Stars Go Dim (SGD) is an American pop rock band from Tulsa, Oklahoma that formed in late 2007. The band consists of Chris Cleveland (vocals, piano, and guitar), Joey Avalos (guitar), Michael Wittig (bass), and Lester Estelle II (drums). They released their first self-titled EP in October 2008. They also released their debut album Love Gone Mad on August 4, 2009.
Stars Go Dim began as a side project of the Grammy Award nominated Christian rock band Pillar. Wittig and Estelle ultimately left Pillar to focus on Stars Go Dim in 2008. Avalos was also a touring member of Pillar before committing to the new band, and was previously in Justifide.
After forming in late 2007, the band finished recording and finally released their first self-titled EP in October 2008. The EP consists of five tracks: "Come Around," "Crazy," "Walk On," "Incredible," and, "Get Over It." Avalos stated that, "We just love to write songs that make you want to sing-along," and "it wasn’t until I had written a twelve or so songs that we realized what we had. It’s really this intricate mess of a love story that will unfold itself with our full-length album." Wittig also commented about the EP, saying, "The whole package really presents our musical identity. We’ve spent the past several months working and waiting to get this EP out to our fans."
After forming and releasing their first EP, the band has had a moderate string of success. They've opened up for Switchfoot, Daughtry, and Graham Colton and have shared the stage with Paramore, The All-American Rejects, and The Roots. The band credits their success to their fans. Cleveland stated, "We really do have the best fans. Really. They were onboard with us when we just had a few videos of us writing the songs and no other music or bells and whistles to offer." Wittig also commented about the band's fans, saying, "The online communities have helped us get to know our fans better and vice versa. We’re always coming up with new ways to connect."
In 2009, the band won the Channel One News Hear It Now Artist of the Year Award. To follow up their EP, the band released their first full-length album Love Gone Mad August 4, 2009. The band was awarded the 2009 "Absolute Best of Tulsa" award by Urban Tulsa Weekly for the Best Pop Rock Group August 8, 2009.
Since 2010 Lester Estelle II is not an official band member, but he does engineering and studio work for the band.
In 2011 SGD released two singles, "Like I Mean It" and "Hesitate", and shot music videos for both. "Like I Mean It" music video is taken for rotation on mtvU in February 2011.
February 2011 – The band is a "featured band" at Noisetrade.com, where the album Love Gone Mad is available as a free download for a limited time.
On 4 October 2011 the band released their new EP named Between Here and Now which includes two previously released singles.
