STARLINGS is a seven-member girl group from the United Kingdom whose members are currently unknown while they prepare for their imminent debut. The qualities of the European Starling inspired the naming of the band STARLINGS. European Starlings produce aesthetically pleasing formations in the sky by flying in a synchronized murmuration as a single unit. This motivates STARLINGS to promote a similar concept. They seek to inspire, ignite, and awaken the wings that develop on the hearts of their listeners. As it is believed that European Starlings engage in groups of seven to optimize the balance between collaboration and individual efforts, STARLINGS have formed as a group of seven, coming together to support each other’s efforts and striving to fly as one cooperative unit. With the Over:Ture Logs collection, STARLINGS began to find their sound. The girls begin developing themselves from a compositional perspective, writing each track themselves, complemented by their ongoing ‘STA:mina’ training collection of dance & vocal cover posted across social media as well as their blog, ‘STAR:log’ documenting their thoughts and emotions as they journey together towards debuting.
The acoustic version of Ikigai is a ballad-like rendition of the original tune that explores the idea of the Japanese ‘Ikigai’ notion (your reason for being). The gentle instrumental has a nice sound and makes the listener feel both fresh and melancholy. Ideal for a slow-tempo or ballad-style playlist. Check out the acoustic version of the song and the exclusive interview with the members P and K below:
1. Can you tell us a bit about how it all got started?
STARLINGS: (MEMBER P) Most of our members met through auditions that our company, PD Infinity have been holding since 2021. We’ve all found each other through our shared goals and I think that vision was clearly-defined through Ikigai… It’s became our pre-debut identity in a way. (MEMBER K) I was a member who was given a position via the online auditions. I remember seeing an ad on social media that an audition to be part of a girl group was soon to open and I knew I had to join straight away as I couldn’t miss this one opportunity. I auditioned, went through all the stages and I felt so accomplished when I was offered a position in the group so that I am able to fulfil my dreams. After this, I was able to meet with MEMBER P who was also another successful applicant at the time. Now our members are growing more and more.
2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?
STARLINGS: (MEMBER P) A mixture of both, we self-taught ourselves before getting casted through the auditions and now we’ve been training together since 2021, documenting our improvement through a dance and vocal cover video collection on social media called STA:mina. (MEMBER K) My dance and singing skills were self-taught prior to me joining. For me, I started out learning choreographies and singing karaoke on YouTube by myself and this helped me realise that this is my passion and that I want to do pursue this as my dream career. My personal ‘ikigai’ cultivated from this. Later in 2021, I began my formal training with STARLINGS.
3. Why the name ‘STARLINGS’?
STARLINGS: (MEMBER P) The name is inspired by the European Starling bird. European Starlings fly in a synchronized murmuration together as 1, creating aesthetic formations in the sky. Inspired by this, STARLINGS encourage a similar idea. We nurture the mission to fly high together as a group, creating aesthetic art forms through music, dance and performance, coming together as 1 to share a common goal of inspiring, igniting and awakening the wings that grow on the hearts of their listeners. As European Starlings are said to interact in groups of 7 to optimize the balance between teamwork and individual efforts, STARLINGS will be formed as a group of 7, coming together to support each other’s endeavors and pushing themselves to fly as 1 cooperatively.
4. What do you feel are the key elements in your pre-debut music that should resonate with listeners?
STARLINGS: (MEMBER P) We all share the same vision of igniting the hearts of our listeners so we have been approaching our lyrics from a very authentic and raw perspective. So far, we have included reference to Greek gods/goddesses in all of our works and I think these mythological metaphors have became key to our collection however our main goal has been to uplift in every way we can through our tracks so far. (MEMBER K) The meanings behind each lyric, the interpretation and the relatability of each release resonating with at least one of our listener’s personal experiences are key to me. Ikigai is a reflection of our being, our thoughts and our emotions so we hope that listeners view our music as STARLINGS’s personal journal where we can relay our thoughts and feelings and we hope that our music can connect to your hearts. The instrumentals, our voices, our harmonies, our lyrics, every part of our music are what we hope you can resonate with as a listener and make you feel comforted.
5. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?
STARLINGS: (MEMBER P) Our pre-debut tracks have been a chance for us to partake in and get used to the songwriting experience and having built up so much compositional confidence has been a huge fulfillment for me so far. In the future, I would love to have a synergetic relationship with our fans when it comes to how they receive our music, if our fans are feeling inspired or uplifted by listening to our music just as much as we feel making it then that would be a huge fulfillment for me. (MEMBER K) Personally, the amount of work I’ve put in so far is reflective of my pride/satisfaction. STARLINGS will be back with even more releases!
6. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?
STARLINGS: (MEMBER P) For Ikigai, I was working on the instrumental for about 6 months with the narrative in mind to create something that would reflect our group’s current feelings but it kept feeling like something wasn’t quite right, as if it was incomplete. I sent the demo over to my friend, Torgeir who is an amazing guitarist and he added some acoustic guitar parts which just elevated the piece completely, I was so grateful. After that, MEMBER K and I worked on completing the lyrics together, keeping with that narrative of discussing our current feelings with our fans. (MEMBER K) For Ikigai, I contributed towards the lyrical side of the song. Firstly, I listened to how the instrumental made me feel and then curated lyrics from this feeling. We decided on the concept of Ikigai and then wrote lyrics for this aimed concept.
7. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your pre-debut journey so far?
STARLINGS: (MEMBER P) There have been many setbacks and many times where I have fell into a black hole whilst dealing with personal pressure during our pre-debut journey and we wanted to specifically talk about this in Ikigai. We’re an independent group from an independent record label and so there are many times that you can feel doubts about whether what we dream will come into fruition and sometimes training aimlessly towards something when you can’t clearly see the path in front of you can feel dark, this is a feeling I referred to a lot when writing Ikigai. (MEMBER K) For me, the most difficult thing that I’ve endured is second-guessing my abilities as well as having high standards for myself to fulfil and if it doesn’t turn out the way I want it too, I tend to become disheartened. In Ikigai, I was able to relay this feeling through the lyrics, “my sight’s clear, I can see what I’m longing for” and “feeling like I haven’t done enough”.
8. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your pre-debut journey so far?
STARLINGS: (MEMBER P) Funnily enough, it would be Ikigai’s release! I was so proud of the song and was really excited to let it out into the world for everyone to hear, it felt like a significant moment for us and it felt like the song really has the power to have an effect on you. All I’ve ever wanted to do is make music that demands an emotional response and can talk about topics that we can feel comforted by and to not only be able to do that now but be able to do that with other girls of whom I’ve grown so fond of in such a short space of time is a huge and significant step for me, one that I truly appreciate. (MEMBER K) I would consider all of our achievements as a blessing. For example, I’m proud to have my own song released that I wrote lyrics for, Sirens of the Sea, as well as Ikigai; such an amazing song that I collaborated with MEMBER P to sing and Hemeroscopium – the sweet vocals produced by MEMBER P. I’m also blessed by the positive outcome of the project so far and the most cherished, loving friendships with my members. I genuinely cherish all of our achievements on our pre-debut journey.
9. With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?
STARLINGS: (MEMBER K) It’s genuinely hard to ignore criticism as social media is something that influences my life everyday. However, I see criticism and disacknowledge it. I’ve began to view criticism as something that when you start receiving these types of comments, it’s a sign that we’re levelling up and we can view them in a positive way. Receiving criticism means that we are able to build up inner strength in the long run.
10. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
STARLINGS: (MEMBER P) With Ikigai, I’d say a mixture of both. We wanted our fans to know how we’re feeling at this present moment in terms of moving forward with our dreams and the doubts that can sometimes takeover but I feel that by sharing our emotions, the fans listening can also interpret the song to help cope with any similar feelings they may be experiencing at the time and use the song as motivation to push themselves forward.
(MEMBER K) I think it’s extremely important to have fans understand the meaning and message behind our music. I believe in order to communicate with our fans, we have to create an emotional bond to allow our fans to connect with us through each of our songs. However, I strongly believe that fans should be free to openly interpret our songs to how they feel and allow the songs to reflect their own stories.
KEEP IN TOUCH:
INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE
