Star Phase 23
Coming out of the northwest suburban Chicago punk rock and hardcore scenes of the mid 1990s, Dan Dace, Trey Hills, and Brian Kelly (Supplement) began writing songs together in the band Shift. Following the band’s breakup in 1994, they retreated to a basement rehearsal space and began reimagining their sound. Having already experimented with effects for bass, guitar, and vocals in Shift, they committed themselves to working toward a sound that was driven by traditional ‘rock’ instruments, but sounded anything like traditional ‘rock’ music.
Reborn as Star Phase 23, the group began connecting the dots among seemingly disparate scenes - English shoegaze and dream pop, Midwest spacerock, the Chicago post-rock scene, and the ambient and experimental sounds of the chill out room. But buried deeper within, one could also hear the punk and hardcore scenes from which the band developed, as well as the warehouse party scene that was coursing through the city at the time. They were equally referencing a ‘tear it all down’ ethos of the underground scenes in their efforts to deconstruct music, and a ‘more is more’ ethos of that rare 90s moment when shoegaze and rave seemed to pull on similar narrative threads - turn it up and let go.
The band’s evolution eventually drew in bassist Ryan McKone, completing a lineup that would become a staple of the city’s experimental ecosystem. The band released their first full-length album, Sunrise Experimental, in 1995 and played throughout the city and midwest in support of the record. They recorded their second album, Fly With Open Eyes, in 1996. As the band was preparing to release it, Dan’s life tragically ended and the remaining members stepped away to grieve this unfathomable loss.
Seeking to keep their vision of using traditional instruments to make beautifully impactful non-traditional ‘rock’ music alive, Trey and Brian moved to Orlando, FL, that fall to study audio engineering. There, they met a kindred spirit in guitarist and vocalist Nate Russel. The three began rehearsing and gigging around Orlando, as well as recording tracks that would eventually surface on the Ochre Records Infransonic Waves Volume IV compilation and the unreleased Mission Control album.
Trey, Brian, and Nate returned to Chicago in 1998, at which point Bob Davies (pal:ndrøm) joined as bassist and Carl Allensbach joined as keyboardist and percussionist. With a fully rounded out live sound, the band re-entered a thriving experimental music scene. Members would go on to shape the Chicago avant-garde through the PLAY residency at Danny's and projects like rehab., pal:ndrøm, and Supplement. The band recorded throughout this time and released the Inside 7” on Burnt Hair records. In 2022 the band was approached by Third Man Records to include How To Be A+ on the Southeast, of Saturn Vol. 2 compilation, which expanded on the Detroit focus of the Midwest’s space-rock/shoegaze/dream pop scene of the ‘90s and showcases other regional artists.
Today, under the Harlem & Irving banner, Star Phase 23 stands as a testament to a rare moment in music history where the lines among seemingly disparate scenes and the sounds blurred into a singular, immersive experience. We couldn’t be more excited to be remastering and re-releasing these classic records and unearthing unreleased gems from the band’s archive. Walk into the music.
