ESTRELLA - BLOG

HELLO #ESTRELLAWARRIORS

It’s been a while but we have finally managed to get our Blog updated again!

UK TOUR – COME OUT TO PLAY

Fantastic first leg to our UK Tour – been in some amazing venues – met some fantastic people – we played some great music  – which we hope you all enjoyed!   Look out for us over the next few months in Glasgow, Inverness, Dundee, Orkney, with more dates coming soon – www.estrellarocks.com/tour!

As part of the tour in September we played alongside The Burning Crows – managed by Matt Goom from the Quireboys – in Glasgow’s Cathouse;  and supported Furyon – who went down well at this year’s Download and Bloodstock Festivals – in Aberdeen’s Tunnels.  

Hope you like the live Estrella video footage taken by one of our #EstrellaWarriors, Kevin Meldrum, from the Furyon gig!  Just click on the links below to view.

Estrella with Furyon @ Aberdeen’s Tunnels – Sunday 9 September 2012

Estrella with The Burning Crows @ Glasgow Cathouse – Friday 7 September 2012

SCOTTISH NEW MUSIC AWARDS

Had a great night at the Scottish New Music Awards – www.scotmusicawards.co.uk - on Sunday 2 September at the Classic Grand!  We won our award for Loud/Metal Recording of the Year and we were the runners up for the Record of the Year Award in recognition of our debut album “Come Out To Play”.  Proud that we can now say we have an award winning debut album : ) !!!

NORTHSOUND – ONE TO WATCH – AWARD 2012

We’ve been nominated by Bauer Media Radio Station, Northsound – www.northsound1.com – for their 2012 One To Watch Award – we will find out on Thursday 27 September if we have won! 

ESTRELLA – YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Estrella has their own YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/officialestrella - where the following videos can be seen:

Debut Album Video featuring the making of Estrella’s award winning debut album along with a sample clip of each track - which has had almost 3,000 hits on YouTube – www.youtube.com/watch?v=P51re0Rp7Xc. 

Do It Til We Drop – Estrella - Live Video Performance - showcasing this band’s growing appeal and displaying one of their trademarks – a stunning STAND OUT guitar solo from lead guitarist Luke Gunn – www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNzkKLNBvEE. 

Do It Til We Drop has been going down very well on tour.  It was a song originally performed by a fellow Scottish Rocker – Frankie Miller – remember Darlin and Caledonia – we are in good company as he’s been covered by UFO, The Quireboys and Rod Stewart to name but a few - check him out on -  www.frankiemiller.net.

Do It Til We Drop Sountrack – Rock It Dancers - the guys have teamed up with the Rock It Dancers - www.rockitdance.co.uk - www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjmvOcsYzno - for a truly unique video of this song.

TWITTER

Why not follow the guys individually on twitter:

@PaulG_Estrella, @luke_estrella @Nathan_Estrella and @LJ_Estrella

“COME OUT TO PLAY” – AVAILABLE TO BUY ON ITUNES & BIG CARTEL NOW!

ESTRELLA ON A THURSDAY

It’s Thursday again and we are in Selby on Day 17 of our Come Out To Play Tour . . .

SURFACE FESTIVAL – SEMI-FINAL – WE WON!!!

You’ve probably seen from the tweets already . . . but if not . . . ESTRELLA won the semi-final of the SURFACE FESTIVAL which took place in Glasgow’s Stairway last Sunday (29.07.12) – thank you for all your text votes - we will now be in SCOTLAND’S REGIONAL FINAL which is taking place in GLASGOW’S CLASSIC GRAND on SATURDAY 8 SEPTEMBER 2012.

If you want to make sure your FAVOURITE ROCK BAND WINS why not

TEXT YOUR VOTE TODAY – TO THE NUMBER 64343 – TEXT SCOTLAND 7015
Please remember to leave a space between Scotland and 7015 - Vote for Estrella to win!
Text cost £1 plus standard network charges. 16+. Please get permission from the bill payer
The winner of the Regional Final gets to play at LONDON’S O2 ARENA later this year! This would be such an amazing experience for us as a band as there are MASSIVE festival and industry opportunities for the winning band! As Alex Baker from Kerrang Radio unsigned show says "The Surface Festival gives bands a genuine opportunity to get their music in front of people in the industry that can help further their careers. The best bands WILL inevitably rise to the top . . . The prizes offered for the winning band and runners up are just fantastic and the experience all the bands gain from playing larger venues is priceless."
Keep checking our blog for more Surface Festival information coming soon.

“COME OUT TO PLAY” – AVAILABLE TO BUY ON ITUNES & BIG CARTEL NOW!

COMING UP THIS WEEK . . .

We will be in Bolton’s The Railway venue on Friday (10.08.12), Bradford’s The Gasworks on Saturday (11.08.12) and Wakefield’s Snooty Fox on Sunday (12.08.12) night – please come out to play with us – we’re looking forward to seeing you all at one of these venues!

Keep checking the Tour section of our official website for more details – www.estrellarocks.com/tour

2 SCOTTISH NEW MUSIC AWARD NOMINATIONS

DEBUT ALBUM – COME OUT TO PLAY

As you know we’ve been nominated for not ONE but TWO Scottish New Music Awards – one for Record of the Year and the other for Loud/Metal Recording of the Year – in recognition of our debut album “Come Out To Play”.

Why not have a look at our TASTER VIDEO ABOVE – which has had over 2,200 HITS ON YOUTUBE already - to see why we were chosen!

To vote for us to win the Scottish New Music Awards please click on http://surveys.verticalresponse.com/a/show/886005/4fa1faec88/1

DO IT TIL WE DROP

One of the tracks going down VERY WELL on our Tour is DO IT TIL WE DROP which as you know was originally a track performed by a fellow Scottish Rocker – Frankie Miller – remember Darlin and Caledonia – well it’s the same guy - we are in good company as he’s been covered by UFO, The Quireboys and Rod Stewart to name but a few - check him out on - http://www.frankiemiller.net/

Do It Til We Drop is a powerful and heavy song and it really sits great with the rest of the album tracks. Because of its popularity at live gigs we’ve done a LIVEVIDEO RECORDING above for those of you who haven’t heard and seen it live yet!

Paul has really made the track his own, giving it a real “Estrella” feel with some of his signature screams! But not to be outdone – watch out for @luke_estrella and his stunning STAND OUT rock guitar solo!

Why not follow the other guys on twitter too @PaulG_Estrella, @Nathan_Estrella and @LJ_Estrella

BATHGATE – DREADNOUGHT ROCK

So what does our Thursday update include for you today . . .

BATHGATE – DREADNOUGHT ROCK

One of Scotland’s Oldest Rock Music Venues!

We played in Bathgate last weekend at the Dreadnought - www.dreadnoughtrock.com - one of Scotland’s longest running live music venues dedicated to Rock N Roll! Amazing night! Cheers to Alan, Iain and Mike for running the night so professionally – even supplying us with a drum skin when Leo burst his own one at the START of our set! Earlier in the day a shit hot rock band ;P did perform at the Bathgate Classic Car and Harley Davidson Show – www.bathgatebid.net/custom_car_and_bike.html. Take a look at Nathan and his motor bike – one day Nath she will be yours, just gotta sell a few more CDs first of all!

2 SCOTTISH NEW MUSIC AWARD NOMINATIONS

DEBUT ALBUM – COME OUT TO PLAY

As you know we’ve been nominated for not ONE but TWO Scottish New Music Awards – one for Record of the Year and the other for Loud/Metal Recording of the Year – in recognition of our debut album “Come Out To Play”.

Why not have a look at our TASTER VIDEO ABOVE – which has had over 2,200 HITS ON YOUTUBE already - to see why we were chosen!

SURFACE FESTIVAL – SEMI FINAL

Glasgow’s Stairway – Sunday 29 July 2012

Next up is the SURFACE FESTIVAL - thanks to YOUR TEXT VOTES - we are in the SEMI FINALS – the winning bands from the semis will go on to play at Scotland’s Regional Final (in Glasgow’s Classic Grand), then the overall winner will play at LONDON'S 02 ARENA later this year! Did we mention there is also MASSIVE festival and industry opportunities for the winning band too!

You've all done so much already but it would be great if you could give us ONE MORE VOTE PLEASE to get ESTRELLA to the REGIONAL FINAL on SUNDAY 29 JULY in GLASGOW'S STAIRWAY - so only 3 DAYS LEFT to VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE ROCK BAND!
TEXT YOUR VOTE TODAY – TO THE NUMBER 64343 – TEXT SCOTLAND 7015
Please remember to leave a space between Scotland and 7015 - Vote for Estrella to win!
Text cost £1 plus standard network charges. 16+. Please get permission from the bill payer
As Alex Baker from Kerrang Radio unsigned show says "The Surface Festival gives bands a genuine opportunity to get their music in front of people in the industry that can help further their careers. The best bands WILL inevitably rise to the top . . . The prizes offered for the winning band and runners up are just fantastic and the experience all the bands gain from playing larger venues is priceless."
We have to say though Surface has been a great experience for us so far, we've picked up many loyal new fans in the Glasgow area and are looking forward to future gig swaps with some of the other great rock and metal bands taking part!
We have to say though Surface has been a great experience for us so far, we've picked up many loyal new fans in the Glasgow area and are looking forward to future gig swaps with some of the other great rock and metal bands taking part!
Tickets for the gig can also be bought from www.estrellamerch.bigcartel.com and it would be great to see you all there too for what promises to be a great showcase of 6 up and coming Scottish rock/metal bands!

BIRMINGHAM – THE ROADHOUSE

TUESDAY 31 JULY 2012

After the Surface Festival Semi Final we are off on the road again for the next part of our debut UK Tour - 3 weeks solid – first stop will be at Birmingham’s Roadhouse – see you all there!

“COME OUT TO PLAY” – AVAILABLE TO BUY ON ITUNES & BIG CARTEL NOW!

ESTRELLA ON A THURSDAY

Hope you are all having a great summer, if you can call it that with all the rain! We are changing our blog day as everything with Estrella at the moment seems to be happening at the weekend at the moment! So to give us a little time to get our news to you all we will be updating you on a Thursday instead . . .

BATHGATE – DREADNOUGHT ROCK – SATURDAY 21 JULY 2012

Our next gig is at Bathgate’s Dreadnought Rock club – www.dreadnoughtrock.com - this Saturday (21.07.12).  Dreadnought is one of the oldest rock clubs in Scotland and has been around for about 40 years! We’ve heard that the Bathgate Classic Car and Harley Davidson Show – www.bathgatebid.net/custom_car_and_bike.html - will be taking place earlier on in the day - The Dunedin HOG Chapter – www.dundedinhog.com - will also be there -so looks like a real retro day in town!   Look out!  If the rain stays away there could be a shit hot rock band performing an acoustic set for your entertainment as well!

SURFACE FESTIVAL

As many of you will know, Estrella has been taking part in this year’s Surface Festival (www.surfacefestival.com). You can catch the highlights of our Stage 2 heat in the video above.

WE MUST THANK YOU THOUGH – IT IS BECAUSE OF YOUR TEXT VOTES – WE ARE NOW IN THE SEMI FINALS!!!!

We are hoping you will get behind us again to get us through to the REGIONAL SHOWCASE by either coming along on the night of SUNDAY 29 JULY in GLASGOW’S STAIRWAY (95 Union Street) live music venue. Tickets for GLASGOW’S STAIRWAY can be bought from www.estrellamerch.bigcartel.com

Or there is still time to TEXT VOTE again as well TO THE NUMBER 64343 – TEXT SCOTLAND 7015 – remember to leave a space between Scotland and 7015 – and there is no limit to the number of individual text votes! (16+ - text cost £1.00 plus standard network charges. Please get permission from the bill payer. Customer services: hello@surfacefestival.com or contact us on 0800 434 6076).

Regional finalists then get to play in London’s 02 Arena later this year which would be an amazing opportunity for us as a band! However, Surface has been a really good experience for us so far. We’ve met lots of great bands since taking part and have picked up some new fans in the Glasgow area too!

Alex Baker from Kerrang Radio unsigned show has also given the festival his thumbs up too "The Surface Festival gives bands a genuine opportunity to get their music in front of people in the industry that can help further their careers. The best bands WILL inevitably rise to the top . . . The prizes offered for the winning band and runners up are just fantastic and the experience all the bands gain from playing larger venues is priceless."

ALBUM LAUNCH – CAPTAIN TOM’S - ABERDEEN

Our album launch in Captain Toms went really well! We were supported by some great bands too – Scandal Extracts, Toby Michaels Rolling Dammed and the Ruckus – and a big thank you to everyone who came along! Special thanks to our AMAZING Rocker Lilys who also came along to see us perform our Acoustic Set in iiMusic that day as well!!

We will be doing another gig in Aberdeen on 17 August 2012 in The Lemon Tree when we will be joining Miss Lucid, Bison, The Ruckus and the GutterGodz for what promises to be another rockin night! Tickets can be purchased from www.estrellamerch.bigcartel.com

SCOTTISH NEW MUSIC AWARD

In the last week, ESTRELLA have found out they have been nominated for not one but TWO Scottish New Music Awards – one for Record of the Year and the other for Loud/Metal Recording of the Year – in recognition of their debut album “Come Out To Play”.

The purpose of The Scottish New Music Awards is to honour the music made in Scotland and recognise the artists and the industry that make it happen. Their goal is to promote, celebrate and showcase new emerging artists and bands across all genres and also to promote, celebrate and showcase the businesses within the industry.

The Award’s Ceremony will take place in Glasgow’s Classic Grand on Sunday 2 September 2012 but online voting for each award category has commenced now, with the deadline for final votes on Saturday 25 August – TO VOTE FOR ESTRELLA TO WIN – PLEASE CLICK ON - http://surveys.verticalresponse.com/a/show/886005/4fa1faec88/1

“COME OUT TO PLAY” – AVAILABLE TO BUY ON ITUNES – NOW !

ESTRELLA ON A SUNDAY

Hope you’ve all had a great 2 weeks, we were at LES FEST in Lanarkshire last Friday/Saturday/Sunday and with limited internet access couldn’t post our Sunday blog and video! Here’s what has been happening though . . .

LES FEST - ROCK AND METAL FESTIVAL – 29/30 JUNE 2012

A good time was had by us all at LES FEST – Scotland’s first ever music festival dedicated solely to ROCK and METAL – which took place in Crossford, Lanarkshire (Valley International Park). Friday night had a completely metal vibe with Attica Rage headlining and Saturday was dedicated to more mainstream rock. We played on the Saturday night alongside Krybgrinder, Praying Mantis, the Amorettes, and many more up and coming UK bands, click on http://www.les-fest.co.uk/ for more information. Thanks to Dave Ritchie and his team for organising a great event and an amazing festival. Here’s to LES FEST 2013! Take a look at the video above to see our set last Sunday!

SURFACE FESTIVAL

As many of you will know, Estrella has been taking part in this year’s Surface Festival (www.surfacefestival.com). BECAUSE OF ALL YOUR TEXT VOTES FOR ESTRELLA (THANK YOU !!!!) WE HAVE MADE IT THROUGH STAGES 1 AND 2 AND ARE NOW IN THE SEMI FINALS!!!! We heard last night that this will be taking place on SUNDAY 29 JULY in GLASGOW’S STAIRWAY (95 Union Street) live music venue. Tickets for the gig can be bought from www.estrellamerch.bigcartel.com

Surface has been a good experience for us so far. We’ve met lots of great bands since taking part and have picked up some new fans in the Glasgow area too! Alex Baker from Kerrang Radio unsigned show has also given the festival his thumbs up too "The Surface Festival gives bands a genuine opportunity to get their music in front of people in the industry that can help further their careers. The best bands WILL inevitably rise to the top . . . The prizes offered for the winning band and runners up are just fantastic and the experience all the bands gain from playing larger venues is priceless."

WORLD’S SHORTEST STREET GIG

As we mentioned in our last blog, we played the WORLD’S SHORTEST STREET - pictures of the gig are already on our facebook page (www.facebook.com/estrellarocks) but click on the link – http://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/News/Estrella-perform-in-worlds-shortest-street-gig-in-Wick.htm – to see some live video footage of the gig. We had hoped we’d be on STV News but Aberdeen Football Club decided to take on a new player so I’m afraid our shortest street gig got the boot! LOL. Never mind maybe next time!

ALBUM LAUNCH – CAPTAIN TOM’S - ABERDEEN

We’ve had our London and Thurso album launches and we are now getting ready for our Aberdeen album launch on Saturday 14 July at Captain Tom’s studio (Ann Street). Doors open at 8pm, over 18s only and tickets for the gig can be purchased from www.estrellamerch.bigcartel.com. Should be a good night. You can also catch us earlier that day when we will be performing an Acoustic Set at 3pm in iiMusic (Academy Shopping Centre). Hopefully we will see you at one of our Aberdeen gigs!

“COME OUT TO PLAY” – AVAILABLE TO BUY ON ITUNES – NOW !

ESTRELLA ON A SUNDAY

Hope you’ve had as good a week as we’ve had this week – The Surface Festival, World’s Shortest Street Gig and Thurso Album Launch have all been happening for us! We are a day late with our “Sunday” blog as we’ve been in Caithness all weekend – and have to say a good weekend was had by all! But first of all let’s start off with a trip to Glasgow on Thursday for the . . .

Surface Festival

As many of you will know, Estrella has been taking part in this year’s Surface Festival (www.surfacefestival.com). We played our second stage heat in Glasgow’s Maggie Mays on Thursday night (21.06.12) and BECAUSE OF ALL YOUR TEXT VOTES FOR ESTRELLA (THANK YOU !!!!) WE ARE THROUGH TO THE SEMI FINALS!!!! This is going to be held in Glasgow again towards the end of July – will keep you posted!

Surface has been a good experience for us so far. We’ve met lots of great bands since taking part and have picked up some new fans in the Glasgow area too! Alex Baker from Kerrang Radio unsigned show has also given the festival his thumbs up too "The Surface Festival gives bands a genuine opportunity to get their music in front of people in the industry that can help further their careers. The best bands WILL inevitably rise to the top . . . The prizes offered for the winning band and runners up are just fantastic and the experience all the bands gain from playing larger venues is priceless."

Estrella to play WORLD’s Shortest Street

Well we’ve played it – the WORLD’S SHORTEST STREET - pictures of the gig are already on our facebook page (www.facebook.com/estrellarocks) and look out for it soon (probs Monday night 24.06.12) on STV News and the gig will be coming to You Tube soon as well!

For all of you who don’t know where the shortest street in the world is by now, it is in Wick! - No 1 Bistro, Mackay’s Hotel, Ebenezer Place to be exact! Must say a big thank you to Murray and Ellie Lamont at No 1 Bistro for allowing Estrella to play the street and making sure we were fed afterwards, don’t think too much disruption was caused (well we wouldn’t be a rock band if we didn’t cause at least some fuss!) but at least IT DIDN’T RAIN!!!

Album Launch – Newmarket Bar, Thurso

Our hometown maybe a quiet town in the Far North of Scotland but all credit to the Newmarket Bar, Thurso has a thriving live music scene. We had a fantastic album launch last night at The Newie (as the Newmarket is now called), playing back at home ALWAYS makes us a hyper, Leo thrashed the drums in Rocker Lily, mid set Luke strutted off stage to perform one of his unique guitar solos, the crowd were buzzing and by the end Paul had everyone chanting to Whatever It Is, to end the night we threw in a cover of Sweet Child of Mine – which went down very well! A big thanks to everyone who came along to support us – let’s Do It Til We Drop :P - again sometime! We will get some footage of the gig up on YouTube soon.

Continuing on . . . The Making of Estrella’s Debut Album - “Come Out To Play”

We promised you that we’d feature the final track in the making of our album and here it is today - “Don’t Forget Me” – the only real ballad on the album, it was quite fitting it ended up being the last song to be recorded at Ignition Studios in London. It will be one of those cigarette lighter moments in our live set!

“Don’t Forget Me” was written by Nathan Gunn - it’s a song about real regret - letting that someone special slip from your life – all your left with is memories – and a feeling of total frustration and absolute despair . . .

We needed to reflect the emotion of this song throughout the recording of the track, we made sure the acoustic guitars had just the right feel and if you have a listen to the vocals, Paul’s vocals build and build totally nailing that feeling of utter loss and devastation by the end of the track.

“Don’t, don’t forget me when you’re gone

Won’t you look back, Won’t you look back and see

Don’t, don’t forget me when you’re gone

It’s my fault, it’s plain to see

Don’t forget me”

Click on the video to see the making of “Don’t Forget Me”.

We’d made many good friends in the making of our first album – from our producer John T Sinclair, engineer Ashley Howe to everyone at Ignitions Studios (London) and Lost Boys Studio (Bedfordshire).

Don’t forget us when we’re gone . . . see you for album number 2!

The journey back to Aberdeen was a long one – ONE cassette (!) player, ONE tape, “AC/DC Live” which is ace but played TEN times . . .

Play the Guitar Riff for Rocker Lily

Did you tune your guitars to: Eb: Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb ? Click on the video below to see Luke demonstrating the guitar riff for Rocker Lily.

Let us know how you get on and if you record yourself playing Rocker Lily be sure to send us the video so that we can feature it on our website!

“COME OUT TO PLAY” – AVAILABLE TO BUY ON ITUNES – NOW !

ESTRELLA ON A SUNDAY

Hope you’ve had a great week, we’ve all managed a couple of days off this week, weather was miserable but our Nathan still managed to go camping – what can we say! Would be good to hear anything you would like us to feature in future blogs but this is what we’ve got today . . .

How to play Rocker Lily

We’ve been asked by many of our fans how to play the guitar riffs for some of our album tracks, so instead of writing plain guitar tab, Luke thought it would be a good idea to show the riff to you guys instead!

As you will see above Luke has put together a short video demonstrating the main riff that is played through the verses of Rocker Lily but first of all please make sure your guitars are tuned to:

Eb: Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb

Let us know how you get on and if you record yourself playing Rocker Lily be sure to send us the video so that we can feature it on our website!

Estrella to play WORLD’s Shortest Street

We said last week that Estrella would be performing the BIGGEST acoustic gig on the WORLD’S Shortest Street – it is happening on Friday 22 June 4pm - and the shortest street in the WORLD is actually in Wick! - No 1 Bistro, Mackay’s Hotel, Ebenezer Place to be exact! We know that STV cameras will be there so really hoping our fans in Caithness will come along to support us and see this slightly “different” gig! Going to film the performance ourselves for YouTube and part of a future Sunday blog.

goNorth 2012 - Inverness

As you know, we attended the goNorth Showcase and Festival last week in Inverness, not such a rock n roll thing to do but had to give a thumbs up to the music industry seminars, managed a few beers at night and saw some decent bands in the town’s live music venues.

goNorth run their own radio station throughout the festival and while we were there we went to check it out. One of the bands was late for their radio session so we were delighted when Maria Hall, one of the radio presenters, asked us to do an off-the-cuff acoustic number – click on the following link to have a listen to “Whatever It Is”- http://www.radiogonorth.com/2012/06/live-sessions-2012/

Continuing on . . . The Making of Estrella’s Debut Album - “Come Out To Play”

We have one more track to feature in the making of our album and that is “Don’t Forget Me” but going to leave that for next week’s blog.

“COME OUT TO PLAY” – AVAILABLE TO BUY ON ITUNES – NOW !