Simon Rushworth
They’re one of the success stories of 2009 and one of British rock’s big hopes for 2010 – Manchester mob Dear Superstar continue to unleash their unique brand of sleaze rock on audiences across Europe with an uncanny zeal.
A combination of hard work and the patronage of US peers Papa Roach and Buckcherry has seen Micky Satiar and his mates confound the critics and carve out a naughty little niche all of their own. Blinding sets at Download and Sonisphere have only served to add to the buzz surrounding DS and frontman Micky is ready for more.
rushonrock: How would you describe the last 10 months.
Micky Satiar: Wow. Where do I start? I suppose things got going when we hooked uop with Hanoi Rocks at the back end of last year. That was a massive personal achievement for this band as they were and still are a huge influence on us. To spend time with those guys, play to their fans and gain invaluable experience was amazing. But that was 2008. We came away thinking how do we top that in 2009?
rushonrock: So how did you?
MS: We had Christmas off to recharge the batteries and came into the New Year with the attitude that we’d put our hearts and souls into taking Dear Superstar forward and we decided to throw every penny and every ounce of energy we had at this band. We caught a big break when Papa Roach put us out on tour with them. We got on really well with those guys and ended up going to Europe with them. As a result of that we became buddies with Buckcherry and they took us out on the road with them too. We were in the right place at the right time – time and time again. We owe Papa Roach a huge debt of gratitude. They spotted us, liked us and now we share an agent. That in itself has opened doors Dear Superstar could only dream about entering in the past!
rushonrock: Doors like those leading to the two biggest rock festivals in Britain?
MS: Yeah we ended up playing Download and Sonisphere within the space of a few weeks and that was truly amazing. In all honesty it’s hard to keep up with ourselves right now and so I’ve probably forgotten a lot of the last 10 months. But you really can’t beat being in the right place at the right time and these days we make sure we’re in the right places all of the time.
rushonrock: How pleased are you to see Papa Roach enjoying a long overdue renaissance in the UK and Europe?
MS: We all loved those guys going back to the Infest era and to have the opportunity to share a stage with them this year has been unforgettable. They’ve got a new lease of life thanks to an incredible new record but at the end of the day they’re just a group of really approachable guys who made us feel so welcome from day one. They’ve sold millions of records and won Grammys but they’re happy to give a little band from the UK an opportunity and some advice.
rushonrock: Are Dear Superstar any nearer to recording the follow-up to Heartless?
MS: Firstly I think there’s still a lot of life left in that album. Millions of people all over the world still haven’t heard Heartless and we want to play it to as many people as we possibly can. On the flipside we have been playing that album for two years now and as a band we need to freshen things up before we go crazy! We’ve come off the summer tours with a lot of experience and a lot to write about and that’s why we used our time off this month to lay down three of the best new songs in the studio in Newcastle. We’ve been working on Never Surrender, Glitter Like Gold and Her Greed My Vanity and I think all three prove that we’ve found that Dear Superstar formula.
rushonrock: How do you mean?
MS: Every band searches for their sound. I think we’ve reached that point where every song we write sounds like a Dear Superstar song now. I don’t know if any other UK bands are doing what we do now but hopefully we’ll inspire a new genre of British rock.
rushonrock: Talking of British rock what’s your view on the whole batch of exciting new bands out there?
MS: It’s good to see so much homegrown talent. People in this country are often too quick to go out looking for foreign bands before checking out the great stuff that’s on their doorstep. It’s almost as if you can’t be a good rock band if you’re British but there’s plenty of us out there who beg to differ. We’ve just toured with The Crave and Heaven’s Basement and both of those bands really rock. They’re just the tip of the iceberg.