In this interview, we talk with Star Rider, a rising heavy metal band from the French Alps. Formed in 2021, they blend classic influences like Motörhead and Saxon with their own energetic sound. From their debut EP to their latest album “Outta Time,” we explore their journey, musical evolution, and what’s next for this exciting group.

Interview

TheNwothm: Greetings Star Rider I hope you are well! Can you introduce yourself, where you are from and who is in the band?

Hi Rob, thank you for having us! We are Star Rider, hailing from French Alps. We all live around Grenoble except for Kim who lives in Saint Etienne. But we’re not from Lyon, remember well!
Killer Kim – Vocals

Chainsaw Charly – Guitars

Läther Deth – Guitars

Alex Renegade – Bass

Lizzy Kicks – Drums

TheNwothm: How did the band form?

Kim and Charly met around a whiskey and coke, the kind of beverages that create bonds. It was in Rock’N Eat bar, Lyon, in December 2021 at the Mo(r)moros Death Fest, a local metal festival organized by Turbo Lovers. Charly was a newcomer in the region, he had songs but no band, and Kim was a band-less singer at the time. In the same night Charly met Läther and proposed him to join the band as second guitarist. Star Rider was born on this basis in January 2022. At the same period, Charly randomly met Alex by car-sharing to a concert, they did a few jams together, and Alex joined Star Rider later after being invited to record the bass on the EP. Finally, after the EP recording and our first live show with Duncan, our previous drummer, we found Lizzy in January 2023 thanks to Alex.

TheNwothm: You mention that some of your influences include Motörhead, Diamond Head, Saxon, Exciter etc! But out of all them who would you want to share a stage with the most?

You mean like a dream show? Man, we gotta to say: Judas Priest ahah! Or maybe Def Leppard, Kim would lose his mind! 

TheNwothm: So you are from the Grenoble/Saint-Etienne, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes area! I checked it out and it looks so beautiful! How has the region shaped the band’s music and lyrical themes? 

We sure live in a very beautiful part of France! Though we haven’t mentioned it much in our lyrics, (except for Resistance) you’ll soon be able to see the beautiful Vercors mountain range in our upcoming video! 

TheNwothm: Considering that you come from such a stunning area are any of you into outdoor activities like hiking, skiing etc?

Alex goes skiing a lot, and he’s the one living in the mountains, so that’s pretty convenient. Lizzy also goes for it, and he does trial biking but goes easy on this today because he broke his collar bone in late 2023, just before we opened for Sortilège and played our first gig in Spain! The rest of us like hiking, even just enjoying the beautiful nature surrounding us. We’re lucky to be able to reach mountain lakes and deep forests in just 30 minutes driving.

TheNwothm: Is there much of a metal scene where you guys are from?

Grenoble is not the biggest town but it’s like a magical cauldron when it comes to music. People wrote several books about Grenoble musical history. We got some famous acts hailing from here like Nightmare, Presence, Lonewolf, etc. Also death and black metal bands that became quite famous. 

TheNwothm: What can you tell our readers about your 4 track EP “Star Rider?” How did that come about?

Charly came with these 4 songs he had written before. We rehearsed for about 5 months and recorded it with Alex Thiong-Sion at Noise Maker Studio in Lyon during summer. We wanted to have something to propose before starting to play live. Alex was not even sure to join the band, I remember we wrote a “contract” on a piece of paper with two columns: “If Alex join the band” and “If Alex does not join the band” ahahah. Of course we lost the paper sheet like 2 days after. We released the EP and did our first show on 5^th November 2022. The reception of the public was incredible, we did not expect so much. This is the exact day we said to ourselves that it was a good idea to play together and that nothing would stop us from now. The 100 copies of the EP were sold out in less than a week.

TheNwothm: And what kind of lyrical themes did you explore on your ep?

Most of the lyrics on the EP were written during the formation of the band. The “superficial” ones reflect especially Kim and Charly’s life experiences at that time. Too Fast to Die for example is a true story. Give me Speed is about car racing for some people, substances for others, and sex for still others. To be honest, we don’t even know which one is correct, maybe it’s all three together. The “serious” songs are strongly connected with the will to exist through music, to put your heart in it, and the difficulties associated, when you struggle to find bandmates, gigs… I guess it talks about ourselves.

TheNwothm: Last year you put out your first full length album? That must feel pretty awesome?

Man, it’s such an achievement! For some of us, it was their very first full length record. We now feel stronger as a band but also as musicians. It now roots us into heavy metal ground!   

TheNwothm: How do you feel as a band your music has evolved since your first EP?

The music itself has become more elaborate, more sophisticated. We wanted to push further the composition. As we know each other better, it certainly helped to bring different ideas. Also, we were able to display more influences on the album than on the EP. Lizzy brought a lot by his playing, he’s a real Rock drummer, he has a fantastic groove and punch. In terms of sound, we wanted to reconnect more with the spirit of records we love from the 70’s and the 80’s. We wanted a more vintage and organic sound, not overproduced.

TheNwothm: And for those who do not know your album “Outta Time” what can you tell us about the lyrical and musical themes that it explores?

The lyrical themes are more mature as well. We chose to talk about subjects that matter to us in a deeper way like love, death, addiction, faith… And History! We put a lot of efforts into the song “Resistance” that pays tribute to historical WWII facts and to the young people that stood against evil. But we also wanted to keep things casual as well, to not take ourselves too seriously with songs like “Rock Muscle” or “Deal Breaker”. 

TheNwothm: And do you each have a favourite song?

Kim: Rings Of Saturn / Outta Time

Charly: Deal Breaker

Läther: Resistance / Outta Time 

Alex: Resistance / Rings Of Saturn

Lizzy: Resistance

TheNwothm: Can you give us some insights into the writing and production of the record?

Charly basically wrote our first EP all by himself. This time, we were able to use some new ideas from Alex and Kim along with Charly’s. Most of the time, when a new song is brought by someone, we rehearse it all together so we can focus more easily on what’s need to be polished. Each member adds his touch to each song. For “Outta Time” we chose to work with Alex our bass player, in his home studio. We didn’t have to money to book a professional studio but this method allowed us to be our own producer. We were able to shape our first record all together, step by step. And we could not be prouder of it!

TheNwothm: And where did the idea for the killer artwork come from?

We wanted to represent a journey to space with a rock ‘n roll side. What better than a space biker? Some graphical details are directly related to some lyrics: Space and clouds (Outta Time), Saturn and the biker (Rings Of Saturn), the feeling of speed (Angle Mort). David Berbel, the artist who painted this cover, successfully represented what we had in mind. Support real art: fuck IA! 

TheNwothm: Let us talk about performing live? What have been some of your favourite shows up until now that you have played?

We tried to play each show from the guts, and we loved each crowd. People have always been receptive, and we always had a very good time.

TheNwothm: And are there any bands that you are particularly proud of sharing a stage with?

We are proud to have shared the stage with Enforcer, as it’s one of our favorite band. Sharing stage with the legendary French band Sortilège is also a strong memory. Besides of that, we love to share the stage with smaller bands, no matter where they come from, we made a lot of friends doing this and had a lot of fun. And we are there to support them too.

Credits: SR Marlène Karas / SR Eclectics Clics

TheNwothm: What is next musically for Star Rider?

We are already working on the next album, 6 or 7 songs are composed right now. We would like to record and release it in 2026. It would be perfect if we could find a label to help us to produce and promote it!

TheNwothm: What are your touring plans for the rest of 2025?

As the moment we are talking, our 2025 Outta Time tour starts in a few days, we will play 14 shows between March and June, including 2 gigs in Spain. We will also participate to 2 great Heavy Metal French festivals at the end of the year, the Pyrenean Warriors Open Air and the South Troopers Festival! After this summer, we will focus on finding gigs in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands… We’ve never played here, and we know that the public is crazy there, so it is our next goal.

TheNwothm: How can our readers buy your music and merch?

They simply can visit our bandcamp (https://starriderband.bandcamp.com), thanks to them.

TheNwothm: Where can fans follow you online?

We are on facebook (Star Rider), instagram (starrider.official), and we have our own website (starrider.fr) where people can find any information they are looking for: our bio, future shows, press kit, rider if they want to invite us to play.

TheNwothm: Anything else you would like to mention?

Chartreuse and Génépi.

Bandcamp: https://starriderband.bandcamp.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StarRiderBand
Instagram: starrider.official
Website: https://starrider.fr