A brief chat with Starset

Columbus rockers Starset are performing for two nights at the Fiske Planetarium in Boulder this week, so we chatted with Dustin Bates about what we can expect.C

Yellow Scene: When did the band form, and what was the mission?

Dustin Bates: We’re promoting a narrative that’s looking at the near future, and how technology might affect it politically, economically, philosophically, socially, and thew record actually takes on that narrative. It’s become a soundtrack to it. Our live show is an extension of that.

YS: Describe the sound…

DB: It is the soundtrack to a sci-fi blockbuster movie, if a hard rock band did it. We call it cinematic rock.

YS: Do you like playing Colorado?

DB: I love Colorado, and I’m not just pandering. I actually had six weeks off, the longest break we’ve had this year, and I spent it in Denver. I love the fact that there’s so much nature, I love the breweries, the climate, practically everything about it. The people are happy and interesting, and smarter than average. It’s great.

YS: What can we expect from the set?

DB: It’s gonna be great. The philosophy is to make the show immersive. Let people escape their lives and bring them into our world. At a planetarium, that is inescapable. Under the dome, inside of our concept, the people become part of the show.

YS: What’s next, after this show?

DB: Right now, we’re on tour with Breaking Benjamin. We’re flying to Boulder just for these shows, then flying back to continue touring. We’ll finish that up, then there’ll be a novel out in December which begins to explain everything that we’ve built everything around, the narrative.