A Weird Star homecoming

Chris Lee spoke with Josh from Weird Star. Fresh from SappyFest, they'll be welcomed home Tuesday night at the Esquire Tavern with Diner Drugs, The Human Comedy and Gutless Wonder.

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Weird Star is a group of four New Brunswick dudes living in Montréal and they’re back home for their first east coast tour.

Josh, Jordan and Mike jammed as a three piece a few times, and added their fourth member, and fellow Saint John-er, Jack, to finish the lineup.

"We didn't really get too far in the first couple months, but really started making progress and having fun once Jordan, Mike and I moved in together."

Making the jump from a smaller city like Moncton or St. John, can always bring up questions and fears for a band.

"In our case, it was relatively easy. There are lots of DIY venues here so it was really just a matter of talking to the space owners after they recognized us from attending shows there often enough.”

Though most shows are held at the local bars, a rise in the popularity of house shows within the Moncton circuit is noticeable.

"The biggest difference from my experience playing music in Montreal versus [playing music] in Moncton, is that most of the shows I'm doing here are held in non- bar spaces,” he said. “ Which can be really fun. I do love when we get the chance to play at a bar, but I feel like we often get better crowds at house venues.”

Weird Star draws from a wide range of genres. Josh would describe it as somewhere between emo revival, pop punk, and alternative rock. "We did our first recordings on our own in our basement, and the remainder of them have been done in our jam space by our good pal Micah Brown. We've got dreams of making vinyl one day, but who knows how soon that will be?"

They've used their DIY ideology to push their brand further in a short time span.

"We've been really lucky to be able to do things like record, shoot a music video, and organize shows on an extremely low budget. It really is all thanks to how talented and generous our friends are.” Being on a low budget, the band doesn't own a band van. Resilience and public transit can work wonders when a sweet gig is on the line.

"Taking public transit is usually the easiest way to do it, but we've taken Ubers, or biked gear to shows on several occasions. We're forced to get creative sometimes.”

The group is eager to come home and showcase the tunes they've forged during their time in La Belle Province.

"We're really thrilled to be able to tour out East. Several months ago, we learned we were accepted to play at Shed Island Music Festival in St. John's, Newfoundland. We decided that we might as well tour our way there,”

Weird Star plans to hit Moncton, Halifax and St. John's Newfoundland during the tour. They've got a fresh video for their song, You Never Talk which you can watch here.