When listening to your music, I can really hear your influences, but one thing I like is that it doesn’t feel like a pastiche of old bands. You have your own style. Was this something you had to consider when forming the band?
Arrow: I definitely have strong influences, but I don’t want to take what they’re doing and replicate it. I want to create my own identity with Starcrawler.
Henri: Yeah, it needs to feel honest. When we’re playing live and having that energy, it comes from a real place. If we were trying to mimic a style, we’d lose that deep connection with the music. Also, whether it's positive or negative, people hear with their eyes whether they’re realizing it. Even going back to TV when they’re setting up a scene and how certain colors work. You pick up on things that you don’t notice. We wanted to set an image by being flashy.
How has California influenced your music?
Arrow: I think it definitely has. A lot of the bands we grew up on, like The Gun Club and X, I think all of it, even places we grew up going to have influenced our songwriting. I grew up all over the place, so I have a nostalgia for all these weird little spots in Los Angeles that give me inspiration.
Henri: It just feels so much better than New York, you know (laughs). We’ve been on tour out there for a week now, and even though San Francisco isn’t L.A, it’s still like, “Oh man,” to be back.
Seth: Being not from California, the radio will play music that you have to dig for in the south; that you wouldn’t be exposed to growing up. Listening to the radio in Southern California, you get exposed to so much. When I moved to California, I learned so much more music that I would have missed, and a lot of it is California music.
What are some of the best places in California you have to stop at when at home or on the road?
Arrow: There’s so much. In L.A. my favorite venue is The Echo. I grew up going there and when we started out, we played there a lot. It feels like home.
Seth: If we’re overseas, In-N-Out as soon as we get back.
Henri: There’s a cool place on the way up to San Francisco from L.A. called Casa De Fruta (in Hollister). They have a bunch of fruit and dried fruit candy.
Starcrawler is on tour with Rival Sons throughout the East Coast, so if you end up on that side of the Mississippi River, check out one of their show. Be sure to stay up to date on all things Starcrawler by going to the band’s website where you can be the first to hear new music, cop some sweet merch, or view one of their astounding music videos.