Stew Milton and Adam Smethurst – Dear Superstar – Interview Exclusive
Written by Tazz Stander
Thursday, 17 November 2011 05:00
I first met Dear Superstar on the 25thSeptember 2008, 3 years and 2 weeks ago. I remember this date so well for 2 reasons: The first being that I made friends for life that were passionate, insane, massively entertaining and ridiculously good musicians. The second being losing a bet with guitarist Stew that I will never live down – it’s safe to say that it was probably my most sickeningly un-rock ‘n’ roll moment in the history of ever…
I’ve been following their astounding career since then with pride at every big musical step that they’ve taken, playing stages with some of my favourite bands. I’ve also interviewed the band on numerous occasions with different combinations of their members. I had never interviewed either of their guitarists so today was a bit like Christmas for me; both guitarists and then a SOiL interview straight afterwards. It was a day of, “how the hell did I actually get here” to say the least.
Adams straightening his hair and Stew is totally chilled out, kicking back sipping tamely on a beer and for the first time today, I get the sense that hanging out with friends talking is how this interview would shape up. As a journalist, this is pretty priceless as we’re normally the untrusted object in the dressing room; the one that works the hardest to get ‘something’ that no one else is going to get but also the one that wins over trust in 30 minutes tops. Funnily enough, the conversation that was had after the interview was done (when the recorder should have been off but wasn’t) should have been appearing below instead of this one; it was top of the pile hilarity at its best but unfortunately, that’s the one that goes into the casket with me but the important bits in this one are just for you!
Since forming in 2006, you’ve been called ‘rock ‘n’ roll sex tornados and riot machines’ and just about every dirty word you can think of in between. Is Dear Superstar’s motto still the same today as it was back then?
Adam: What was our motto?
Stew: I know we’ve done a lot of drinking since then. These were all motto’s that were created for us off the back of a reputation that wasn’t really from doing anything. It was just us being fucking idiots. I don’t think anything has changed, we just know when to do it now.
Sticking to the early days, which were pretty crazy, it is well known that Dear Superstar are sherry swilling, fisherman friends infused vodka devils. How have things changed on the party front as the band has grown (up)?
Adam: We still live a big vodka selection.
Or the cheapest vodka in town.
Adam: Yeah, exactly.
Stew: We’re just more selective, I think. Like I said before, we’ve just figured out when to do it.
You guys used to go hard from beginning to end.
Stew: We used to lose our voices at the beginning and not get it back until the end.
Adam: That depends what you mean. It’s a hard rock ‘n’ roll show every time. I think now, a lot of our shows are bigger so we make sure that we put on a good show every night.
Stew: The truth of the matter is that if you party hard, you play shit.
With the imminent release of your third album, ‘Damned Religion’, what fundamental growth has Dear Superstar achieved since releasing ‘Confessions Of A Twisted Mind’?
Stew: We’ve got good (laughs)
Adam: Yeah, basically, scrub the last two; they were just there for learning experience. This one is a much more mature album. We’ve learnt and matured massively on the road and I think we’ve been influenced by a lot of the bands we’ve played and performed with. We’ve played some great shows and some great festivals and I think you’ve got to be pretty ignorant for that not to rub off on you. You can see where you’re going wrong and you can see what you’re getting right.
Would you say that ‘Confessions’ and ‘Heartless’ were just setting the foundations to who you are musically then?
Adam: Looking at ‘Confessions’, we recorded and produced it on a shoestring whilst we were all working. There was a whole different vibe about the band; it was just about partying and getting drunk and I think that is reflected in the quality of that album.
Stew: Don’t run before you can walk.
Adam: I think we’ve always tried to punch above our weight. I think we’ve always expected great things but now we’re delivering something that is amazing.
[Struggling to remove my jacket, Stew leans over and pulls it off saying, “take note, we are undressing you and you were asking if anything had changed”]
I watched your first video release, ‘Our City Sleeps’ and it’s a lot heavier than what I expected.
Adam: That is the least heavy song on the album.
Stew: I don’t think it’s overly heavier, we’ve just found out how to write a tune.
Adam: We’re working so much better as a unit and that has involved reigning ourselves in to make better songs. We’re all still playing what we really enjoy playing and I think we have actually found ‘our’ music now.
What are the positive and negative aspects surrounding Amadeus’ [Christopher Hodgson] departure at such a crucial point in Dear Superstar’s career?
Stew: I know this is going to sound really shit but at first, I will be the first one to say that it was pretty shit. It was also very confusing but then Ben Grimsley came in and it just worked.
Adam: There are people that are an integral part of the band, pushing it forward, and I think Amadeus was quite detached from that towards the end. Having somebody new in really pushed things forward so that we could carry on writing the album.
Has Ben had much to do with the writing process?
Adam: Not particularly no.
Stew: I think he’s done quite a lot in a sense. We had the core of the songs and he came in and put a lot of flare on it.
So he’s definitely put his mark on it?
Adam: Well, it’s all been re-recorded now. It was quite sad for Amadeus to leave when he did leave but then the album went off in a completely different direction. It sucked seeing him go because he was a great guy and someone we grew up with.
Dear Superstar is renowned as a hard touring band thanks largely to Papa Roach, Buckcherry and Hanoi Rocks. You’ve also been one of only a handful of UK based bands to play both Sonisphere and Download in the same year. At what point do you think you will start being perceived as a headlining band instead of a support act?
Adam: I think the plan was that we had to go away and write an album that we would be really proud of. The whole point in the last year and a half of being on the road was to learn and to get to a point where we were comfortable enough to know what we were doing. We know we put on a great stage show and we just really needed the tunes to back it up. I think that’s what we’ve got now so I think in the not too distant future we will be out on a headline tour. Right now, we’re just concentrating on building a fan base and the best way to do that is go on the road with the bands you love to play with.
You just answered my last question of what the next year hold for Dear Superstar?
Stew: I think we’re going to be on the road more than we’ve ever been.
Wow, that’s saying something after the last year and a half! Any surprises?
Stew: Lots but we’re not saying anything.
We’ll leave it there then, thank you very much.
I’ve since found out who Dear Superstar will be touring with (I think we all have), and it’s safe to say that you lot should be fucking excited and no, Papa Roach and Buckcherry aren’t sharing the same stage as them!!
In the meantime check out the video for ‘Our City Sleeps’ below and say “Hi!” to the guys at http://www.dearsuperstar.co.uk/.