Starlite & Campbell is a group based in Portugal. Formed in 2016, the band is led by married couple Suzy Starlite and Simon Campbell. Their debut album, Blueberry Pie was nominated for a European Blues Award in November 2017 and blends British blues, British rock, blues and British folk.
In 2023, following the transition album The Language of Curiosity they decided to change musical direction and launched the multimedia, art rock project Starlite.One. Simultaneously, the band name was changed from the Starlite Campbell Band to Starlite & Campbell reflecting the new direction.
History
The duo had been recording, playing and touring independently in bands for many years until they met in 2012, when Starlite asked Campbell, who was British Blues Awards Nominee,[1] to join her band as the guitar player. The love extended past each other's playing and the duo were wed in 2014 after a whirlwind romance, forming their new joint band, Starlite Campbell, in January 2016.
As prolific singer-songwriters, they started writing together immediately and built up a large collection of songs in a variety of styles, from Americana, folk music, electronic music, progressive rock to British blues. The art of the song is everything and they fly in the face of disposable music – writing, recording and producing their work and then releasing on their independent label Supertone Records.
Their first recorded collaboration was on Campbell's second solo album, The Knife[2] where they jointly wrote and performed Do You Want Me with Campbell on acoustic guitar, Theremin and vocals and Starlite on Mellotron and vocals.
The couple wrote the material for their debut album Blueberry Pie over two weeks in April 2016 and started recording in July at the Supertone Records Studio[3] in Valencia, Spain, with the album mixed and mastered in October 2016. It was produced and engineered by Campbell, co-produced by Starlite and mastered by Jon Astley[4] who is known for his work with The Who and other rock luminaries. In addition to the band and session musicians Steve Gibson and Jonny Henderson, Valencian native Danny Boy Sanchez was co opted to play harmonica on track No. 5, "Say What You Want".
The album artwork is based on a picture taken by Starlite in the late 70's of her Grandmother Betty Higgs.[5]
The band made a festive release It Started Raining on 24 December 2017. The song was recorded live at Supertone Records studio in Valencia, Spain as part of the 'Blueberry Pie' sessions with a single guitar overdub. The cover image was taken by Isle of Man-based photographer Phil Kneen and features an old caravan featured in the song's lyric.
On 12 November 2018 the band simultaneously released their new single Heart of Stone along with a limited edition, gatefold, 180g double phonograph record (vinyl) of their album Blueberry Pie. The lacquers were cut by Miles Showell[4] at Abbey Road Studios and the pressing supported by the Isle of Man Arts Council.[8]
Recorded as part of the original Blueberry Pie sessions, the track has a stinging, acidic lyric that complements the track's hypnotic rolling groove. It appears exclusively in physical form on side four of the record. The cover image was taken by Isle of Man-based photographer Phil Kneen featuring actor Rob Smith.
The Language of Curiosity
In May 2019 Starlite and Campbell relocated their Supertone Records studio into the countryside near Hanover, Germany, where they started recording their second British blues / British rock music album, The Language of Curiosity moving again in October 2020 to Lisbon, Portugal where they continue work on the recordings. Five singles have been released from the album which was made its debut on November 5, 2021 and has been extensively reviewed[9] by publications in the UK, Europe, USA and Australia including Blues Matters!, R2 (Rock'n'Reel),[10]Classic Rock[11]
Again, it is produced and engineered by Campbell, co-produced by Starlite and mastered by Astley. In addition to the band and session musicians Steve Gibson (drums), Gabriele De Vecchio (Grand / upright Piano, Wurlitzer and Hammond organ) and Jonny Henderson (Hammond Organ, Wurlitzer Electric piano, Vox Continental, Hohner Clavinet and Bechstein grand piano). Some of Henderson's keyboard parts were recorded at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales. The cover photograph was taken by award-winning photographer Stuart Bebb[12] depicting dancing in the streets of Oxford following the relaxation of the COVID-19 restrictions in the United Kingdom.
Starlite Campbell Band Live!
During the course of the band's career, several live recordings were made and in 2022 eight tracks were mixed and released digitally and on Compact Disc.[13] The album features highly improvised and extended versions of tracks from Campbell's solo album ThirtySix plus the bands Language of Curiosity, Blueberry Pie and Procol Harum's A Whiter Shade Of Pale which was released as a single in June 2022. The album has attracted excellent reviews.[14]
The band digitally released the accompanying album Starlite Campbell Band Live! 2 in October 2022.[15]
Starlite.One album
In July 2023 the couple completed recording an art rock album Starlite.One, which fuses electronic elements with traditional instrumentation. Apart from drums and some percussion they played all instruments and recorded in their own studio based in Samora Correia, Portugal. It was produced and engineered by Campbell, co-produced by Starlite and mastered by Astley. Starlite created the collage artwork on the front and centre gatefold cover with graphic design by Tiago Cruz.
The album was released on CD, vinyl and digitally on September 1, 2023[16] with the first single, Saving Me, released on July 7, 2023. The second single, The Voting Machine was released on November 2, 2023. Both videos were directed and edited by Starlite.The album has received a number of very positive reviews[17] achieving five stars in Music News[18] and listed #23 in their top 28 albums of 2023.[19]
It has not been released on any audio only streaming platforms.
Live performances
Trio/quartet
During 2017 and 2018, the band performed extensively throughout Spain and the Isle of Man; in July 2018 band played Linton Festival[20][21][22] to great reviews.[23]
Accompanied by drummer Steve Gibson, the band traveled to Australia to headline[24][25][26] the blues marquee at Wangaratta Festival of Jazz on Saturday 3 November 2018 to over 3,000 people with great reviews and extensive publicity.[27] Accompanying the band on this show was Australian keyboard player Clayton Doley.
In 2020 the band performed at The Great British Rock and Blues Festival (main stage), Skegness; Backstage at the Green, Kinross; Redcar R&B Club and the Half Moon, Putney amongst others. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, much of 2021 was rescheduled to 2022/2023.
The band undertook a two week UK tour as a trio in September/October 2023 with new drummer Hugo Danin, documenting the experience through a tour diary on their blog.[30]
Duo
Starlite & Campbell tour material from the band's first two albums, Campbell's ThirtySix and The Knife plus their upcoming album The Coat in venues throughout the UK and Europe to great reviews.[31]
Between December 2021 and July 2022, Starlite & Campbell broadcast a weekly live stream on YouTube, Twitter, Twitch and Facebook from the Supertone studio in Portugal.[32]
Members
Suzy Starlite: Lead and backing vocals, bass guitar, piano, mellotron, stylophone, Mandolin, fife, Sequential Prophet-5, Waldorf STVC, percussion, Moog Taurus bass pedals, Philicorda and recorder (2016–present)
Simon Campbell: Lead and backing vocals, electric guitar, resonator guitar, Moog guitar, acoustic guitar, theremin, Sequential Tempest drum machine, Moog Matriarch and Minitaur, percussion and piano (2016–present)
Session musicians
The band use a variety of fine musicians both live and in the studio depending upon suitability for the project, availability and geographical location.
Both Starlite and Campbell are users of vintage equipment, specifically valve amplifiers for guitar and bass and use multiple brands including vintage Hiwatt,[33] Gartone, Germino, Vox, Matamp, Supertone, Ampeg and Van Weelden with speakers by Electro-Voice, Celestion, Supertone, Weber and Bergantino Audio Systems.
They use bass/guitar strings principally by Curt Mangan, Thomastik-Infeld and Pyramid with Effects unit's by Lehle, DWJ Pedals, Supertone, Ernie Ball, Hudson Electronics, TC Electronic, Eventide, Echo Fix, Lexicon, Chase Tone, Headway, Sonic Research, LovePedal, Meris, OTO Machines, Skrydstrup R&D, Textone, Digitech, Voodoo Labs, GigRig, Origin Effects, CMAT Mods, Headway Music Audio,[38] Gamechanger Audio, Strymon, B. K. Butler, Stomp Under Foot, Danelectro, T-Rex,[39]Pro Co RAT, Ceriatone and Fulltone.
In August 2022 Starlite & Campbell announced the development of a multimedia project, Starlite.One. It is musically explorative whilst keeping the narratives of melody, emotion, soundscapes and lyrical story-telling alive. The music binds conceptual, applied and visual art which is represented physically and digitally.
In January 2023 Starlite and Campbell launched their blogVIBES on Substack, where they write regular articles about life, culture, music technology and their art along with the occasional podcast.
The Supertone Show
From November 2015 to October 2019 and January 2023 to April 2024 Starlite and Campbell broadcast the Supertone Show, a weekly, music-inspired chat show about songs and the people who make them. It featured an eclectic mix of music from their vinyl collections, plus special shows focussing on inspirational people who have influenced and changed the sound of modern music. The show was syndicated to 14 internet and FM stations based in the Netherlands, USA, Canada,[41] and the UK.[42] Repeats are still being broadcast and an archive is available on a section of their blog VIBES.
Electrolite
In May 2014 the couple, with Mark Cleator, recorded a synth-pop / electronic music, extended play record under the name Electrolite.[43] Writing took place on the Isle of Man and later in Duras, Lot-et-Garonne, France and Valencia, Spain. The EP was released electronically and on 180g vinyl and features Starlite on vocals, Campbell on drum & bass synthesiser programming, MOOG E1 guitar, electric guitar, Theremin, backing vocals with Mark Cleator on an array of analog synthesizers by Moog, ARP, Dave Smith plus an original Mellotron. It was recorded at the Chairworks Studio in Castleford with engineer James Mottershead, produced by Campbell and mastered by Kevin Grainger at Wired Masters, London and in 2017 the record was licensed to Ninthwave Records. The sleeve was designed by Barry Kinder and Daren Newman.
