Starcralwer: LA’s Rock’n’Roll Band that Aims to Excite You
by: Sunday Valentine
Starcrawler is here to ignite you and they’re not afraid to do it. They have a sound that is reminiscent of a 70s-80s rock’n’roll attitude, and their performances aims to entice. The LA native band consistents of singer Arrow de Wilde, guitarist Henri Cash, drummer Austin Smith, and bassist Tim Franco. They are performing at the Catalyst on Sunday May 12th.
Amid the indie rock scene’s current melancholy and longing sounds, Starcrawler stands out with its youthful loud in your face rock. In an interview with Arrow de Wilde over the phone, she explains, “for me, at least my goal for when I started the band is that I didn’t want to have another band out there where they’re just fucking boring on stage. I just felt at the time Mac Demarco and all that shit was really popular. I just kind of got sick of it and sick of like sad boys… I think there’s enough bands that are boring and, like wear little hats on stage. I didn’t even know if the band was going to be good, but I just didn’t want people to be bored .” Bands Arrow enjoys includes Skating Polly and Le Butcherettes.
On stage Starcrawler is known to perform with a possessive fiery energy. Arrow often wears a straightjacket and spits fake blood at the crowd. When performing, she wants the audience to have a reaction, good or bad. “Our favorite shows is when everyone is going crazy and dancing. That’s what you wish every show can be like but it’s not always the case. As long as there’s a reaction. I’d even prefer the crowd to be angry than uninterested.” The Runaways, Ozzy Osbourne, and Kiss are just a few of the artists Arrow took inspiration from. If she had to make up a genre for the band, Arrow claims it would be “Loud Obnoxious music.”
Two of Arrow’s favorite songs to perform live include “Pussy Tower” and “Chicken Woman”. The song “Chicken Woman” has a real origin she explains, “that song is written about this old lady in chinatown. Henri my guitar player, we went to school right by Chinatown in downtown LA. So he would drive by Chinatown every morning and I guess there was this old women, who wore all black and pushed a shopping cart full of chickens to the slaughter house, and he would see her every morning. He got inspired and wrote that song. There’s actually a real chicken women out there.” Although some of their songs are inspired by living in LA, Arrow also acknowledges that LA is changing. A laundromat she used to go to with her mother as a kid is now a big chain coffee house. “I’m from Echo Park and that side of town is going. It’s pretty much gone… so many cool business that were there, a really good bakery, two dollar tacos, shit like that are just gone.” If there’s one thing she would want people to remember about her is anything. “Honestly, I just want people to remember me. My biggest fear is dying and everyone just forgets about me. I think as long as they remember anything, it can be anything even if it’s a bad thing as long as they remember me I’m good.”
Listening to Starcrawler you’ll find fun lively songs like “Ants” or “Pussy Tower”, songs that encapsulating LA like “Chicken Woman” or “Hollywood Ending”, and if you see them on stage they might — just might — spit blood in your face.
Song Recommendations:
Arrow recommended “She Gets Around”. Their newest song with a cool music video that involves her being suspended from the ground in angel wings.
One of my favorites is “Chicken Woman”. I love how the song is based on a real person from LA’s Chinatown.
Starcrawler’s most popular music video is “I Love LA”.