A Conversation with Starcleaner Reunion and JoJo Sommer
Last month I went to see one of my very favorite working bands @ play at The Broadway. Standing in front of me was Jo, the lead vocalist, keyboardist, and tambourine player of Starcleaner Reunion. I did not realize this until five days later, though, when I [accidentally] saw the band at Trans Pecos and thought I recognized the lead singer. I was struck by just how fun their set was, and wondered if this is what it felt like to watch Stereolab in their early years. I approached Jo afterwards and we quickly realized we were both Johanna— indicating this interaction was nothing less than fate. Of course I had to interview the band, not just because of our serendipity, but because they make music that floats in some timeless ether.
The band—Jo, Neil (guitar), Pat (guitar), Adam (bass), and Sam (drums)—are New York-based via New Jersey, four of the five members went to the same high school and played in different projects together over the last decade. Getting their name from a 70s children’s book, Starcleaner Reunion officially began in the second half of last year, after everyone had trickled into the city, and the high school friends met Sam thanks to mutual friends. They play[ed recently] as part of the Oh My Rockness, organized “NYC’s Hardest-Working Bands of 2023: Live in Concert!” at Baby’s All Right on January 5. The show serv[ed] as a companion to the concert calendar’s annual “hardest-working bands” list, in which Starcleaner came in at #8.
I spoke to Jo, Neil, and Pat about what it takes to be the eighth hardest working band in New York City in a conversation that has been edited and condensed.
Did you guys start playing together in high school?
P: Well [Neil, Jo, and Adam] had a band before this.
J: We were in a band called Erotica.
P: So this band’s kinda like the spiritual successor of Erotica.
N: Pat, Adam, and I were in a band before that in high school, and then Pat went to college and that band kind of deteriorated. We reconvened when Pat got back to the States [from Montreal].
There is something so effortless about your sound and it makes so much more sense knowing that, in some ways, it is a decade in the making. Does this project feel like what you imagined your music could be?
N: There have definitely been consistent influences, but then also a growth in sound, like new discoveries and just kind of an evolution. It’s kind of a supergroup, because Adam and I played with Pat and we also played with Jo and now everybody’s come together.
Do you have a favorite show you have played?
P: This place in Montreal called Marche à Côté. The inside of it looked like a ski lodge from 2001.
J: We played with one of our favorite bands Free Love Fenner, who are based out of Canada. It had been years since they last played.
P: That was our first night on tour, too. It was our first tour and the first show of the first tour, so I feel like that was a “Oh, we gotta prove it right now” and we did and it was fun.
J: Another personal favorite was when we played Knitting Factory recently and that was a really good one. Everyone was super energized and we got a great lineup, too.
If you could organize any four-band-bill for Starcleaner to play on, what would it be?
N: Musique Chienne, for sure.
J: I personally would love to open for Stereolab someday. They are my ultimate favorite band of all time.
P: Musique Chienne, Stereolab, Jeff Parker… LUCY…
What are three of your favorite things right now?
J: The Sopranos, the Japanese band Lamp, and Danish coffee & baked goods;
P: 8 Ball Radio, kimchi, Eduardo Mateo;
N: Unwound, cleaning my room, dark chocolate.
design by the ever impressive abigail paulson.
~remember that you can email us if you have any interest in designing a future issue~
shows we’re excited for this week* or that missed the original print cut-off that you should know about:
1/15 alphaville - Ilithios x Navel Grazr x A Very Special Episode x No Jersey
1/17 our wicked lady - Lucid Lip x Big Oil x Kira Skye
1/18 knitting factory - Tetchy x D. A. Crimson x Raisalka x Steve Hartlett*
1/19 purgatory - The Last Word x Gartenhead x Sailor Boyfriend x Bird Week
1/20 bowery ballroom - Chanel Beads x Donna Missal x Drea x Frankie Cosmos x KeiyaA x Kevin Devine x Lustsickpuppy x NOIA x Nourished by Time x Pom Pom Squad x youbet*
1/30 our wicked lady - Lily Talmers x Avery Friedman x Cece June
missed out on submitting to our GUNK: For Palestine compilation? have a song you’d like to share with the world while supporting relief in Gaza? Our friends at Toadstool Records is organizing a Valentine’s Day compilation with an open call for submissions until February 1st. All profits will be donated to The Freedom Theater in the West Bank. Email submissions to the, a`s WAV/AIF/FLAC files to hi@toadstool-records.com with artist name and song title in the subject line. The theme is love and/or heartbreak.
finally - thank you to all who have helped with distro this month. if you would still like to get in on the fun, hit us up (thegunkyard@gmail.com).
you can usually reliably find GUNK at topos bookstore, honeymoon cafe, norma’s cafe, milk & pull (bushwick/ridgewood), little roy’s, the playground zine box, the lot radio zine box, and more! if you have a spot that you think GUNK absolutely must be at, comment or email us. we’d love to get it to ya.
see you at the gigs this month, and please remember to be safe and wear a mask!!!! support live music and support your musicians and your community’s health <3
your editors,
hannah and ceci
Thanks for the Starcleaner intro...looking forward to seeing if their Stereolab love lines up with my own! Also curious how @ was in concert, haven't had the pleasure yet.