Interview with Arrow De Wilde, the most exciting woman in rock music right now

Arrow De Wilde was practically born with the Rock 'N Roll gene: From an early age, she accompanied her mother, the renowned photographer and director Autumn De Wilde, to shoots for acts such as the White Stripes , Death Cab For Cutie and Beck. And she was also able to learn a lot from her well-known father, the drummer Aaron Sperske, at concerts and in the studio. Growing up in the northeast of downtown Los Angeles, the now 23-year-old has always felt drawn to the legendary Hollywood Boulevard - by the world-famous sights as well as the dark corners away from the brightly lit glittering mile.

A childhood between the sparkling radiance of the Walk Of Fame or the Grauman's Chinese Theater on the one hand, and the morbid attraction of the creepy Museum Of Death with exhibits from serial killer Ted Bundy or the Hollywood Forever Cemetery just a few blocks away, home to numerous film and Music icons like actress Judy Garland or Beatles guitarist George Harrison were laid to rest. A light-dark contrast that is also reflected today in the sound of their band Starcrawler, founded in 2015. After the quintet gained a worldwide fan base with their first two albums, the US rockers are now releasing their third long player "She Said".

At concerts you are often characterized as the intersection between Courtney Love and Iggy Pop, who sometimes kicks the smartphone out of the hands of intrusive mobile phone filmmakers. Asked directly: has rock music become too boring in 2022?
Arrow De Wilde: "Maybe. I want to move people and give them a show they'll never forget. A lot of bands these days just stand around and wind down their programme; that's not our idea of good entertainment. On stage I'll be to another person that I sometimes can't control. Like a rush in which I let myself go and then remember nothing. But it's been a while since the last cell phone broke...

What role models did you grow up with?
Arrow De Wilde: "With bands like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Runaways or L7. Intrepid chicks who took their space and embodied a very self-confident form of femininity. My mother was also a big influence, who always gave me my own experiences had it done. And my own mistakes.

With two parents in the entertainment industry, your path was certainly mapped out very early...
Arrow De Wilde: "I always knew I wanted to express myself artistically, but it wasn't until I entered high school that I really discovered my passion for music. As a little girl, I had absolutely no interest in music. My mother despaired tried to get me excited about piano lessons - and I hated it with all my heart, preferring to draw or paint. Then when I heard an Ozzy Osbourne song for the first time, I was immediately hooked and knew I wanted to be a singer."

They founded Starcrawler when they were just 15 and found themselves in the spotlight from a young age. A time you revisit in the song "Toy Teenager".
Arrow de Wilde: "Half my life some agents have been trying to persuade me to do some advertising campaigns. At a certain point it got really scary. I want to make music and I don't want to be degraded to a clothes rack. I have nothing against fashion, but I find modeling kind of weird and a little bit oppressive. I want people to accept me for my songs and not just for my body or the fact that certain clothes fit me well."

Her new album is titled "She Said". How did the recordings turn out?
Arrow de Wilde: "The first songs were created during the lockdown. When it seemed reasonably safe to meet again, our guitarist Henri and I composed the pieces through an open window. He was standing outside my house with his guitar, I was sitting on the windowsill. Almost like Romeo and Juliet. My neighbors must have thought we'd gone completely insane."

How are your songs created?
Arrow De Wilde. "There's no set recipe. Sometimes Henri will turn up with a stack of lyrics or a guitar tune, other times I'll take inspiration from old books. I'll collect interesting words or phrases that stick with me when I read them. Then we'll see how together everything can be combined into a coherent story.

What kind of books are on your shelf?
Arrow De Wilde:: "Although I own a ton, I have to admit that I'm not a huge bookworm. I'm a big fan of Edgar Allen Poe. I love his particular aesthetic of language and the strange terms he uses. On one of ours On recent tours we've visited his house in Philadelphia which was just a few blocks from where we were performing, a typical East Coast Victorian building that's now been converted into a museum, and I also have a few books on witchcraft and stuff like that . But I also like normal authors like Mark Twain."

Is this fascination for everything morbid also found outside of your music?
Arrow De Wilde: "Definitely. Ever since I was a little girl, I've had a thing for the spooky. I collect creepy stuff like old dolls and tarot cards. In every corner there's weird stuff like voodoo dolls, antique Chinese opium pipes or the latest addition to my collection : A super scary wooden Jesus from the 17th century. He originally hung in a church in South America. He has real hair and lots of bleeding wounds. Unfortunately I can't hang him because he's so fragile. He's hanging at the moment a soft pillow next to the couch and upsets my guests."

Your hometown of Los Angeles and Hollywood in particular is also an important influence...
Arrow De Wilde: "I'm fascinated by the contrast between glam and tragedy. My dad lived in the area near Hollywood Boulevard at the time. At first glance, you only see the glittering side and the luxury. If you look closer, you can also see the ugly side Facets. Drugs, violence, the dirt, the shattered dreams of those who came here and failed. This mixture of glamour and trash can also be found in our music. Life in LA is a main motif of our songs. You experience things in this city so much sick stuff, there's fodder around every corner for new plays, plus I grew up on all those morbid 1920's and '30's Hollywood tales, stories about suicides throwing themselves off the Hollywood sign or with the bloody ' Black Dahlia' murder . We've also played at the famous Hollywood Forever Cemetery where my hero Dee Dee Ramone is buried. My plan is to one day rest among these cool people myself in one of those old fashioned coffins you always see in old vampire movies!"