Northstar (band)

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Northstar
OriginHuntsville, Alabama, U.S.
Genres
Years active1997–2005
LabelsTriple Crown
Past membersNick Torres
Tyler Odom
Jake Fisher
Gabe Renfroe
Shawn Regan

Northstar is an American band formed in 1997 in Huntsville, Alabama.[1]

History[edit]

Early years and debut album (1997–2003)[edit]

Since the band's inception, they have had around five guitarists and three different bassists, have been a three-piece, four-piece, and a five-piece. Due to a lack of a dedicated music scene in the Huntsville area, the band decided to start touring the country in 2000. They booked their first tour, bought a van, and set out on the road.

After two years of booking, promoting, and producing everything themselves, the band signed a deal with Triple Crown Records of New York City in June 2002.[2] By this point, the only original member in the band was drummer Gabe Renfroe. Their line-up solidified with Nick Torres on lead vocals and guitar, Tyler Odom on guitar and Shawn Reagan on bass.[1] The band released their debut album Is This Thing Loaded? on October 22, 2002.[3] Writing in 2022, Andrew Sacher of BrooklynVegan said it influenced the later work of Taking Back Sunday, and "remains one of the best and most underrated albums of the entire early 2000s emo boom".[4] The album was promoted with a few headlining shows in October,[5] before joining the All-American Rejects and Motion City Soundtrack on their tour in November.[6] After this, the band went on tour with Taking Back Sunday and the Starting Line in November and December.[7] In March and April 2003, the band toured across the US with Armor for Sleep, This Day Forward, and Breaking Pangaea,[8] leading up to an appearance at the Skate & Surf Fest.[9] They toured with Senses Fail in May, and contributed the track "To My Better Angel" to the soundtrack of Beer: The Movie.[10] Following this, the band toured the US in June with River City High, and supported Rx Bandits on their tour in July.[11][12] In September and October, the band supported Rufio and Motion City Soundtrack on a co-headlining cross country tour.[13] They toured for over a year until Jake Fisher replaced Reagan.

Pollyanna, break-up and subsequent events (2004–2008)[edit]

The group released their second album Pollyanna in April 2004.[1] That same month, the band performed at the Skate and Surf Festival.[14] Following this, they went on tour with Moneen in April and May,[15] before going back on tour again in June with Piebald and the Jealous Sound.[16] The band then appeared on select dates of the 2004 Warped Tour.[17] The band also made a brief visit to the UK with Modest Mouse. In October and November, the band went on tour with Hot Rod Circuit, Say Anything and Straylight Run.[18] Following this, they went on hiatus in December[19] and later re-grouped in February 2005 for a co-headlining tour with Lucero.[1] They were supported by the Honorary Title, Circa Survive and Communiqué.[20] The band then broke up on April 11, citing "personal reasons";[21] they performed at The Bamboozle festival the following month.[22] A video album The Uncomfortable Camera appeared in June,[1] and included the band's music videos on the release's second disc.[23] Torres and Odom created Cassino;[1] the demos for it were recorded with Matt Squire and used drummer Will Noon of Straylight Run.[24]

A collection of demos and alternate recordings, entitled Broken Parachute, has been announced by Nashville-based Speak Music Media in November 2005, initially as a five-track EP.[25] It was then expanded to a nine track full-length and released on January 8, 2008.[26] Cassino later released their debut a few months later.[27] Dikembe released a cover of the band's track "Two Zero Two" in July 2017.[28]

Discography[edit]

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Video albums

Demos

  • Hardcore Demo (1997)
  • Early Demo 1 (1998)
  • Blindcrush Demo (1999)
  • There's More Where This Came From Demo (2000)
  • Is This Thing Loaded Demo (2001)

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Apar, Corey. "Northstar | Biography & History". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  2. ^ White, Adam (June 23, 2002). "Triple Crown Records signs Northstar". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on May 14, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  3. ^ White, Adam (October 8, 2002). "Northstar album and tour plans". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  4. ^ Sacher, Andrew (August 10, 2022). "35 Best Emo & Post-Hardcore Albums of 2002". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on August 10, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  5. ^ White, Adam (October 8, 2002). "Northstar album and tour plans". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  6. ^ Heisel, Scott (November 13, 2002). "Northstar e-card and tour info". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  7. ^ Heisel, Scott (November 12, 2002). "Northstar e-card and tour info". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  8. ^ Heisel, Scott (March 10, 2003). "Northstar video / tour news". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on August 4, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  9. ^ Heisel, Scott (April 3, 2003). "Finalized Skate and Surf Fest lineup announced". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on May 17, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  10. ^ Heisel, Scott (April 18, 2003). "Northstar back on the road". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  11. ^ Heisel, Scott (May 6, 2003). "Rx Bandits tour dates cosmetically altered". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  12. ^ Heisel, Scott (May 17, 2003). "Northstar on tour all summer". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  13. ^ Heisel, Scott (August 23, 2003). "Rufio / Motion City Soundtrack". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  14. ^ Heisel, Scott (February 13, 2004). "Skate and Surf lineup announced". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on December 23, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  15. ^ Paul, Aubin (March 4, 2004). "Moneen April - June US Tour". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on September 2, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  16. ^ Heisel, Scott (May 26, 2004). "Northstar back on the road with Piebald / The Jealous Sound". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  17. ^ Heisel, Scott (January 14, 2004). "Alkaline Trio, Smartpunk.com stage lineup confirmed for Warped '04". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  18. ^ Paul, Aubin (August 26, 2004). "Straylight Run announces Debut, Tour". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on August 18, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  19. ^ Shultz, Brian (December 26, 2004). "Northstar hiatus of sorts / MovieLife acoustic reunion show". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  20. ^ Heisel, Scott (February 5, 2005). "Northstar and Lucero co-headlining U.S. swing". Punknews.org. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  21. ^ Shultz, Brian (April 11, 2005). "Break-ups: Northstar (1997-2005)". Punknews.org. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  22. ^ Shultz, Brian (February 14, 2005). "Bamboozle lineup". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on July 5, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  23. ^ Shultz, Brian (July 1, 2005). "Northstar - The Uncomfortable Camera DVD". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on September 13, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  24. ^ Shultz, Brian (August 27, 2005). "Cassino (ex-Northstar) posts new demos". Punknews.org. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  25. ^ Paul, Aubin (November 28, 2005). "Speak Music Media to release Jackie Carol (ex-Casket Lottery), Northstar". Punknews.org. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  26. ^ Roth, Kaj (February 21, 2008). "Northstar". Melodic. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  27. ^ Reinecker, Meg (March 11, 2007). "Cassino (ex-Northstar) post two new songs". Punknews.org. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  28. ^ Barrett, Samanth (July 10, 2017). "Dikembe: "Two Zero Two" (Northstar cover)". Punknews.org. Retrieved August 13, 2020.

External links[edit]

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