Artist:Stars
Song:Take Me to the Riot
Album:In Our Bedroom After the War
Despite the generic name, Stars is a pretty good Canadian indie band. Attempts to break them in the US have been unsuccessful. The lead singer and songwriter of Stars is Torquil Campbell. He was born Mar. 17, 1972 in Sheffield, England but he grew up in Toronto. He is the son of Shakesperean actor Douglas Campbell who was the first artistic director of the Stratford Festival. In addition to his music career, Campbell is also a Shakesperean actor. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. He formed Stars in 1999 with keyboard player Christopher Seligman. They released an album and decided to turn Stars into a band. Campbell brought in childhood friend Evan Cranley to play bass and he brought in Amy Millan to share vocals with Campbell. Both were members of Broken Social Scene. After moving to Montreal, Patrick McGee was brought in to play drums. Stars signed with Arts & Crafts which is also Broken Social Scene's label. The 2004 album Set Yourself on Fire was nominated for a Juno. Stars has always had critical acclaim but they have had modest commercial success. The 2007 album In Our Bedroom After the War is their most successful album to date. It was nominated for a Polaris Music Prize. Take Me to the Riot got radio play and charted in Canada. It was released on CD with a bonus DVD documentary. After releasing an album on their own label, Stars released two albums on Dave Matthews' ATO label. And then for the 2017 album There Is No Love in Fluorescent Light they signed with the Canadian label Last Gang. It looks like Stars will continue to tour and record in Canada. Campbell has a second band Memphis who have released a few albums. And like I said, Campbell has acted on stage doing Shakespeare like his dad. He has also done movies and TV but not lately. Here's the video for Take Me To the Riot by Stars.
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