Stars Go Dim
Biography
The groundwork for Stars Go Dim began after the Pillar tour bus broke down on a Northwest run. Bassist Michael Wittig, drummer, Lester Estelle and Joey Avalos found themselves in a rental car, developing plans for a new musical endeavor. One phone call from Wittig to vocalist Chris Cleveland, who had been met at a 2007 music showcase, and the plans were in place.
“Lester and I had toyed with the idea of another musical venture for years,” Wittig said. “When we added Joey to the equation, we knew we had the start of something great.” With Avalos and Cleveland handling the writing duties, it is easy to spot the pair's perfect melding of modern pop and classic soul. At once, they evoke top-40's best guitar slingers, John Mayer and Maroon 5, as well as classic Memphis soul like Eddie Floyd and Willie Mitchell.
“Mike had told me he always wanted to do something totally different from Pillar,” Avalos said. “If I wanted to start a pop band or a funk band, he was down to play in it. So on that drive, we decided on a pop band. With Chris in mind we set up a songwriting session with everyone and it just clicked. We enjoyed each other's company and the music.”
As Stars Go Dim pressed forward on work for its debut LP “Love Gone Mad', the band decided to whet the proverbial whistle of potential fans by releasing three songs from the forthcoming album, “Crazy,” “Walk On,” and “Come Around.” All three songs were produced and engineered by Estelle and each carries a distinct flavor and shows a different side of the band at its best.
Cleveland and Avalos developed the lyrics for the songs together and, while it wasn't a conscious effort, all of the tracks revolve around love in various states. “We're kind of obsessed with love,” Avalos said. “It wasn't planned, but the songs for the full-length all tell stories of people in love and their relationships. I didn't notice it until I had 12 or 13 songs written.”
The band amassed a fan base of more than 13,000 MySpace friends without ever posting a song. And then with those three songs in hand and the basis for the remainder of the album already in place, Stars Go Dim as a quartet properly introduces itself to music lovers everywhere.