Brown-Star began in 1994 as an acoustic side project for two notable local musicians, vocalist Moon Trent and guitarist Brett Klinker. Trent was singing with the techno-pop duo Pale and Klinker was part of the gothic ethereal pop band Tel Basta. Both craved a more relaxed and simple outlet for their creative inklings. With Trent on vocals and Klinker on guitar they began playing small clubs in 1995. The act was very well received and immediately caught the attention of the local press and music fanzines, including the coveted "Demo Tape of the Week" feature in the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Their music was deemed "quiet-core" to describe the fast, hard hitting acoustic sound that just couldn't be called "Folk".
The 1999 incarnation of Brown-Star featured Scot Callis on drums and Andy Lund on bass. These two veteran musicians hailed from the recently disbanded local act Spackle, whose noise/grunge sound had earned them a healthy local following. More recently Scot has been playing with freak-rockers Cookie Mongoloid while Andy has been touring in England with the group Thee More Shallows, and Moon Trent plays the occasional gig with local art-rockers The Visitor's Kimberly. Filling out their line-up with this powerful rhythm section has catapulted Brown-Star's Sound into the realm of power pop, as evidenced on their debut cd "Due Damage" on the bands imprint timmi-kat ReCoRDS. (www.timmikat.com)
Early in 1998 they performed a live internet concert for San Francisco's Nine Up.Com's archives and appeared at the Brainwash Cafe for one of Ian Brennan's famous "unscrubbed" shows. They've turned up and/or performed on CBS, E! Entertainment Television, Bay TV, The Joan Jett-Blakk Show, KUSF, KALX, the Folsom St. Fair, and at the Great American Music Hall. They've been written about and photographed for the SF Weekly, the LA Weekly, the Bay Area Reporter, Frontiers, BAM, the NME in the U.K., pictured twice in the San Francisco Chronicle's Pink Section in 1998, and numerous features on various music websites. This band is well documented.
In 1998 Brown-Star and Pale were added to "Outloud: The Encyclopedia of Gay and Lesbian Recordings. In 1999, they twice appeared on national television (The Howard Stern Show) and played both in New York and Los Angeles. The Summer of 2000 saw them headlining Gay Pride Saturday on the steps of City Hall in San Francisco. In June 2001, they played the infamous Fillmore. In December 2002, Moon Trent was interviewed on Live 105 by DJ Jake live from Sudio 105 at the Sony Metreon and played the song "Don't Look Back". Making Brown-Star the last local band to be featured from this special month long on-location broadcast in downtown San Francisco. THE FUTURE:?
With their first single,
"A Bee's Dream"
played on college and commercial radio (the song is also included on Milkshake: a CD to benefit the Harvey Milk Institute) plus their second single "Something's Happening" creating a buzz with internet video viewers, Brown-Star can expect to continue to enjoy their growing success. Moon Trent also performs solo while Andy Lund performs with Lower Forty-Eight. Thank-you for your interest!
