Planetary Group took some time to get to know Brion Starr, whose upcoming record A Night to Remember channels the sounds of T-Rex, David Bowie & more.
Planetary Group: Tell us about your latest release. How did you come to create it?
Brion: Hello, all Brion Starr here coming to you from our studio in lovely, lovely New York City. Our latest album A Night to Remember is just that: it’s a meditation on night. It’s a journey to the end of the night.
This album was recorded in a studio in France called the Château d’Hérouville. It’s a studio about 45 minutes north of Paris which has been closed since the mid eighties, but in its time hosted some incredible artists: David Bowie, Elton John, Iggy Pop, T-Rex… I believe Fleetwood Mac was maybe the last band to record a full album there. Since it’s reopened, we are the first band to record a full album there.
I’m very excited about it. It’s produced by one of my favorite producers of all time, Tony Visconti, who in that day produced some of those albums by David Bowie & T Rex. Tony produced, mixed and played on this album. Our collaboration has become a great one, a deep one, and I’m very excited about it.
PG: Share a bit about your musical journey, from when you first started making music until now.
Brion: I’ve been playing music since I was quite young. I’ve been hired to play in major label bands on the road and in the studio as a session musician. But I’ve always had a bit of an aversion toward the music industry. So I’ve never really had my own project going. So this is really the beginning for me, and I’m very excited for it.
PG: Let’s talk about the music that you love. Pick one album for each category below & tell us a bit about it!
- An album you grew up listening to:
Brion: My uncle was an extreme Prog nerd; he owned a record store. So I’ve always been into the idea of exploring music ever since I was really, really young. One record that really hits close to home, for me, is by a band called Broadcast – It’s called Haha Sound. [It’s] a beautiful mix of electronics and psychedelic sounds.
- The album you currently have on repeat:
Brion: A record that is influential to me as an artist, especially on this album, I would say David Bowie’s Low – hugely inspirational, the same studio that this album was recorded in, the same producer and some of the same techniques, which led me to working with Tony.
- The album you currently have on repeat:
Brion: I would say Sparks. I just cannot stop listening to Sparks nonstop! I saw their documentary recently and I absolutely love them. I just love Sparks.
I can’t name a single album… Kimono My House is probably my favorite, but I’ve been listening a lot to the Franz Ferdinand and Sparks collaboration record recently. Just such an incredible band, such an incredible band.
PG: What do you want people to take away from your music?
Brion: Okay. I want people to, especially right now, to take away a sense of wellbeing and inner exploration. That being said, my music is completely open to interpretation. Take that as you will.
PG: What’s next up for you?
Brion: Well, we have this album coming out November 19th, and that’s all I can think about right now. And I’m so excited for it, but the future does hold quite a bit. I’m going to London in December to record an album with an artist who I’ve been writing for which I’m very excited about – I won’t say much about that. And as soon as that is done, we’re coming back here and starting rehearsals for the recording of our next album, which will also again be produced by Tony Visconti. We’ll record that album probably around the end of February/ beginning of March. So I hope you’re all there to listen to it!
Thank you for having me! Brion Starr signing off.
