Stellar* have had an award-winning, big-selling (60,000 or so copies of debut album Mix) Very Big Year, about to tour the North Island before heading across the Tasman for two months on the road.
It's been almost a year since Mix came out — random highlights of the past 12 months?
There's
been so many. Basically I guess having people know our songs and have them sing them back to us. That's when you realise people have paid attention
and they like what you do. That's wicked. Iguess the music awards as well. I actually had a few bets with people because I didn't think we would win everything and now I owe a whole lot of dinners.
What do you think of that debut album a year on?
I kind of think we did okay on the first album, there's not that much that I would want to change. I am so looking forward to doing a second album though. We're writing and we've got some good new songs. It's just exciting. The year has gone past so fast I just can't fathom it
Is there a typical Stellar* fan?
I don't think so. I've met little children and just the other night a guy came up to me at a bus stop — I was walking past with friends — and he said "I play guitar and I play to your album all the time."
I thought, "Oh my god, people have learned the guitar solos." Now that makes me laugh. And I've met so many people who said they've bought the album for their boyfriends or girlfriends. There could have been a few trade-ins as well.
So the switch from red hair to blond — change your life?
It so did. It meant I got a lot less truckies yelling out at me. And it meant that I could wear burgundy again.
And what do you hope will have happened a year hence?
Hopefully we will have written a whole lot of songs that don't sound like they are straight out of the 80s. I will have got better at playing guitar. We will have travelled around and played to loads of people. We just want to play, play, play and just get better.
