Wow. It’s mind-boggling to contemplate that it’s been nearly two years since I first launched into these tunes with Eric and Matt. The practices at Matt’s house. The first show at The Pinhook in Durham. The CD Release Show at the Local 506, when the Snow-pocalypse damn near shut down the whole town. The bleary-eyed hours and days and weeks Eric and I spent creating the website. The mini-tour to DC and NYC. Sleeping on Kooki Kooks’s kitchen floor. My last show at The Cave in March. My next last show at DiveBar in Raleigh. And now my last last show at Studio B. What a privilege it’s been to play with Eric and Matt. A real honor. That’s all I can think, all I can say, all I can write for the time being. That’s it. It’s been an honor, gentlemen…
[From Music.MyNC.Com]:
It’s certainly difficult to pinpoint exactly who Minor Stars is trying to be. But in all reality, it’s simple to see the band exceeds in being itself.
Looking at frontman Eric Wallen, one wouldn’t think there is a Duke University graduate school alum hidden beneath that mane of metal hair. In fact, Eric looks as if he was plucked straight out of the school of Zeppelin.
“I had a previous life path of being an electrical engineer,” Wallen explained.
“When it came time to graduate, all of my friends were applying to grad school because nobody really wanted to get a job. So I got into Duke on a full ride — couldn’t really say no — I came down here and pretty much knew immediately it wasn’t what I wanted to do.”
After graduating with a masters in electrical engineering, Eric turned down a cushy job to pursue a career in music. This led to a period of writing folk songs on his acoustic guitar and performing them on Franklin Street.
But hearing a single note from Minor Stars‘ debut full-length, Death of the Sun in the Silver Sea, anyone can recognize that the music Eric plays with drummer Matt McCallus and bassist Bob Dearborn is anything but folk. Rather, what he describes as psychedelic rock is an amalgamation of ’70s-era metal, early ’90s indie rock and post-hardcore.
“I used to be a metal kid — I know it’s hard to tell now,” Wallen joked. “Actually when I was a metal kid, I didn’t look like one at all.”
Wallen added, “From there … I listened to a lot more stuff from the ’60s and ’70s and then a ton of indie rock. It kind of evolved into that vein, then into this psychedelic rock, and kind of full circle, bringing back some of the old metal riffs.”
Standing behind a sea of pedals, Wallen achieves a level fuzz rarely heard from truly indie bands. The band is certainly heavy, but Minor Stars can’t be considered hardcore. And though at times soaring with three-part harmonies, Minor Stars can’t be considered indie pop.
Perhaps indie hardcore? No … just Minor Stars.
Setlist
Death of the Sun
Numbers Don’t Lie
Mirror
All Your Stars Out
Daydream
Silver Lining
