Words by Art Jefferson
Photography by Marc Sethi
Change is inevitable, but it’s how one surfs the waves of transformation which determines the ride of destiny. Siblings Sarah and Hamish McIntosh are one of the few music groups who make change look inspiring. Whilst establishing themselves in music years ago as members of The Good Natured along with friend George Hinton, a bout with record label politics was instrumental in the pair restructuring, re-branding and dictating their own path, frankly creating some of the most infectious pop tunes to at the moment.
Growing up in Berkshire learning to play multiple instruments, Sarah and Hamish McIntosh formed a band together in their teens. Originally recording a number of demos solo, Sarah was then joined by Hamish who contributed bass, with George Hinton eventually adding drums to the band after meeting her during their time at university.
Releasing their debut EP Warriors in 2008, The Good Natured begin popping up in the press around the UK and abroad. BBC Radio 1’s Huw Stephens, who instantly took to the band stemming back to Sarah’s demo days, was playing the songs non-stop. A year later the band released their second EP Your Body Is A Machine, followed by their single ‘Be My Animal’ in 2010. Like any promising band, the major labels started sniffing and The Good Natured signed a deal with Regal/Parlophone in 2011. They would go on to release their Skeletons EP that same year and in 2012, dropped their ‘5-HT’ single via the label. With an album in the works, the LP failed to manifest with the label not only shelving it, but the band unsuccessful in even acquiring the masters to put it out at all.
Taking a break to reform, in 2014 the band returned under the moniker Lovestarrs with only Sarah and Hamish. The group’s sound also shifted from the dark electronica that first got them noticed to a vibrant high wave of pop. Releasing their upbeat single ‘Get Your Sexy On’, the two appeared to be fully in their creative zone with their EP Supernova exemplifying their new style, proving that they were definitely back and better than ever.
Setting up a creative and successful Kickstarter campaign in 2015 to fund their Andromeda and Cassiopeia EPs along with their forthcoming debut album Planet Lovestarr, their latest cut ‘Somebody Like You’ is synth-pop magic, capturing their UK punch, but incorporating a bit of Nordic brightness in the music. Fully in control of their sound and vision, Lovestarrs are ready to take us all on a voyage throughout their universe.
Your latest work is spirited and lively. Can you talk about the current creative mental space that you were in with the new records, and did it differ during the recordings as The Good Natured?
Sarah McIntosh – With Lovestarrs I was more like “fuck it”. I was less afraid to write big pop songs. With The Good Natured I tried to keep it a bit cool and understated. I was more confident with Lovestarrs in my ability and as a person.
‘Get Your Sexy On’ and ‘Somebody Like You’ are really big pop tracks. For the new album, was that the general direction or will there be some of the darker sound from before?
Sarah McIntosh – Thank you! Hamish and I grew up listening to our parents’ record collection, which was mostly vinyl from the 80’s, for example Prince, Lionel Richie, Wham and The Human League. Sonically, Planet Lovestarr touches on all our favourite records from that era, combining it with our love of modern pop music and hooks. We really want people to hear this album and to be able to sing songs back within a few times of hearing them. For us, that is the sign of a good pop album. So to answer your question, there are definitely darker songs on album, but they have hooks also. Lyrically, Planet Lovestarr is diverse. We didn’t want to just write about one topic. The album explores love, heartbreak, friendship, drinking, sex, places and dreams.
I’m always fascinated by siblings who are able to create music together as a band. Whilst music was a staple for you growing up, were you two always working on music together and was there always a vision to indeed form a group?
Sarah McIntosh – Hamish and I are best friends. We are pretty much polar opposites in terms of personality and skills, so we compliment each other really well, like yin and yang. I am more hot headed and emotional, whilst Hamish is as cool as a cucumber. This makes me good at writing the songs, but Hamish is extremely technical and can setup our live show, triggers, samples and playback system. We always played music together when we were younger, but we were both in different bands at school. When we were 17 and 15 years old we came together as The Good Natured.
You launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the new album, successfully reaching your goal. Whilst obviously record labels will continue to play a role in the industry, do you think this will be the future of recording music for many artists?
Sarah McIntosh – Potentially, it’s hard to say. Our Kickstarter campaign was an extremely rewarding process. It was an amazing way to connect with our fans and retain control over our music after our previous experience with EMI. However, there are things that a label can do for you which are much tougher on your own. First and foremost I would say financially it’s much easier if you have a label on board. Although we raised the money, we still came a little short so are putting money in ourselves. Because of their weight, major labels can give you a great push onto things such as radio, brands, etc. But it all comes at a price – not retaining as much ownership. I think it’s a very individual decision and one which should be assessed per artist and their situation. There’s no right or wrong way to make it. What I would say though is how cool social media is for artists, you really can build up your own fan base online with social networks all by yourself with platforms such as Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook.
Aside from recreating the band with an ultra-cool name such as Lovestarrs, how has the process been re-branding yourselves? I ask this because from your imagery to the sound, everything is really eye-catching and engaging.
Sarah McIntosh – Haha ultra-cool – thank you, I’m glad you think so! It was really easy to be honest, we didn’t really think about it too much as it was kind of a natural progression. As I mentioned before, we grew up listening to our parents’ record collection so we are heavily influenced by that. The Good Natured was more The Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees-esque, but as we progressed and my confidence as a writer grew. I wanted to write bigger pop songs, hence Lovestarrs was born. We wanted the imagery to reflect the music so we went more glam like Bowie and Prince – bright, sparkly and colourful.
You worked on the album in Stockholm and Los Angeles. Would you say that recording the album outside of the UK added a different texture to the sound of the record?
Sarah McIntosh – Absolutely, Stockholm is my favourite place to record. I did the majority of the record there with my friends Olle and Kriz who produced and co-wrote the album with me. Their talent and pop sensibility is unreal. Maybe it’s all the Swedish glögg they drink in the winter. We love wrapping up in the studio when it’s dark and snowy outside and just writing for hours.
Your album launch party will coincide with one of the ROAR dates at Birthdays in Dalston. What can fans expect that night in terms of your live show?
Sarah McIntosh – Our album release date has been pushed back until the end of October due to our third single coming out a little later than expected! But our show at Birthdays will most likely be the last show we play going into the album. In terms of our live show, you can expect a slightly different sound to our record. We have live drums which adds a new element (most of the drums on our record are programmed). We also have a live guitarist, so it’s very much a band feel. I prefer that though, it makes it exciting and different to the record. You can expect lots of crowd interaction and dancing!
http://www.lovestarrs.com/
https://www.facebook.com/planetlovestarr
https://twitter.com/planetlovestarr
https://soundcloud.com/planetlovestarr
https://www.instagram.com/planetlovestarr/
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/somebody-like-you-single/id1134940582?app=itunes&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
http://defdisco.com/artist/lovestarrs