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Interview with John Lyman of Starmy
By: Derik Hendrickson
 NowOnTour had a chance to catch up with John Lyman of Salt Lake City band Starmy. The word around town is that big things are in store for this band, and we had to find out what the real story was.
Let's start by discussing the name of the band. Where did Starmy come from, and what does Starmy mean?
I walked into Ya But's with an ARMY shirt, Mike (infatuated with stars) said, we should start a band called STARMY. We had wanted to start a band for a while, so all we needed was other people to join. So there was a name before the band. Which is odd …It kind of means army of stars, which is a song on our Dead Ready disc.
Why don't you introduce yourselves. Tell us what you play and
do.
Mike Sartain (guitar, bass, lead vox)
Michael Sheranian (harmonies, percussion)
John Lyman (guitar, bass)
Sean McCarthy (keyboards)
Will played drums until 3/11/03. He has left to pursue other ventures.
When did you guys form?
We had to wait until June of 2001 to start the band. In the summer of 2000, Mike automatically suggested his brother Will to play drums, but Will lived in Colorado, so we had to wait until he came back. The 3 of us did practice a few times during his Christmas break (Will was a 16 yr old senior in high school). We then had to wait until June of 2001 to start the band. Sherainian joined the band with us from that point. He and Mike had been singing together for a while, they were neighbors. Sean joined the band in January of 2002, while recording Dead Ready. I had been in a band with him before, we went to high school together.
How would you describe your music / style of music?
Tough, how would you describe it? I do think we pay homage to our influences, hopefully we don't rip them off too much. Honestly Starmy is all about the harmonies, simplicity, and the groove… the songs tend to have a sexy twist to them. Sexy rock, there ya go.
Starmy tends to play one specific bar here in Salt Lake City more than the others. There are reasons for that, aren't there?
Because we know the guy that books the place. We have the ultimate IN. We've played all over town. The Lounge just seems to be our home. It helps that Mike is the guy behind the scenes. I love the other bands that we play with too. It really feels like a community there.
Is there a cohesive thought process or a defining idea that all the members of Starmy share? If so, what is it?
Mike 70%, I'm 30% …as far as who initially writes the riffs that become the songs. We ALL write the songs, develop blah blah. Since Sean joined, the vibe definitely changed. We are just trying to be an upbeat, happy, leave the song in your head when you go home kind of band.
You guys have been getting some interest from a number of labels. Fill us in on what's up with you guys.
We are signing with Ronda Call(as soon as the lawyers are ready) as our Personal Manager. She has begun to shop us to Epic and so forth. We are just trying to get a new drummer, practice, practice, practice, because we will need to showcase in the near future. We are working on our image ha ha ha) and just trying to tie up all loose ends.
You've been recording some new songs. Tell us about them.
17 songs post Dead Ready. Sitting in the bin. Channel 105.7 is probably 1 of 5 places has a copy of some of those songs. We are going to finish them, master them with Jeremy Smith, and sell them I guess… barring some major change. But the rock, they're different, each one stands on its own. It's pretty cool.
So what's next for Starmy? Any touring plans?
NEW DRUMMER+PRACTICE=BUSY BUSY
If we're touring anywhere soon, it'll be to LA., but I'm not holding
my breath.
Anything else you want to add?
I just want to thank all of those who come to see us, DANCE(in SLC?), sing along …etc. I also want to give props to all the bands that bring their friends to shows, who happen to see us too. Alchemy, Redd Tape, The Downers, The New Transit Direction, Wolfs, Red Bennies, Tolchock Trio, JW Blackout, love/misery, shit I'm forgetting some, Optimus Prime, ummm shit …Hudson River School, Acroma, Thunderfist, Erosion …,Duh Form of Rocket, Books About UFOs, The Cronies. I'm sure I forgot your band, sorry.
And support Redd Tape(we'll miss you Will), and stay tuned to
Starmy's MP3 page for updates, and FREE FREE FREE Starmy music …listen to Channel Homegrown in Salt Lake. 105.7 fm 9-11pm Sundays!
Request Starmy, cause you'll get scene points.
Cool. Thanks.
Thanks.
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