Starbenders

Starbenders
Starbenders in 2018
Background information
Genres	Rock 'n roll, indie pop, punk, glam rock
Years active	2014 - present
Labels	Institution Records
Associated acts	Lady Gaga, Alice In Chains, Comes With The Fall, Program The Dead, Madfly, Rosegarden Funeral Party
Website	www.starbenders.com
Members	Kimi Shelter Aaron Lecesne Emily Moon Kriss Tokaji

Starbenders is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. The group was formed in 2014 when lead singer and guitarist Kimi Shelter contacted her former bandmate Aaron Lecesne about doing a new project.^[1][2] After adding guitarist Kriss Tokaji and drummer Emily Moon,^[3] Starbenders was subsequently signed to former Lady Gaga music director/guitarist Nico Constantine’s label, Institution Records.^[4] With Constantine serving as their producer, the band has released two EP’s, one full-length, one 7-inch, and six singles on Institution Records.^[5]

Background

Starbenders released their self-titled debut, mixed by Jeff Bakos,^[6] in 2014 to positive reception^[7] with the lead-off single Touch^[8] and quickly followed with the singles Brake,^[9] Paper Beats Rock^[10], and Powder^[11] in 2015 while touring the United States extensively.^[12] The band spent the remainder of 2015 recording 2016's full-length Heavy Petting, which was released by Institution Records. The record was engineered by Matt Goldman at Glow-In-The-Dark Studios and Jeff Bakos at Studio B,^[13] and mixed by Mark Needham (Fleetwood Mac, The Killers, Stevie Nicks)^[14] and Will Brierre (Sick Puppies, Imagine Dragons)^[15].

The band led with the single Blood and released a music video for the track,^[16] followed by videos for Paper Beats Rock, Powder,^[17] and Time Stops^[18], which won "Best Music Video" at the 2016 Oregon Film Awards.^[19]

Starbenders continued to be active through 2017, touring and releasing the singles Far From Heaven^[20] and So High,^[21] (again mixed by Needham).^[22] In late 2017 the band began work on their new EP JULIAN and released the title track Julian^[23] as a single in advance of the EP's official release in January 2018.^[24]

Starbenders toured extensively in 2018 in support of JULIAN, notably touring alongside Charlotte Kemp Muhl's UNI,^[25] Rosegarden Funeral Party on the Children Of The Night Tour,^[26] and Alice in Chains in support of the grunge icons' new record Rainier Fog.^[27]

In 2018 Starbenders signed a distribution deal with Japanese label B.I.J Records for Japanese releases.^[28]

Charitable Causes

Starbenders regularly advocates various charitable causes through music and performances. Charities and non-profits worked with include Children Of The Night, Girls Rock Camp, Open Door Inc, Lost N Found Youth,^[29] and My Sister's House. ^[30]

Albums

Heavy Petting (2016)

EPs

Starbenders (2014)

Julian (2018)

7-inch

Powder (2015)

Singles   

Brake (2016)

Blood (2016)

So High (2017)

Far From Heaven (2017)

Down and Out (2017)

1969 (2017)

Julian (2017)

21st Century Orphan (2018)

References