SR-71

“We had to turn around and go back,” recounted drummer Dan Garvin of the ping-pong episode July 12th at the Ambassador bridge leading from Detroit to Windsor, Ontario. “Our papers weren’t right.” It didn’t help that the guitarist has purple hair.

After inspections, interrogations and accusations, the tired, crabby and fed-up band was finally granted entry for one day only.

Nevertheless, lead vocalist/guitarist Mitch Allan, guitarist Mark Beauchemin, bassist Jeff Reid and Garvin dusted themselves off and showcased a selection of songs from their RCA debut, Now You See Inside, at BMG Distribution’s Keep The Ball In Play convention in Toronto on the 13th.

Because SR-71 had to reapply for admittance into the country, it elected to blow off a local gig at Ted’s Wrecking Yard and one at the Ottawa music festival Freshfest to avoid going through the same rigmarole.

While it may not have been the ideal start to the band’s major label career, months later, SR-71 is happily enjoying airplay in Canada with the single “Right Now” and has sold close to 200,000 copies of the album in the U.S. The band toured with Stroke 9 over the summer and injected radio shows into its schedule where possible. It recently co-headlined with its friends in Marvelous 3, whose singer, Butch Walker, co-wrote “Right Now.”

SR-71 manager Andy Martin actually released M3’s debut, Math And Other Problems, on his own label, Deep South Records the very same label that released a single by SR-71, then known as Honor Among Thieves.

The band formed in 1995 and sold 7,000 copies of its independent record, Grow, by touring around the East Coast. Around this time, John Allen, drummer in Baltimore’s Starseed Speed, suggested they submit a song to Martin for his respected Deep compilation series featuring unsigned acts. Martin was so psyched about the song “Non Toxic,” it became the lead track on Deep 3.

Martin then invited Honor Among Thieves to perform at the Carolina Music Harvest at Walnut Creek Amphitheater in October 1998. “The next thing we know, he’s coming up to Baltimore from Raleigh to see us,” Garvin said, explaining how Martin became the band’s manager.

With this rebirth, the four-piece decided to update its name to Radiostar and started performing on the East Coast from New York to Key West. Gary Hutson of Baltimore agency Starleigh handled the bookings. “We were lucky that through the name change, people were hip to it,” said Garvin, who alerted fans through mass snail-mailings and e-mails.

The industry frenzy really started for Radiostar at its February 1999 showcase at 12th & Porter during the Nashville Extravaganza. The band spent the next day in the lobby of its hotel being schmoozed by a number of major labels. Martin reported that within a week, the guys were jet-setting from coast to coast to meet and showcase for A&R reps.

“RCA came in later on and really knocked us out,” Garvin said. RCA A&R exec David Bendeth saw Radiostar at Arlene’s Grocery in New York in February 1999. The next month, the band showcased at SxSW in Austin at the now-defunct Steamboat and then signed with RCA one week later.

“The thing about David Bendeth that we liked was he was the only A&R guy that didn’t come up and say how great we were. He said, ‘You guys are pretty good. Here’s what sucks and here’s how we can fix it,'” Garvin said, adding that the advice was intended to bring them from a local to national level. “He said, ‘These are your strong centerpiece songs; let’s build something around that.'”

Hooking up with producer Gil Norton (Pixies, Foo Fighters), the band held off on its more acoustic-based songs and wrote in a heavier direction. Meanwhile, it discovered that Radiostar was such a great name that three other bands were also using it. So the group pored through hundreds of other possible names before coming across SR-71, a spy plane. The fit was immediate. Garvin explained that both he and Beauchemin’s fathers were in the Air Force and Allan’s worked at the company that helped build the aircraft.

Just before the release of Now You See Inside, Kevin Daly of Monterey Peninsula Artists came on board as SR-71’s new agent and the band has been on the road ever since. Beginning with some shows in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast, complete tours followed with Stroke 9 then Marvelous 3, which just finished.

Next, the band will co-headline with Wheatus and Harvey Danger supporting (October 10-27). One date follows in Honolulu, November 3rd at The Pipeline, before the band heads to Japan to do some promo.

Daly is currently solidifying a U.S. headline tour for SR-71 in December in and around radio shows. A promo tour in Europe is lined up for January.