“It merged into this big 80’s feel-good vibe, which just worked.”
Lovers of Darkness Calling playlist mainstay “Featherlite” will be familiar with the name Mark R. Bebb — a singer whose falsetto is unmistakable in the synth genre. Needless to say, when we learned of his latest project — a synthwave band called STARwave — we had to learn more. The other two members of STARwave, Luke Dawson Vincent (@_ldvofficial) and Daniel Cooke (@danstarmusic_official), are incredible musicians as well, having released killer music for their own individual projects in the past.
Today (November 6th, 2020) marks the release of “Warrior,” STARwave’s debut single and music video. It’s an undeniable, fun track that encapsulates the best of what synthwave can be. There’s plenty of keyboard-driven synthwave out there, but there aren’t many groups who deliver the light-as-air vocals and soaring guitars that our nostalgic hearts have longed for.
Enter STARwave.
DARKNESS CALLING: Thanks again for chatting with us! First, we’d love to know more about the genesis of STARwave. How did the three of you begin collaborating?
LUKE: STARwave was started roughly a year ago by me and Daniel Cooke (DANSTAR). We have known each other for a number of years. STARwave began as an instrumental project, picking up from when I first collaborated and featured on Dan's debut solo album Future Unwritten, on a song titled “Present Horizon.” We quickly realized that we had a great combined sound, so we set out to write a ten-track instrumental synthwave/shredwave album. After releasing a few teasers, we were contacted by Mark R. Bebb to collaborate on what was originally intended to be a three-to-five-track EP, but eventually evolved into a full album.
DARKNESS CALLING: The first single, “Warrior,” is very catchy and hard not to dance to. We enjoyed it very much. It has a pop sensibility to it, but also an 80’s rock sound that a lot of synthwave acts are missing (thanks to LDV’s guitars). Did this sound just evolve naturally, or were you inspired by a shared interest in any certain musical influences?
MARK: I think it’s fair to say we have a shared love for all things 80’s and nostalgia, generally. This track has all your usual guitar traits of things like “Danger Zone” from Top Gun, etc. The guys already had this track more or less complete in its original instrumental form, so about — oh, let me see — six minutes alone with it, and I’d written a melody, lyrics, and arrangement for it! [Laughs.]
LUKE: This is a great question! The cool thing is that all three of us come from different musical backgrounds. We did originally set out to try and produce a particular sound for the record and manufacture it in a way to fit in with this genre. What actually came out was completely different to what we had expected, but it was ultimately the natural product of the three of us in a studio, combining our individual styles. It merged into this big 80's feel-good vibe, which just worked.
The combination of Mark's unique vocals, Dan’s extremely recognizable synth sounds, and my guitar tone really all gelled nicely and generated this different sonic vibe which sets us apart (but not too far) from the pack. I feel this record is going to do really well as a result. As Mark said, we all love the 80's and we're all heavily influenced by different genres from that era. Once everything was said and done, what came out the other end was this fusion of big synths and guitars, driven by a big stadium drum sound, under really unique harmonized lead vocal lines.
DARKNESS CALLING: Did the three of you work together in the studio often, or was this mostly a remote effort due to COVID? What was the production process like?
MARK: Luke and Daniel live in Norwich/England, and I live near Cardiff/South East Wales. We did this and the album before all the lockdowns began, fortunately. Just before shooting the video, Wales had a long lockdown, and it was touch-and-go whether I’d be able to get up to film. This did delay filming for a few weeks, but it luckily worked out okay. As soon as I got back to Wales, we were locked down again and still are. Tier 3! We all wrote and recorded together in the studio in Norfolk, and some of the production is done whilst I’m there with them, but most production is done after the event remotely. Files are exchanged via email, where we all give our respective feedback and tweak each track until we’re all happy with it.
LUKE: Up until around March 2019, Dan and I had always been a duo and had never met Mark in person, but as soon as we hit the studio and started bouncing off each other's ideas, it's like we'd all been lifelong friends. There’s never a dull moment.
We had three sessions in the studio where all of us were together in the room. Overall, we roughly spent about two-and-a-half weeks over the course of three sessions as a band, writing and recording together.
The general process was we'd lay down a drum track, a synth, and a bass line to give the song its basic foundations. Then, Mark would leave the room, come back, and within about half an hour, he'd have pretty much every vocal written for that particular track. The process following that would be me laying down the guitar tracks at my studio, then sending them to Dan. We’d sit at Dan’s studio together, writing/mixing/producing the rest of the music from there while Mark was back home.
The main aim while Mark was in Norwich was to get all the vocals done during his time there at Dan’s studio. Then, we'd have the freedom to take our time and refine and arrange the tracks musically and ping the tracks over to Mark to listen to for any changes he felt were required, as well. There were some flaws in the process which were tough to tackle at times, but considering the current circumstances and the limited time we had together, we're absolutely thrilled with how the album turned out.
DARKNESS CALLING: Other than “Warrior,” what’s one track that you would tell listeners to check out once the full album is out, and why? Do any of the other tracks hold a special significance to you?
MARK: You put your whole heart and soul into every track; otherwise, you wouldn’t write it to begin with. It’s an album we’re releasing and not an EP, so folks will get more bang for their buck. There are a few tracks I personally really love, but there are lots that could become potential singles. I go through phases with tracks, but right now, I’d have to say “Where We’re Meant To Be” is my personal frontrunner, but I also find myself going back to “Bolt From The Blue” and “Arcade Dreamer.” Think there will be some hot debate between the three of us and Dan at the label on deciding what comes next.
LUKE: All of the tracks tell a story and have a message which — as a band — all three of us have experienced to different extents. The messages aren't just in the lyrics, but the music, too. If you really listen, there are a lot of deep, emotional messages/storylines within them, a lot of which our listeners will be able to relate to. Some of the tracks are really open to the listener’s interpretation. They're universal, so to speak.
The album is a mixed bag of hard hitting, up-tempo numbers, ballads, and middle of the road “feel-good” tracks. The ones to look out for will (of course) be the single “Warrior,” which is now available on all major platforms [and the Darkness Calling playlist]. “You Are,” “Bolt From The Blue,” and “Summer Of Love” are all really strong tracks, and just a few of our favorites.
DARKNESS CALLING: Aside from the release of the full album, what can fans of STARwave look forward to? Are there any videos/livestreams/other collaborations on the horizon that you can tease for us now?
MARK: Once we’ve decided what the follow-up to “Warrior” will be, we would like to think there will be another video (lockdowns permitting, of course). We think we have a track in mind as a band that we’re all pretty much united on as a second single. Luke has his own side project (LDV) also signed to RetroSynth, as does Dan as DANSTAR. Me? Well I just mop the floors behind them both when they’re finished and Dan Eachus buys me some candy in return for being a good girl / boy / girl / boy / both / oh who cares!
I have some solo collaborative singles all completed and scheduled for release in USA, France, and Canada — as well as two new albums completed for my other bands (Shelter and FORM). Those are scheduled for release at either the end of this year or early next year.
LUKE: I am also working on a shredwave album titled EXPLODE which will hopefully be out early next year.
As for STARwave as a collective, there has been a slight delay with England recently going back into national lockdown, which has caused the production process to come to an abrupt halt. This obviously means Dan and I are unable to have joint studio sessions, and the reason that we prefer to do it this way is that two sets of ears are always better than one. The consistency in sound while mixing/mastering remains intact that way. It's frustrating as the album is so close to being completed, but hopefully these next four weeks will fly by, and we'll get the full album finished, possibly release another single, followed by the rest of the tracks — but there really are no future plans set in stone at the moment. We're really looking to push this current release and get it out there as much as possible.
Of course, the music video is now live for “Warrior” [watch above]. We'd also like to give Dan and Scott from the label a shoutout for all their hard work leading up to this release, and we hope this will be the start of a fruitful career with them.
We have touched base with a few other well-known artists who are digging our sound, and we are hopefully planning for some future collaborations — but as we said, nothing is 100% set in stone yet.
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