"Using The Shadow as the end of side one there is a steady build to that point and then the haunting voice of Justin's sister Shannon enters the scene like one of Odysseus' sirens calling to you in the dark. It's time to step out of the shadows and see the world for what it is. War, lust, greed, deception are all things that shape our lives daily and makes everything an uncertainty as we just try to survive. Eventually we have to accept the darkness, fear, loneliness, and lack of utter control that these things bring to us." -- Ron Hansen of The Maze describing The Vega Star's "The Night."
Wandering mysteriously among the uncertainty of night life, The Vega Star draws in waves from music light years gone by, meshing the sounds together to something so familiar and yet goes beyond the reach of description. Hailing from Milwaukee, The Vega Star ventures into the realms of psychedelic rock and roll, folk, country, and bluegrass music with its recently released album "The Night."
"It's like being in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, kind of a struggle between the good and the evil in life," says lead singer Justin Rolbiecki, referring to the album's mood.
He doesn't go alone in his pursuit of exploring this musical world. Following close in proximity are guitarist Jackson Messner, drummer John Juchemich and bass player Stephen DeLassus. Originally Rolbiecki's solo project in 2001 and then a band lineup with several members now in the band The Championship, the latest lineup of The Vega Star have been together several years.
What started as a "slow, dusty, somewhat country band similar to Mazzy Star without the female vocals" dove more in the psychedelic and earned the band comparisons to Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Neil Young, and countless others.
"Little less country, little more folk and a little more rock and roll, so our sets have gotten louder over the years and a lot more dynamic," says Rolbiecki. "But we still try to hold on to that old slow burn, mid-tempo and heavy-in-feeling kind of music, something along those lines. Lately we've been trying to get a little more upbeat."
Many have taken notice, including fellow musicians. Rob Hansen, from Milwaukee's own The Maze, says that he enjoys having the Vega Star as a fellow Milwaukee band. In fact both bands are great friends, as Rolbiechki contributed to their album and The Maze also features Messner, Kurt Spielmann (who is featured on The Vega Star's album) and drummer Trevor Irish (a former member of The Vega Star).
"I like to listen to it with the pretence that it is a record, which hopefully someday might happen," says Hansen. "Justin Rolbiecki is in no small way a genius that only comes around to a scene once in awhile. The detail and care that he puts into his music is unmatched on the local level and considering they recorded it in their practice space and made it sound as good as it does is nothing short of amazing."
An explosion of chemistry keeps the Vega Star productive, making stunning, sometimes eerily songs that make you feel as if you're searching in the night for the answers to life.
"After a couple practices we have a pretty solid outline of what the song is going to sound like," says Rolbiecki. "But once in a while in practice we'll start playing and improving and sometimes we'll come up something pretty interesting."
The songs featured on "The Night" have been stewing away in the band members' heads and live sets for years.
"The songs on there are a collection of songs I've been working on, some for a very long time," says Rolbiecki. "Some of them date back even before the original lineup existed. No new material that hasn't been tested you could say besides 'The Lullaby' song."
These songs came together as they did thanks to strong friendship and a very casual atmosphere that lent to experimenting. Amid a beer or two and few smokes, the Vega Star start practice just relaxing in the practice space and talking for a while.
"Once we get done with the talking it makes for a pretty productive practice," says Rolbiecki. "And even if we're pissed off at each other we'll still come out there and bitch for a little while and then move on and get some stuff done."
The band is working on its next album, with a hopeful winter release. Rolbiecki says that it'll be more on the side of folk music with some of the more standard progressions that the band's put together.
"I don't know if it'll end up like this but we're calling it right now a psychedelic country record," says Rolbiecki. "A lot of acoustic instruments with some electric elements in the background, more of the vocal harmonies, a little bit of a gospel kind of feel to it."
In the meantime, the band has a number of shows. Among these shows are a gig with The Maze at Shank Hall June 20 and a June 29 show at Summerfest at 5:30 pm. The band will have Justin's sister Shannon, who lent her opera voice to "The Night," as well as additional backing vocals and playing from Kurt Spielmann and Mike Tietjen.
"We're flying my sister here to do here backup vocals so we'll have her do her parts live which we've never tried before," says Rolbiecki. "We're going to try to make it sound as much like our record as possible."
The band plans to tour around Wisconsin and the Midwest, including a performance at the Steel Bridge Festival in Sturgeon Bay as well as venues in Chicago, Madison and Milwaukee.
"You can definitely expect some nice mellow acoustic songs and some nice loud rock and roll all mixed together," says Rolbiecki. "We try to make it as intimate as environment as possible with flowers and lights on the stage because we're more of a down tempo mellow band."
Things haven't always gone their way but they've learned that these things happen. The original lineup dissolved partly as a result of a canceled tour. One show that didn't get canceled turned out to be a little barbeque place that "was practically collapsing into the ground and we were only playing for about five people." Beat and discouraged, they decided to mutually part ways soon after. But after a couple years Rolbiecki realized an important lesson.
"It's just part of the game, not everyone's going to like your music and not everything's going to go your way, you just have to accept it," says Rolbiecki.
"Making something that people haven't heard before and putting your heart and soul into it it's a really rewarding feeling whether or not you get a huge following or you are making the money. It's about going out and trying to get people to hear what you've created and get them to hear the message that you have."
