A Very Special OTD X-Mas: Star Matters

Published Dec 21 2005, 11:46 PM by webteam

Our friend Kelly Davidson is a former Phoenix staffer and rock photographer extraordinaire: her Rockers-with-Kids photo-essay got some deservedly awesome reviews earlier this year [not just saying that 'cause OTD and daughters were in it]. Last week she stepped out from behind the lens, gathered a bunch of local rock celebrities -- including a Dresden Doll, a Confidence Man, a Bourbon Princess, and a lesbian rapper -- and recorded a cover of one of our favorite holiday tunes: Low's "Just Like Christmas." Skip to the bottom of the post for the a/v links.

The play by play from Kelly:

"I got to jamspot around 3:30 to sing into a mic for the first time in my life. i grabbed a guitar, pluggedin and played and sang ... freaked out a little that i sounded, well, like crap. But then reminded myself that this was supposed to be fun, not perfect. i'm not a singer! Then brian (dresden dolls) showed up and he set up the kit to hisliking and we jammed. SO FUN! i've never played with a drummer. when i stopped singing and we were just playing the song i totally felt likea rock star. then linda viens (bad saints/angeline) showed up and she took over acoustic guitar. we hung out. they officially met each other. then erica (ej labb) showed up with her girlfriend whitney and we did a run through (minus bass and electric guitar). her rapping was AMAZING! linda was dying. we make some new arrangements for the song. we did another take then russell (confidence men/skypaint/amelia white) and monique (bourbon princess) came in. (followed by myfriends marissa and julie brown who were there to document the eveningwith video and stills). everyone plugged in. gabe (the engineer) was done setting up and we just played it. we did a few things to change where i was standing, and eventually had me facing the band and the stage so my mic wouldn't pick up the drums as much since we were recording it live. a few times and we got it! it sounds amazing (minus my singing). russell gets a guitar solo after erica's rap, then monique gets a bass solo, then brian gets a drum solo, then
it's back to the chorus. we go back in and do backup vocals. then everyone leaves but brian and linda and me and julie brown...and i redo my vocals...not trying to sing over a band and it's SO MUCH BETTER (still, not a singer, but definitely not as bad as the first time around). we go in ... tweak and listen and tweak..and it's done at 2am.*smile*"

Technology being what it is, they posted the song to MySpace a few hours later. In one weekend they got over 500 friend requests. They also shot a lo-fi in-the-studio video, a rough-draft of which appears below. If Kelly ever decides to make Star Matters a going concern, look the fuck out.

While we're on topic, Kelly's also got a new photo show called "(Behind the) Scenes" up at the Cambridge Common (the restaurant upstairs from the Lizard Lounge): "This is a collection of images from various band shoots i've donearound boston that don't have anything to do with the band. There's an image of the JP pond before the Mittens stepped into the frame, a shot of a billboard on Storrow Drive that i was passing on my way to the FleetCenter to photograph Bette Middler, a shot of a window sill that i was sitting near waiting for Apollo Sunshine to finish their sound check so our shoot could begin..."

LISTEN: Star*Matters, "Just Like Christmas" (mp3)
WATCH: Star*Matters, "Just Like Christmas" (quicktime video, under 6 mb)

Devo goes Disney

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A Very Special OTD X-Mas: Star Matters

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