Star Fucking Hipsters | |
---|---|
Origin | New York City |
Genres | |
Years active | 2005–2013, 2021–present |
Labels | Alternative Tentacles, Fat Wreck Chords |
Members | Stza (Scott Sturgeon) Suzi Moon Drew Champion James McDowell II |
Past members | Kill-c Frank Piegaro Chris Pothier Mikey Erg Brandon Chevalier-Kolling Kisston Jamie Toulon GiGi Yula Beeri Ara Babajian Nico de Gaillo Alex Charpentier P.Nut |
Website | starfuckinghipsters |
Star Fucking Hipsters is an American punk rock band from New York City who have released albums on Fat Wreck Chords and Alternative Tentacles records. They have been called a "punk supergroup" and feature members from numerous notable bands including Leftöver Crack, Ensign, and The Ergs! [2]
The band was started in 2005 by Leftöver Crack vocalist/guitarist Stza, and drummer Brandon Chevalier-Kolling. However, they were derailed shortly afterward due to the death of Brandon. [3] Stza decided to continue the band with a line-up consisting of vocalist Kisston (from Help Me Help Me I Can't Breathe), guitarist Jamie Toulon (from Old Skull), and drummer GiGi (from Another Dying Democracy). [4] This line-up played two shows in the summer of 2005 before disbanding.
The following year, Stza wrote and rehearsed seven new songs with Leftöver Crack drummer Ara Babajian and Ensign guitarist Frank Piegaro. Three of these songs were chosen for inclusion on "Deadline", Leftöver Crack's split album with Citizen Fish, while the remaining four became the basis for the first Star Fucking Hipsters record. [5] The band continued with an entirely new group of musicians, consisting of Stza, Babajian, Piegaro, vocalist Nico de Gaillo (from Casa De Chihuahua) and bassist Yula Beeri (from The World Inferno Friendship Society and Nanuchka). Their debut album Until We're Dead was released by Fat Wreck Chords on September 30, 2008. [6] On December 23, 2008, the band released a music video for "Two Cups of Tea". [7] Babajian and Beeri left the band shortly afterwards and were replaced by drummer Brian ”Pnut” Kozuch and bassist Chris Pothier, of the band BIG Attack!.
The band's second album, Never Rest In Peace, was released on October 20, 2009, by Alternative Tentacles. [8] A music video for the song "3000 Miles Away" featuring actor Ethan Suplee was filmed in November 2009 [5] and premiered by Punknews.org in January 2010. [9] [10] During this time, the band was featured in Tao Lin's 2009 novella, Shoplifting from American Apparel, in which they performed a midnight set at "The Kickstand" at The Fest 7 in Gainesville, Florida.
Their band's third album was originally to be titled "Ska Fucking Hipsters", [11] but was later retitled "From the Dumpster to the Grave". [12] For the recording of the album Mikey Erg, formerly of The Ergs!, joined the band, replacing P.Nut as drummer. [13] It was revealed that folk punk/anarcho-punk band Blackbird Raum and Boots Riley of political hip hop group The Coup would be contributing to the new album, amongst others. [14]
On March 27, 2011, the band announced via Facebook that Nico was leaving the band, saying: "We're sad to announce the departure of Nico de Gallo from our line-up after over three years of happy fun tymes! She will be missed by all. Starting on Tuesday, Kelsy from the Oakland super-group Chump-Change will be assuming co-lead vocals with myself, your humble newscaster, Sturgil Crizil." [15] Though she had departed and was quickly replaced, Nico had already recorded all of her vocals for the band's third album. [14]
It was also announced on April 5, 2011, via Facebook that the band had plans to release a split 7-inch with hardcore punk/thrash band Jesus Fucking Christ through Inimical Records. SFH contributed three songs to the split, including a cover of Rudimentary Peni's "Media Person". [16]
From the Dumpster to the Grave was released on October 11, 2011, on Fat Wreck Chords. The subsequent record release party was the band's last show of the year. The long-awaited split 7-inch with Jesus Fucking Christ, known as "The Fucking Split" was released on June 26, 2012. They were also confirmed to play the Rebellion festival in 2012 alongside The Choking Victim Show – a band featuring Stza and members of Irish ska-punk band Chewing on Tinfoil playing Choking Victim songs.
Choking Victim was an American punk band formed in New York City, which lasted from 1992 to 1998. They played a mix of hardcore punk and ska. Following the breakup of the band, which occurred the same day as the recording of their only studio album No Gods, No Managers, members went on to form Leftöver Crack and INDK, among others.
Citizen Fish are an English punk rock band that has been active since 1990 and shares members with Subhumans. Citizen Fish does not emphasize the raw political statements and nihilistic viewpoint of the former, instead focusing on issues of social alienation and human interaction, viewed through a more optimistic lens. Both bands deal with themes such as anti-consumerism and vegetarianism.
Leftöver Crack is an American punk rock band formed in 1998, following the breakup of Choking Victim. The band is currently signed to Tankcrimes for CD releases, and Alternative Tentacles for vinyl releases. Leftöver Crack spans several different music genres including hardcore punk, ska, and crust punk. They write mostly political lyrics of a radical leftist nature, opposing religion, capitalism, and authority. Members of Leftöver Crack reside in the C-Squat on 155 Avenue C in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Natives of New York City, band members have a well-documented history of back-and-forth conflict with the NYPD which precedes the band's formation. The name "Leftöver Crack" is explained by Stza as being "an oxymoron", based on the idea that crack cocaine addicts are known for vigorous use and are unlikely to have any "leftover" crack.
Old Skull was an American punk rock novelty band that formed in Madison, Wisconsin in the late 1980s. The band was started by ten-year-old J.P. (Jean-Paul) Toulon and his nine-year-old brother, Jamie Toulon, with encouragement from their father Vern Toulon, a longtime member of the Madison punk scene who had spent time in New York City, where he was a guitarist for the industrial band Missing Foundation.
Scott Sturgeon, also known as Stza Crack or simply Stza, is an American musician and artist who has fronted several ska-punk bands in the New York City area, the best-known being Choking Victim and Leftöver Crack. The stage name Stza is a tribute to the Wu-Tang Clan, members of which would take their stage names from the Supreme Alphabet of the Five-Percent Nation, such as GZA and RZA - Stza's name would therefore be Self Truth ZigZagZig Allah.
Ara Babajian is an American drummer who has been a member of such bands as Leftöver Crack and The Slackers.
Chixdiggit is a Canadian pop punk band formed in Calgary, Alberta. The band performed internationally, and released a number of studio albums, mainly with light-hearted pop-punk songs, usually about girls and relationships.
Franz Nicolay is an American musician and writer. He is best known for playing the accordion and piano in The World/Inferno Friendship Society and keyboards in The Hold Steady from 2005 to 2010 and again from 2016 onwards. He is also notable for founding Anti-Social Music, a composer/performer collective based in New York City, and for performing in the Balkan jazz quartet Guignol.
Fuck World Trade is the second album by American punk band Leftöver Crack, released in 2004 on the Alternative Tentacles label.
Alec Baillie was an American bassist. He played in the bands Choking Victim, Agent 99, and Leftöver Crack.
Mediocre Generica is the debut studio album by the American punk band Leftöver Crack. It was released on September 11, 2001 and includes much sociopolitical commentary, including anti-police sentiment, anti-racism and anti-homophobia. The album was originally intended to be titled Shoot the Kids at School, which Hellcat Records objected to. As Stza said in an interview, "They wanted mediocre generic artwork and they wanted a mediocre generic title, so I called it Mediocre Generica and I guarantee you the irony was lost on Epitaph". This has been cited as one of the main reasons that Leftöver Crack made the move to the much smaller label Alternative Tentacles. The album was coincidentally released on the same day as the September 11 terrorist attacks, and during the introduction on the band's next release, Fuck World Trade, this album is referred to as "the tower-toppling Mediocre Generica".
Deadline is a split album released in 2007 on Alternative Tentacles Records and Fat Wreck Chords. The album features 15 songs from the 2 bands, Leftöver Crack and Citizen Fish. Each band covers two songs. Citizen Fish covers "Money" by Choking Victim, and "Clear Channel " by Leftöver Crack. Leftöver Crack covers "Supermarket Song" by Citizen Fish, and "Reasons for Existence" by The Subhumans.
The Copyrights are a pop punk band from Carbondale, Illinois, made up of Adam Fletcher, Brett Hunter, Kevin Rotter, and Luke McNeill (drums). They are currently signed to Fat Wreck Chords. They are known for what Alternative Press calls "both the sloppy, slacker pop-punk of, say, early Green Day with the slightly more polished sheen of Teenage Bottlerocket or recent Bouncing Souls".
Until We're Dead is the debut studio album by ska-punk/anarcho-punk band Star Fucking Hipsters. It was released in 2008 on Fat Wreck Chords.
Never Rest In Peace is the second studio album by ska-punk/anarcho-punk band Star Fucking Hipsters. It officially released on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 on Alternative Tentacles, although those who purchased the album on the Alternative Tentacles website received the album before the official release date.
The Dopamines are an American punk rock band originating from Cincinnati, Ohio, formed in late 2006 by Matt Hemingway (drums), Jon Lewis and Jon Weiner. In 2008, Hemingway left the band and was replaced by Michael Dickson. Their loud style of punk has been compared to Midwestern punk bands like Dillinger Four.
Mikey Erg is a punk rock drummer, guitarist, and vocalist, from New Jersey. He has played in numerous bands, most famously The Ergs!, but also Star Fucking Hipsters, The Dopamines, The Unlovables, Dirtbike Annie, Parasites, and The LLC. In 2016, he released his first solo album, Tentative Decisions.
From the Dumpster to the Grave is the third and final studio album by ska-punk/anarcho-punk band Star Fucking Hipsters. It was released in 2011 on Fat Wreck Chords.
Ezra Kire is an American musician with the punk band Morning Glory, and is an ex-member of punk bands Leftöver Crack, Choking Victim and InDK. He currently resides in New York City.
Jamie McMann is an American record producer, mixer, and audio engineer, currently based in Rochester, New York, United States.