as "It's not the
destination its the Journey" The best is yet to come. Ask me
again in a year.
Mega Metal: Who are your
influences?
Marten: I listen to Kiss to Elvis and everything in between.
Mega Metal: If we looked at your CD collection, what CDs would
we see?
Marten: Audioslave, Black Label Society, Kiss, Evanescence,
Deep Purple
Mega Metal: Are there any new bands out there that you see
potential in?
Marten: There is some great bands out there these days, I am
listening to the latest Evanescence CD right now, that's a great
CD. Unfortunately I see alot of bands where the bass player or
guitar player is awesome but the songs/band sucks. Also, alot of
the CD's has 2 or 3 good songs on them, the rest is crap.
Mega Metal: What are your feelings about downloading and file
sharing?
Marten: In limited quantities I guess it's ok, come on we
have all done it. However, I don't think people realize how much
work (an! d money) goes into making this work. Hell, you don't
have a construction worker working his ass off moving rocks in
your backyard for 6 months and then go, Naaa I don't feel like
paying for this. As I see it, if you don't have a receipt in one
hand and the CD in the other you are steeling.
Mega Metal: If you had the chance to jam on stage with anyone,
who would it be?
Marten: Elvis, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Aerosmith
Mega Metal: Do you have a website or email address our readers
can contact you at?
Marten: The website is www.starwood-band.com. It has contact
info, a guestbook and the ability to sign up for the Starwood
newsletter, which always gives you the latest news and tour
info.
Mega Metal: Do you have a street team?
Marten: Not yet but we hope as we grow and we get the CD out
there we will have one soon.
Mega Metal: What can we expect to see from your band over the
next year?
Marten: Keep your eyes open because we are going to do a
video then tour, tour, tour, and another album.
Mega Metal: Any last comments?
Check out the CD and the
website at
www.starwood-band.com. Thanks I had fun!
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