dear superstar gunns

Interview by: Lynn Wyeth

Date: August 2009

Via: Email

Photos by: Dear Superstar / Marianne Harris / Mary Evans

MusicXtra managed to pin down UK rockers Dear Superstar on their recent tour with Buckcherry and got guitarist Gunns to answer a few questions for us…

How’s the record deal with Demolition going?

The deal is going great, we’ve shifted around 10,000 copies on last count and with the recent European tour with our new friends Papa Roach things are on the rise for us right now, so hopefully we can keep on selling!

The Firewind tour saw you on tour with Finns Kiuas… it wasn’t the first time you’d met them was it? (The bands were double booked to support Bullet For My Valentine in Helsinki, resulting in Kiuas not being able to play)

Certainly not, I don’t like to talk about my dance with death though ha ha. Me and Smeth got a very firm threat of getting buried alive from those guys, now that they are not here though I’ll let you into a secret, I could of taken ‘em, ha-ha. Nah the Kiuas guys are great and we had a blast with them when we were out with Firewind. The whole Helsinki episode was a big mistake that after one too many fisu got a little heated and out of hand. We have all cuddled and made up since though.

Your drummer Minge is a tattooist and often tattoos the bands backstage, including Kiuas’ singer Ilja. Give us a low down on what tattoos Dear Superstar have so far and why.

Minge has done plenty of work, especially recently on Micky, who has had some amazing half sleeves done. Amadeus has also been getting plenty of work on his sleeve including all sorts of cool shit like a candy skull and a pirate wench portrait… I think it’s his mum? Ha-ha. Micky has ‘Live, Love, Lie’ tattooed across his chest, which is definitely a band motto that at some point we all intend getting done and you should to! Rumour has it Smeth has also hit the ink!

You then went out on tour with more Finns, the legendary Hanoi Rocks. What stories did Andy McCoy regale you with?

Andy McCoy is a true legend in the eyes of Dear Superstar and the eyes of most hardened rock fans. All the Hanoi guys were amazing but Andy made sure he always gave us the time of day and like a group of kids sat around granddad’s chair we listened to stories of 80s rock ‘n’, roll excess over and over again. Never have I seen a man drink so much fisu before taking to the stage ha-ha. He would talk to us about hanging around with the Guns ‘n’ Roses guys and how he would meet up with all the strange and wonderful misfits of L.A. whilst partaking in all the strange and wonderful things L.A. in the 80s had to offer. It was a pleasure to sit at the bar with Andy and listen to his tales, although when he muttered the words “you guys remind me of us when we were young” I don’t think there was one of us that didn’t smile from ear to ear… watch out world we’re coming for ya!

Next up was the Papa Roach tour in UK - more your sort of audience?

Yeah for sure, the Papa Roach UK tour was really what Dear Superstar needed to get our music out there to the kinda audience we have always written for. All the audiences were amazing for us on this tour and really seemed to dig what we were doing. It was a massive honour to share the stage with those guys and we had an amazing time.

What have you learnt from being out with the likes of Papa Roach and playing audiences/stages this big?

I think we have learnt a hell of a lot. The main thing for me was that I have always classed Dear Superstar as a band that no matter what, we’ll hit the stage at 110mph and make sure we give the crowd a good ass kickin’. When you move up to those bigger stages, you really gotta work yourself and make sure you use every inch of the floor space to put on the show for the fans. Micky was totally natural at this and took to the big stages like a duck to water. Unfortunately that wasn’t enough for him and most nights he ended up partying in the crowd by the end of Brothers in Blood.

It's opened a few doors for you hasn't it?

Yeah certainly has. By the end of the UK shows with Papa Roach we had signed up with Dan Devita from TKO as our Booking agent and we haven’t looked back since. Dan is a great guy and has the band’s interests at heart. We also had the slot at Download off the back of that tour showing that people were really starting to take note of us, to come back off a tour with a slot playing Donington and having Dan as part of the team was just amazing and made us want to hit rehearsals harder and faster so we could keep the shows bigger and better.

And then Europe with Papa Roach? Where have you been so far and did you manage to get to see any of the places you played?

Europe was just amazing; a totally different world. Rock music is well and truly alive in Europe, which was great to see. Every night the kids were just goin’ f***in’ crazy. We hit so many cool places that I have never been to before and it was awesome. We had some awesome times out there. It’s really hard to see all the cities when your rolling in and you have to get ready for sound check etc. but we found a really good way around it was, as soon as we arrive, for those that wanted, we would get our best running gear on and go for a good 3 or 4 mile run around the city we were in. It’s definitely easy to catch all the cool parts of a city when you have no idea where your going, ha-ha, Austria was great with myself, Micky, Minge, Amadeus and Tobin (Papa Roach) all going for a run up this amazing mountain. Copenhagen was also a dream come true for us, just after coming off stage all a sweaty mess, Tommy Lee (Mötley Crüe) enters the room and what unfolded I’m not quite sure. If I think about it too much my head still hurts, ha-ha.

What’s the difference with European audiences to the UK ones?

I think the main difference between Europe and the UK audiences is that rock music is still really big out in Europe. The UK has a good rock scene which I’m glad to say is definitely on the up again, but it has never died in Europe and all the fans are really hungry and ready to throw the horns at any given opportunity. They love it and want to take the time afterwards to get to know you and are already emailing us daily asking when we will be back touring again, which is a great feeling knowing that Dear Superstar are wanted back in Europe.

And difference with venues?

You can smoke in them ha-ha, no seriously the venues and all the people that run them are great. We played a cool place in Holland called Atak in Enchede and all the staff there are voluntary, they want music in their town so much that they run this amazing venue for free and are just really appreciative of bands that come to their town and rock hard. Then at the end of the night they just join in the party. It’s great to see people who love music that much they will work for free.

You’ve toured Finland a couple of times, how was that? What’s so great about Finland?

Touring Finland is f***in’ sick, we love it out there. We have toured Finland three times now and can’t wait to get back there for a fourth. The kids in Finland are off the chain; the country seriously knows how to rock and has certainly provided us with a lot of memories. I think what makes Finland so great is fisu, any country where you go into a shop or a restaurant or a bar and it’s constantly just spinning rock music is the kinda place any rocker wants to be and a scene we should all want to be a part of. That and it’s really easy to get by on no money as you just steal what you need, ha-ha. Apologies to the owner of that new Golf Gti, I’m sure he found it eventually.

Any plans to tour again there soon as you have a fan base over there begging you to go back?

Yeah for sure, we would love to get back there before the end of this year. We have made a good fan base over there and they are really dedicated and want to see us back there. Finland took us in and welcomed us with open arms… we will certainly not be turning our backs on such a great country!

You did the Tuborg stage at Download 2009, how did that go?

Playing Download festival was just a dream come true, we had a really good slot on the Sunday and the stage was packed out with an amazing crowd. The sun was out in full force so there was a lot of sunburn going down and I’m sure Smeth had sunstroke by the end of the day. He went on a downward spiral to the point he was sat with the rock elite and I’m not sure he knew who they were. I won’t mention names but the guy was in a bad place for sure.

What other bands did you get to see? Who rocked? Who sucked?

I would love to say people sucked but everyone we went to see was on top form and rocking hard. Touring partners Buckcherry and Papa Roach totally destroyed the 2nd Stage in style and the crowd proved that even though it was late on the Sunday and it was hotter than hell out there, they still wanted to rock the f*** out. Then catching the likes of Journey and Def Leppard was the icing on the cake, listening to Def Leppard playing Action by The Sweet was f***ing cool, and a great way to close what is by far the best UK festival.

You were then invited to the Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards. Any gossip from there for us?

Ha, the Golden Gods was a good fun night, Drinking with some of the biggest legends of rock and roll can’t be bad for anyone can it? The highlight for me was the aftershow Steel Panther set; those guys are a funny bunch of f***ers and have no worries about ripping the shit out of anyone no matter how famous they are. I could gossip but I won’t as I’m not like that ha-ha, but I will tell you one thing, I’m not sure if Minge has ever got over that night. He was still drinking 40 hours later.

What’s next up for you guys?

We’ve headed out with Buckcherry for their UK tour hitting loads of cool places including a stop at the Forum in London for a special Kerrang show with Buckcherry and the awesome 69 Eyes. I’m not sure how that one will end up. We had a drink or six with Jussi69 at the Golden Gods and I feel the 69 Eyes and Dear Superstar put together in one building is an accident waiting to happen. Then we will be playing Sonisphere which is just such a f***in’ cool line up it’s gonna be rocking. We won’t be stopping for anyone this year if we are not on the road we will be holed up in studios working on tracks for our next album and making sure our live show is always better than ever. Watch this space, because Dear Superstar are taking over the UK and Europe in the dirtiest most party way we can think of!