Issue 33: Gold Star
Welcome to The Band Bible! I’m truly glad to have you here. If you’re a new reader, purpose of this newsletter is to address, break down, and shine a light on the business of being in a band. Each issue, we do this by interviewing (and celebrating!) someone who is making waves through their incredible work with or for artists, or is an artist themselves. Learning the business of being in a band is something that is often inaccessible or shrouded in mystery, and it shouldn’t be, so I hope The Band Bible is able to play even a small role in helping to change that.
I vividly remember when the music of Gold Star, moniker of artist Marlon Rabenreither, came into my life. It was just over six years ago, and I was still an editorial intern at Consequence (then still known as Consequence of Sound). At that time, the interns were tasked with spearheading the “Top Songs of the Month” series. A few songs would be pre-selected and placed into a spreadsheet, and we’d then log in and put our names down next to the ones we wanted to write a corresponding blurb about. When the time came to do the August 2018 rendition of the series, it was on this spreadsheet that I saw a song called “Dani’s in Love.” At that time, I hadn’t heard the song — let alone anything by Gold Star — but I put my name down for it nonetheless. I remember feeling so drawn to it based on the title alone — it was so lovely, and that made me feel like the song itself would be really special. It was. It is.
Where so many love songs lean perhaps too heavily into mystery and metaphor, “Dani’s in Love” has a natural sense of heart that stems from its roots in transparency and truth. The track, which is about how Rabenreither’s partner (the titular Dani) helped him through a difficult time, is gorgeous. It’s warm, bright, and has infectious sense of joy to it. At the same time, it doesn’t shy away from touching upon the difficulty that Dani helped him get through. This always struck me as a more honest portrait of what love really looks like. Love has many forms, but it perhaps reveals its purest when one helps another through a hardship. The degree of care that requires is far more romantic than any bow-wrapped tale that only chronicles the idyllic.
Aside from having adored the track since the day I put my name down on that spreadsheet, I’m so glad that “Dani’s in Love” was my portal into Gold Star’s discography because it’s a fantastic microcosm of what makes Rabenreither’s songwriting unique: his ability to balance the beautiful with the bleak, rawness with rapture. These elements are once again put on shining display via the latest Gold Star record, How to Shoot the Moon.
Listening to How to Shoot the Moon feels similar to drinking in the night sky on a particularly clear, quiet evening. It feels still and intimate, yet absolutely boundless. There’s a vastness yet a sense of singularity that exist in tandem, one that reminds you that life can have a limitlessness to it despite being limited by the inevitable. How to Shoot the Moon delves into loss, love, growth, friendship, the passage of time, and more. Warmth is woven through each and every song, connecting each of the album’s ten tracks and tying them together with an invisible thread. Gold Star’s ability to imbue that feeling of warmth so universally throughout the album, even in the tracks that contain heavier subject matter, is something that’s difficult to pull off. Life’s murkiness is treated with tenderness, and in doing so, a sense of comfort is able to find the listener. The manner in which this is executed with such a feeling of ease is a nod to the strength of Rabenreither’s pen.
The album’s title perfectly encompasses its themes. The hope for the good that can result from “shooting for the moon” goes hand-in-hand with the potential for things to go awry, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying. There’s still wonder and fulfilment to be pursued and experienced even though, as the track “Fade Away” highlights, it’s ultimately all impermanent. Even so, there’s beauty in that impermanence, and in the imperfection of that impermanence too. At least to me, this is what How to Shoot the Moon as a whole serves to highlight, and how lucky we are to have a new album that makes digesting the undigestible a little easier. For what Gold Star has given us is an achingly beautiful portrait of aliveness, with all the pain, glory, and gray areas that it comes with. Once again, Rabenreither has brilliantly balanced the beautiful with the bleak, and rawness with rapture.
Here, Rabenreither discusses risk taking as a musician, lyrical vulnerability, the “commandment” he’s leaving behind in The Band Bible, and more. Enjoy the interview.
Which element(s) of How to Shoot the Moon are you most proud of?
Personally there’s some lyrical couplets that I am fond of, “We did what we were bound to do/In this way we were born to lose”and “Double down on sunshine/On 6’s & 3’s” come to mind but mostly I am proud of the players involved. Making this record with the band was such a great experience and it felt so creative and focused in the studio. Connor Gallaher’s cosmic, weeping pedal steel, Jordan Odom’s rhythm and vocals, Mikey Whiteside’s work on the keys, and Jay Rudolph’s creative drumming are probably the elements I am most proud of assembling in one room and letting the band bring the songwriting into focus.
Can you tell us about a time you "shot for the moon" and what you learned from the experience?
Honestly just being a musician is like doubling down on bad decision making, it’s hysterical, though obviously rewarding in other ways, certainly not the best path for any sort of stability, financially or otherwise. I feel like every tour, every album, every song seems to be a risk on some level. Every time it seems like it’s going to be the last one, like the wheels could come off at any moment, but when you make it to the other side it is so rewarding, and it’s always worth it. I am still here, doing what I love, and who knows, maybe this is the one that pays off.
Between your music videos and album artwork, you've become known for having a strong visual language surrounding your work. How did you go about building that for How to Shoot the Moon?
I appreciate you saying that, but a majority of visual conversations tend to happen after all the music is set into place. I went to art school and worked in that industry for a long time so I have an appreciation for visual language but honestly it’s always kind of secondary for me… I try to let the music guide me and hopefully the visuals are able to focus the message of the songs.
People have long connected to Gold Star via the openness of your lyrics. Has maintaining that openness always been easy for you?
That’s really cool to hear you think that. For me that sort of openness is my kind of mission statement as a songwriter. I think that it does become challenging in a way, there’s certain subjects that are really personal or challenging to write about, but those tend to be the most rewarding songs.
The only ones I don’t resonate with as much are the ones that don’t have that kind of personal openness in them.
Lastly, which "commandment" would you like to leave behind in The Band Bible?
-Try to be a good person, it’s somewhat rare that someone who doesn’t have awareness, or empathy, is able to create beautiful art.
-Be a good leader, you are only ever as good as your team.
-Don’t do it for the money
-Whatever it is that makes you not fit in or be accepted, focus on that, that’s how you distinguish yourself, that’s how you find your own voice.
-Listen to Patti Smith, she says it best: “Don't make compromises, don't worry about making a bunch of money or being successful. Be concerned with doing good work. And make the right choices and protect your work. And if you build a good name, eventually, that name will be its own currency.”
Thank you to Marlon for taking the time to share such fantastic answers, as well as to Daniel Gill and Aaron Sainz for helping to orchestrate the interview. To keep up with all things Gold Star, click here to access the official website. For those in LA, be sure to get your tickets for tomorrow’s How to Shoot the Moon release show at El Cid.