Northstar

Northstar, an emo rock outfit, came together in 1997 in Huntsville, Alabama, enduring repeated personnel shifts and occasional musical adjustments throughout its formative period, so much so that a fresh name might have made sense once equilibrium arrived in the early 2000s. Still, the band performed locally across Alabama and the Southeast before launching national tours around 2000. Their independent ethos prompted them to schedule and promote several of those routes themselves, while a self-made demo that moved a few hundred copies furthered their reach. Shared bills with kindred groups such as Brand New, the Stryder, and Taking Back Sunday helped build connections, especially with the latter. That bond proved useful once Taking Back Sunday broke from the underground and championed Northstar whenever possible, even labeling them "the greatest band in the world" in the sleeve notes of their own 2002 debut, Tell All Your Friends. By the June 2002 signing with New York-based Triple Crown, drummer Gabe Renfroe remained the lone original member. Further bass changes followed, yet the unit stabilized around vocalist/guitarist Nick Torres and guitarist Tyler Odom, the primary songwriters, and, with Shawn Reagan aboard, issued the well-received Is This Thing Loaded? on Triple Crown that October. Their second album, the Matt Squire-produced Pollyanna, arrived in April 2004 with a tighter sound and new bassist Jake Fisher. Momentum built, but the quartet entered hiatus by year's end. They reconvened in February 2005 for co-headlining dates with Lucero, though the reunion lasted only briefly before Northstar disbanded officially in April. The Uncomfortable Camera DVD surfaced posthumously in June, and months later Odom and Torres reemerged with the new project Cassino.