Starfari
There’s a star rising in San Francisco.
Ali Jafari has been creating music under the name Starfari since as far back as 2013. Formerly a duo, the project underwent a major direction change in 2017 as Ali assumed the reigns and pivoted towards being a solo artist. That pivot did not come without its own hurdles of course, as Ali grappled with the reality of being in the driver seat, he also needed to set a course for the future. Always the optimist, it wouldn’t be long before a new footing was found in the form of DJ’ing. It would be through that journey that he would be led to this moment - releasing his first single as a solo artist, more than three years in the making.
“Commitment” is well worth the wait, and a clear culmination of a musical direction and aesthetic that has characterized his work in recent years. A bright, summery track that was cut right off the shirt on Ali’s back - a perfect injection of warmth for these foggy August days. The bassline feels like its parents were featured in a Poolside song - which is probably true given the hands that helped craft it. It also can’t be denied that DFA artists (LCD Soundsystem and Holy Ghost) played a major role in the song’s inspiration. Do yourself a favor and commit this one to your summer playlist.
On the heels of it’s release, I was able to kick it in Golden Gate Park last weekend to catch up and talk shop.
On Releasing Music
Justin: Congrats on your first release in three years! How are you feeling about it?
Ali: Its weird, I'll go without listening to it for a while and think that I suck - you know, its just like "everything sucks!". Then I revisit it and it makes me happy, I feel really good when I listen to it - and that’s - you really just have to get to a point where you have to trust yourself and how you feel. And I do that now and Im just very stoked. I don't have expectations about where it goes - everything is just a bonus. So I’m not thinking of how many plays we didn't have. Whatever happens: sweet
Justin: It’s important to just be okay with putting it out in the world and having it off your shoulders to an extent. I think that the process of tweaking things and tweaking things can be incessant and at some point there are diminishing returns to the work you’re doing on something. Cause you're not making it any better, you're just making it different, right?
Ali: Absolutely. It's never gonna be "perfect" and getting to that point where you’re accepting letting it go - I don't want to say it's a skill - but its definitely an understanding of the process that you need to have. I definitely know a lot of people who just, don’t release anything ever. They just don’t want to let it go, or don’t think that it is what they want it to be, and you’re just holding yourself back, because you need to be in the motions of releasing stuff also. And if you don’t have that practice - its not like you make a song and then its BOOM! It just doesn’t work that way.
Justin: Feedback is crucial. You risk getting caught in your own feedback loop, as opposed to getting feedback and applying it to what you're doing.
How did Starfari start?
Justin: And how did you pivot to solo work?
Ali: Starfari started - I mean, I just consider the entire musical journey that I’ve been on - because it's all part of where I am now. And it started when I was 13, reaching out to people on Myspace, asking if I could take photos of them so I could get into a show for free. Then I was in a metal band, with Alex - who I started the Starfari project with - but we ended up going to different colleges.
We ended up crossing paths fortuitously at this Tiesto show - it was an arena concert - I was just walking around, exploring, and ran into him. We caught up and we found out what each other was doing - I had been working on my blog, and he had been working on producing music - and we decided to merge what our experiences had been. So Starfari started in 2013 and it was just continuing down our journey. He never lost the love of music and performing. Because we were in that band together in high school - we played a bunch of shitty shows - but you play like, one good show and you get that feeling - you will never forget about that. So 2013 he and I started it, worked on it for a couple of years while we lived with our parents and then we moved to San Francisco. He left the project in 2017 for a lot of reasons - he wanted to make dubstep/ trap and more aggressive electronic music and that just didn't align with what we wanted to do together. He wanted to move to LA, he did that. So in 2017 he left Starfari - which was devastating in a lot of ways - because you have this vision of this project or just whatever you're doing in life, and my vision for forever included him and I working on this.
But he let me keep the project, which was relieving. I saw a lot of opportunity there, I started DJing a lot more. And that took some time to learn, to find a style that I wanted. Everything started to point towards the disco and the funky house music that I really like. Yeah so, one of my friends - Niteppl - he's also on Popgang - he wanted to help me since the DJing was going so well. Started making music together, and that was last year. “Commitment” was one of the first songs we made. We put it to the side and worked on a bunch of other stuff. He didn't even really want to finish it, wasn't really feeling it. But when we revisited it, we just said - ok let’s just give it a couple more sessions and we broke through with it and yeah - finally released it yesterday.
Justin: Its cool that you guys put it to the side because I think a lot of people come up with their first song and kinda rush it out the door because they're so excited about it, and its nice that you circled back to make sure it was something that you both wanted to keep working on. I think that whole process is super important to go through, just to kinda shelve it for a little bit, develop more material and figure out what the whole package and sound is gonna look like.
Starfari DJ Set @ Cafe Du Nord circa 2017 (Photo courtesy of Chris Kocher)
Which came first - the disco or the attitude?
Justin: You always seem to manage to keep an upbeat, positive attitude about life. When I consider your music - both DJ sets/ mixes and solo material - I can't help but draw a parallel between them. Your style feels consistent in that you often leverage warm, summery, upbeat sounds. Is it a conscious thing that you're intending to sort of, spread that energy via your music? Or do you feel like that just came about organically?
Ali: The attitude definitely came first because Im just a very inquisitive person, and I’ve tried to understand the human experience, and Ive tried to - just be happy. You know? It takes a lot. My understanding and pursuit of happiness is just something that fuels me in life. It takes a lot of work to just be happy. People don't realize. You have to work on a lot of stuff internally. So that just naturally became a part of the music and the project, cause that's just what I want to put out there and you kind've have to lead by example - I want everyone to be happy.
Justin: I think it comes across, and it’s really cool to see - just knowing you as a person - that someone could listen to "Commitment" and get that same impression without meeting you.
So - what led you into singing?
Ali: Thats a good question and I think it’s important, because when Alex left the band, I was like - okay, I need to be in the driver’s seat. And I just needed to have something that I could provide. I had learned a bit of piano after I graduated college, just so I could understand music theory and stuff. But I was like, what can I do that would make the biggest difference to the music, as far as setting me apart. And that was learning how to sing. Cause you know, people who sing on songs - you attach that voice to the music, and I just decided that I wanted to do that. I started taking singing lessons, and it was so helpful - I'm not Whitney Houston - I wouldn’t even say that I was a good singer, but I know how to sing now. There is a strategy, it’s all breathing, you gotta use your body. So there was a lot of stuff that I didn’t know, that now I can be in the studio, step up to the mic and use those strategies to do it. I felt like it was an identity thing that I wanted for the project. It makes it more mine, and more me when I'm singing on it.
What was your studio process like?
Ali: He (Niteppl) is a very talented singer, songwriter, and producer - he works with Poolside, he was a songwriter for TextMeRecords, he toured with Low Roar - he's got a lot of experience and he's incredibly talented. He knows what music I like and the sound I was going for. So, it felt kinda like how Alex and I were making music. And he would just start off with like, a drum beat or a sample we both liked, or he's always tinkering so he'll have something started and we'd finish it. The vocal aspect I would get a feeling that, this is a point where it needs vocals and he would just push me to do it and help me through it. I've never really sat down and written lyrics - all the lyrics I've written for these songs on this EP just kind’ve, came out of me. And I'm very happy with all the lyrics to these songs. Its that whole action begets motivation thing - just because of me being up to the plate - You have to write something for this now - than it just comes out. And he'd help me with the melody and stuff. Im so thankful to have had him through this process, he was just very supportive and a great teammate.
Justin: Yeah, his resume is a great fit for yours. Especially with what I mentioned earlier about the summer vibe that you bring to the music. Cause I do hear the Poolside. I do hear the - I think someone said Holy Ghost - and I was like, “Oh Shit!” There's a lot of DFA in there. And I was trying to put my finger on it as well, cause thats a really good analog to draw parallels to. The intricacies of the instrumentation of "Commitment" lends itself well to artists of that ilk
Ali: Yeah - and he likes a lot of that too. We started off liking a lot of the same stuff. Ed Banger, Justice, and DFA records. And he also has that indie background with his own project, and his work with Low Roar. I love that stuff. So having those elements and then just his, seemingly limitless talent - with my ideas, him being able to create them. He doesn't make funky stuff, but he likes it and he's more than capable of it, so it just was the perfect storm.
Justin: Nice, it sounds like it was a great opportunity for him to learn and grow too.
How did you two meet?
Ali: I met him through Popgang, cause he's on there as well - it's all just a bunch of friends - so they just became my friends. Alton and I always got along - he's a very silly, hilarious dude - we started hanging out more, partying together. One night he said he wanted to make music together - and like, people say that you know, at a party - but he was serious and pushed to make it happen. His willingness to do it for nothing - this is his profession - and being willing to do that was pretty unbelievable.
Justin: Rad - it sounds like everything came together really organically, which is hard to come by.
What are your release plans for the EP?
Ali: There’s three original songs on it, and I have remixes done for two of them. One by TYGRBYT, Chris Sanders - the founder of Popgang and member of Manics. Also a really talented guy. He just gets it, he gets the process. He worked at Mezzanine. We like a bunch of the same stuff. So he did “Commitment”. And then MPHD, Bradley Exum - he did the remix of “Weekend”. His project is a lot of fun, we like a lot of the same stuff as well. Still waiting to confirm the remix of “Timeless” right now. But I think I’ll release a track/ remix, track/ remix, and then the EP. Stretch it out. You have to give it to people in pieces, it’s just easier to digest. It’s nice to give every song it’s moment.
How has the pandemic fucked your plans?
Ali: So yeah, no shows - which sucks - its nice to have streams. Its kind've nice that everyone is on pause, cause it gives me time to catch up. Even though its not a race or anything. But I'm aiming to come out of the crisis with some momentum. It just hard to have motivation. You have to self motivate. And the person I was making music with consistently doesn't live here anymore, so now its all on me and I haven't been as good at it as I should be. So I need to get back to work and have a disciplined schedule and just put in the work. Right now Im just focusing on getting this release out and doing it right. And just kind've enjoying the free time.
Justin: Yeah, you deserve to take some time off and revel in this moment. This is all the hard work, let it pay off.
Plans for the rest of the year?
Justin: Its dope that you've been able to ally yourself with The Midway - what do you have planned for the rest of the year?
Ali: Well the rest of the year will just be keeping the momentum of the release going - finally that momentum will be outward, rather than just in a studio making stuff. Focusing on that, and trying to learn from what people think about it. And how I can get more people to hear it. And then, just keep doing streams. I love The Midway, I love everyone that works there, so having that is just a huge blessing. We're throwing another party in September. Nothing else is planned. I want to do more mixes and work with other people - just kinda going with the flow right now.