Valentine Failures

...Written by David Glessner - 2Fast2Die.com
Pure full throttle ROCK N ROLL from DallasTX.

Not pretty but pretty exciting! This is not your typical Texas rock n roll band. Loving bands like the Backyard Babies, The Ramones, AFI, and Social Distortion brought the members of TVF together to make rock n roll made for the arena stage yet born in the gutter. In your face, exciting, loud, rude, and mellow when called for, this band leaves no room for middle ground.      

          Formed in 2007 under the assumption that the music scene both nationally and locally was becoming increasingly stale and safe, they proceed to take their show on the road all over Texas and surrounding states. What they found was a rabid audience ready to embrace their over the top and in your face take on how rock n roll should be delivered both on album and on stage.

          After playing everywhere with a stage and electricity for 6 months straight the time had come to capture this music on their first full length album. That album was “Lights Out In Suicide City” and included videos for the two singles “Dead To You” and “Bloodshot Eyes”. More regional touring followed amid glowing reviews and world wide sales including a much talked about appearance at South By Southwest inAustin.

          The band then became a fixture on the road for much of the following two years honing future material and building up a rabid fan base the old fashioned way with their own hard work. 2011 saw another performance at South By Southwest along with the appearance of a new E.P entitled “F*#$ Valentines Day” which featured some covers of their favorite artist and a preview of their new album in the form of the song: “Hard Luck Falls Fast”.

          2011 also saw the band receiving lots of press. The most high profile of which was being featured on CBS televisions music program All Jacked Up a record three times as well as lead guitarist Nicole Starr being featured in the 2012 edition of the Guitar World Buyers Guide. She has also been featured and interviewed on their website. All of this as well as being featured in numerous statewide magazines, radio shows, and in stores too numerous to mention have set things up nicely for the much anticipated follow up to “Lights Out” which is being recorded now. The band has also picked up numerous endorsements in 2011 including:  Kona Guitars, Cleartone/Everly Strings, Guitar Pro Stands, STAR Picks, Induce Clothing, Rock N Roll Gangstar, Trash and Vaudeville, Wendigo NY, SKB Cases, SKS Cosmetics, Artist Representative for GuitarWorld.com.

          With a new album on the horizon, a stage show that rivals ANY national touring act, and a rabid fan base, the music may be dark but the future has never looked brighter.

At an age when most of her peers were all gooey for Justin Timberlake, guitarist Nicole Starr was already hitting the hard stuff.

"I was very weird," says the native Texan. "Not many 15-year-old chicks were falling in love with Judas Priest in the year 2005."

At least not hard enough to pick up a guitar. Raised on the Eagles, Tom Petty and Boston thanks to her father's love of classic rock, Starr started strumming at age 14. By the time she saw Judas Priest, she knew it was more than a feeling.

"I remember buying the 'Electric Eye' concert DVD and my whole world turned upside down," she said. "Judas Priest was the first band that really got me into heavy metal."

With Priest guitarists KK Downing and Glenn Tipton serving as her gateway, Starr soon fixated on other shredders including George Lynch, Warren DeMartini, Mick Mars and Vinnie Vincent. Studying their licks as well as their looks, Starr debuted dressed to kill.

"I played my first gig at 15," she says. "We played covers at some outdoor parking lot festival where a lot of older people were covering their ears. I was wearing aviators, black studded leather pants, a leather bomber jacket and five-inch stiletto heels! I was playing a red and white '67 Gibson Flying V re-issue."

Today, Starr plays lead guitar in Dallas-based glam metal band, The Valentine Failures. She also was featured in Guitar World magazine's 2012 Buyer's Guide and can be seen on the magazine's website. Most importantly, she helped Kona Guitars design its new TVF LP "Splatterstarr" guitar. Why? Because she'll settle for nothing less when it's time to deliver the goods.

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Written by David Glessner - 2Fast2Die.com