Exposed Vocals Interviews “In The Stars”
In The Stars is playing a wide variety of sounds from pounding anthems to brooding lullabies, In The Stars engages the listener’s full emotional spectrum displaying musical traces from Green Day, Muse and The Foo Fighters. Fans of all types have been impressed by In The Stars’ performing prowess and grasp of musical concepts. In The Stars’ founding members guitarist Maurice “Mo” Thomas and lead vocalist Daxton Edwards, both share a drive for musical excellence that has begun to propel this young band into a national spotlight. Their Southern roots have lent an earthy grittiness to their lyrics and sound. After being joined by bassist, Phil Miller, and Marissa Johnson on drums, In The Stars is paving it’s way through the So Cal music scene.
Marissa has been constantly complimented on her hard hitting, raw rock n roll drum style; with Phil being a gifted and credited audio engineer and an extremely creative bass player this is the line up bands dream of. In The Stars is based in Sherman Oaks California and with plans and the drive to rock the world!
Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?
In The Stars: We heard about Exposed Vocals from Twitter. We saw that Exposed Vocals liked a comment by our band and so we chose to follow. It’s great when someone, or a company that you don’t know takes the time to “comment on” or “like” your material. We feel that action is worthy of a follow. So we followed and within a day or so we got a message requesting us to do an interview if we have the time. Quite nice!
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
In The Stars: Although we all met here in Sherman Oaks California, there is only one member of In The Stars that is native to the great state! Marissa Johnson, our amazing drummer was born in Orange County. Our bass player, Philip Miller is a native of Arizona. Maurice Thomas, founding member and guitar player, was born and raised in Cookville Tennessee, and myself, founding member and singer, Daxton Edwards was born and raised in Cartersville Georgia! In our case we all decided to become artists with each other by discovering the great passion for music that we all have. We all love it so much that it just makes since to do it and to commit to it. It makes us happy!
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Maurice Thomas and myself agreed on the name because of all of the sayings regarding truth and our acceptance of it is written in the stars. Truth is absolute and undeniable. We feel called to do music in truth. We believe that our calling brought us together and that it’s a truth written “In The Stars”. We also believe that everything has happened in accordance with our desire to achieve greatness. We also feel that we are not superstars in the way that the media defines it. We strive to stay humble and work amongst those “stars” that have inspired and motivated us. We are in the stars and the stars are in us. It’s a cycle, if you will.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
In The Stars: We feel that the way that universal energy works is we must give to get. Extremely wealthy people who don’t give, share, or contribute begin to feel very empty inside. So no matter how much they gain they tire of it because there is no longer a validation behind receiving more money. We all want more than just money. We have on occasion given CD’s away but you run into problems when the stakes aren’t high. If a person wins a CD or pays for he/she will hold on to it. The longer they hold on to it the more likely someone will hear it and like it. We were attending a show recently in Hollywood and we played at the Viper Room. A band on the bill had a great performance, and they were extremely professional. It was clear that they had put a lot of time and money into their music demos. They were handing them out to random people passing the club. At the end of the night the cd’s were on the ground up and down Sunset Blvd. In most cases the music never made it to peoples cars. That is because they didn’t create a demand for the music first and they had to take a loss. We don’t mind giving away music but there still needs to be a demand for it before we do. I would only give sushi to a person who is hungry and likes sushi.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
In The Stars: We still consider ourselves a startup, honestly. Remember what we said about creating a demand. There are many ways to do this. If you are talented and have something to offer then there is always a demand for your work, be it a little or large demand. People tend to scoff at indie bands in the beginning phase, and to some degree we are forced to play ball. At some point you have to decide when you are worth more than a free gig, or high ticket presales. Dave Grohl or Justin Timberlake don’t have to personally sell their own show tickets. They just promote. Get ready for people to laugh in your face at times, and tell you “no”. But if you truly feel that you deserve more keep pushing for it and asking for it. We have to see ourselves as more; we have to believe it, and only then can we achieve it. Truth!
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
In The Stars: We have what some people call mistakes on every performance. Anyone who tells you that they don’t is either lying or have come to the realization that when we rehearse well then a mistake is more like a happy accident. It’s a mistake if we let it hinder us; it’s a convenience if we laugh it off and grow from it! “Mistakes” are windows and doorways to improvement. That is how we choose to see it!
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
In The Stars: We have not toured yet. Right now we are looking into sponsors that will assist us in this great adventure called touring. They are great companies that we can’t name just yet but we will keep you informed! We are very close!
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
In The Stars: Our songwriting process is very organic. It’s never forced. Someone plays a riff and someone else chimes in. If it sounds right and feels right we go with the notion and fill in the gaps later. Our songs are usually about either personal things from a 3rd party perspective or an esoteric view of worldly activity.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
We don’t have a band website. Our info is usually on:
www.youtube.com/inthestarsband and www.twitter.com/inthestarsband
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
In The Stars: We aren’t really embarrassed by anything that we listen to. Our spectrum is wide. My band laughs at me because you might find “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” by Belinda Carlisle, “Who’s That Girl” by Madonna or Karma Chameleon by Culture Club! I love 80’s pop!
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
In The Stars: If we were given a half a million we would invest in our band and keep working. We would get merch, record an album, and hit the road. With music there is no such thing as a year off. Your always doing it, and if you love it it’s not work. We would travel for inspiration but we would still be having fun doing more music. Music is our time off!
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
In The Stars: We actually don’t have our own studio. That is something that we plan on investing in in the future. It just depends on what’s hot at the time. We’ll do our research and go from there. It does help to have a band member that is an audio engineer. Philip(bass player) is a very talented engineer.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
In The Stars: We find that constantly promoting when there is nothing to promote is a turn off to people. We are back at that demand word again. It’s hard to promote when there is no demand, and it’s difficult to create a demand without promoting. You have to promote the right things. As far as promoting our music it’s best to do it at a live gig, unless, we recorded with a Grammy Awarded producer or we got our song picked up in a film. Since we are in Los Angeles, people only respond to hype. We can post, “We just dropped another tune on soundcloud. Go take a listen!” Nowadays that simply isn’t enough. It really needs to be enveloped and packaged with a bit of hype. After all it is entertainment. So we usually wait until there are impactful things to promote.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
In The Stars: If we could perform anywhere with any artist it would be Madison Square Garden with Muse! We all have a lot of love and respect Muse and there is a lot of respect and validation that comes from being asked to play at Madison Square Garden.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
In The Stars: We just received our first single from Grammy Awarded producer, Robert Cutarella! We are very excited and we can’t wait to get this song out there! To be working with a man that has worked on platinum records with the likes of The Police, Elton John, Michael Jackson, Beck, Celine Dion, Madonna, Pink Floyd, Culture Club, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton… and the list goes on! It’s a very humbling experience. The first single is called “I’ll Wait For You”, and it sounds so much better than we ever imagined it would. Very exciting!
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
In The Stars: If we weren’t making music I think that we would all be doing something that is artistic. Musicians are artists through and through. There is a need to be around it and be a part of it. Probably performance development!
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
In The Stars: Smash by The Offspring! I remember buying and just staring at the cover. I immediately imagined myself playing air guitar in my room and listening to it!
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
In The Stars: It’s important to keep everything else in order so that nothing gets in the way of the music. Handling challenges, whether they be mental, physical, or spiritual is very important. It also has to happen as soon as possible. If you let challenges or problems go unchecked then there is a spiral effect.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
In The Stars: Our fellow stargazers should look forward to at least 3 tunes recorded and co-produced by Robert Cutarella. They should look forward to some song placements in television and or film. They should listen out for touring and In The Stars announcing signing with a good label!
