What do you want to know about Four Star Mary? "Where did the name come from?" you might ask. Opinions vary: "A drag-queen bar in West Hollywood" Tad offers. "A fortune cookie" is Zu's response. Try: "Does the name mean anything?" Zu: "No, I thought we should've called the band Fortune Cookie."
Dig a little further and you might decide that the strangest thing about Four Star Mary is that it exists at all. None of FSM's members grew up within a hundred miles of each other. Tad is from Texas, Zu grew up in the San Fernando Valley and Steve was raised near San Francisco. Add to the logistical improbabilities of simply meeting a healthy dose of divergent musical backgrounds, and you start to see why at least one journalist has accused FSM of possessing "more sense and sensitivity (plus a dose of mighty melodic intuition) than they have any right to." - Johnny Whiteside, LA Weekly.
Despite the odds, the members of FSM met, and the resulting synergy of minds and music led to a group which is not only prolific, but (unlike most of its brethren) actually writes as a group. According to Steve, "Four Star Mary is the most collaborative musical effort I've ever been in. Everyone in FSM is a good songwriter in his own right. And almost more importantly, everyone listens to everyone else. The only aspect of our songs which doesn't represent a combined effort by all of us are the lyrics, which are Tad's private domain." The result of this collaboration has been a slow but steady growth of Four Star Mary's profile within the overwhelming multitude of bands which comprise the L.A. scene. And in addition to their live shows, recent use of Four Star Mary songs television shows such as Fox's "Party of Five," MTV's "The Real World" and the WB's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" has started to raise the band's profile internationally.
Indeed, Four Star Mary has practically become the "house band" on Fox's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", providing music for the popular character Oz's fictitious band "Dingoes Ate My Baby" on several episodes, as well as providing source music for key scenes for seasons 2 through 4 of the popular TV series. The result of this exposure was a deluge of fan email and soaring sales of Four Star Mary's self-titled EP.
The songs comprising their first full-length album, "Thrown to the Wolves," feature an intense guitar-based sound backed with edge-driven beats, and overlaid with Tad's more than gifted voice and compelling lyrics. "Scattered my thoughts/like dry leaves before me/blown and cut to shreds/laughed at the kings/that knelt down before me/then severed all their heads," Tad sings on the album's title track, a requiem to the 90's with dark overtones and an explosive chorus.
"Dilate," the first single from the CD, is a desperate tale about how fate can intervene in our lives, paradoxically set to a driving upbeat rhythm. This apparent contradiction is common to many Four Star Mary songs: dark lyrics set to driving, upbeat melodies. With influences ranging from The Sex Pistols and X to Swervedriver and U2, Four Star Mary offers a strong mix of melodic songwriting, strong musicianship and passionate performances.
Source: http://www.fourstarmary.com/
