Stars Go Dim (SGD) is an American
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
band from
Tulsa
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
,
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
that formed in late 2007. The band originally consisted of Chris Cleveland (vocals, piano, and guitar), Joey Avalos (guitar),
Michael Wittig (bass guitar), and
Lester Estelle II (drums). Now composed of Chris Cleveland, Michael Cleveland, Kyle Williams and Josh Roach, the band recently signed to Fervent Records (Word Entertainment). Stars Go Dim announced their major label released, self-titled debut album in October 2015. Their first single is "You Are Loved".
History
Stars Go Dim began as a side project of the
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...
band
Pillar
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...
. Wittig and Estelle ultimately left Pillar to focus on Stars Go Dim in 2008. Avalos was also a touring member of Pillar before committing to the new band, and was previously in
Justifide
Justifide is an American rock band from Chandler, Arizona, founded in 1999. The band consists of Jason Moncivaiz (vocals, drums), Sambo Moncivaiz (bass), and Joey Avalos (guitar). The band has seen success in Christian rock circles, and they h ...
.
After forming in late 2007, the band finished recording and finally released their first self-titled EP in October 2008, which consists of five tracks: "Come Around", "Crazy", "Walk On", "Incredible", and, "Get Over It". Avalos stated that, "We just love to write songs that make you want to sing-along," and "it wasn't until I had written a twelve or so songs that we realized what we had. It's really this intricate mess of a love story that will unfold itself with our full-length album."
After forming and releasing their first EP, the band has had a moderate string of success. They've opened up for
Switchfoot
Switchfoot is an American rock band from San Diego, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Foreman (bass guitar, backing vocals), Chad Butler (drums, percussion), and Jerome Fontamillas (guitar, keyboards, back ...
,
The Fray
The Fray is an American rock band from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2002 by schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King. Their debut album, ''How to Save a Life'' released in 2005, was certified double platinum by the RIAA and platinum in Australia, ...
,
Daughtry, and
Graham Colton
Graham Colton (born November 6, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His most recent album, ''Inside Out'', was released on August 14, 2020. Colton's songs have been featured on numerous TV shows including ''Am ...
and have shared the stage with
Paramore
Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, whil ...
,
The All-American Rejects
The All-American Rejects is an American rock band from Stillwater, Oklahoma, formed in 1999.[The Roots
The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...]
. The band credits their success to their fans. Cleveland stated, "We really do have the best fans. Really. They were onboard with us when we just had a few videos of us writing the songs and no other music or bells and whistles to offer." Wittig also commented about the band's fans, saying, "The online communities have helped us get to know our fans better and vice versa. We're always coming up with new ways to connect."
To follow up their EP, the band released their first full-length album ''Love Gone Mad'' August 4, 2009.
Since 2010 Lester Estelle II is not an official band member, but he still does engineering and studio work for the band. In 2011 SGD released two singles, "Like I Mean It" and "Hesitate", and shot music videos for both. "Like I Mean It" music video is taken for rotation on
mtvU
MTVU (formerly stylized as MtvU and mtvU) is an American digital cable TV channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group, a unit of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel was first known as VH1 Uno from 2000 to ...
in February 2011.
The band signed to
Fervent Records
Fervent Records is a contemporary Christian music record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. Fervent was bought by Word Records in 2005.
Current artists
* Chris August
* Francesca Battistelli
* Big Daddy Weave
* Everfound
* For King & ...
, a
Word Records
Word Records is a Christian faith-based entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Curb Records, and is a part of Word Entertainment. It is distributed by Warner Records (the former Warner Bros. Records).
History
In 1 ...
imprint, where they released their first major label
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
, ''
Stars Go Dim'', on October 30, 2015.
Discography
Studio albums
''Love Gone Mad'' was released on August 4, 2009. The band also filmed a music video for the songs "Come Around" and "Get Over It". Discussing the album, Avalos once stated, "I probably wrote 20 songs in roughly two weeks and this is what came out of it."
EPs
* 2008 – ''Stars Go Dim''
* 2011 – ''Between Here and Now''
* 2018 – ''Better''
* 2018 – ''Christmas Is Here''
Singles
Band members
Current members
* Chris Cleveland lead vocals, piano, guitar (2007–present)
* Josh "Black Panda" Roach drums (2012–present)
* Joey Avalos acoustic guitar (2007–present) electric guitar (2012–present)
* Kyle Williams electric guitar (2012–present)
Former members
*
Lester Estelle II keyboard, backing vocals (2007–2010) and drums (2012)
* Kevin Rogers acoustic guitar (2007)
* Luke Sullivant acoustic guitar (2007)
*
Michael Wittig bass guitar (2012)
Awards and nominations
In 2009, the band won the
Channel One News
Channel One News was an American news content provider. The daily news program was accompanied by commercial advertising for marketing in schools, with supplementary educational resources. The Peabody award-winning Channel One News program was ...
''Hear It Now Artist of the Year Award''. That same year, the band won the "Absolute Best of Tulsa" award by ''Urban Tulsa Weekly'' for the Best Pop Rock Group August 8, 2009.
In 2016, Stars Go Dim were nominated for a
Dove Award
A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...
for 'New Artist of the Year'.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Musical quartets
Musical groups from Oklahoma
Musical groups established in 2007
American pop rock music groups
2007 establishments in Oklahoma
Word Records artists