Jackson Rathbone Unleashes Inner Serial Killer for STARMOTHER Music Video Debut!

Jackson Rathbone, known for his acting, has spent the last five years meticulously crafting deeply personal music, not for himself, but for his wife, Sheila Rathbone. This culminated in their first musical collaboration in six years: STARMOTHER, an Austin-based disco punk band. Their debut album, "Disco Punk is Dead," is a raw and independent project born from Rathbone's journey to sobriety, tackling themes of addiction, temptation, self-destruction, love, and survival. Sheila takes the lead as the band's singer, while Jackson plays guitar and provides backing vocals, fulfilling a dream he's harbored for approximately 15 years.

The couple initially met through music when Rathbone was touring with his former band, 100 Monkeys. While Jackson had long desired to make music with Sheila, his initial vision leaned towards rockabilly, influenced by his perception of her voice resembling Wanda Jackson. However, this genre did not appeal to Sheila. Despite performing background vocals for Rathbone over the years, no project had truly inspired her to become a lead singer until the creation of "Disco Punk is Dead." Rathbone realized during the writing process that he was inherently composing for Sheila's voice, having long been captivated by her singing around the house. For Sheila, this new musical direction finally resonated, aligning with the style she always wanted to explore.

The album's creation emerged from one of the most vulnerable periods in Rathbone's life. He described the five-year songwriting process as a therapeutic journey through his recovery from alcoholism. This radical honesty became the core theme of the record, a stark contrast to his previous work where he felt he maintained a distance from his audience. He found that writing for Sheila's voice provided the comfort and freedom to be more honest with himself than ever before. The collaborative dynamic with Sheila, whom he trusts implicitly, also played a crucial role, especially in learning when to let go of his perfectionist tendencies and trust her artistic judgment as the singer.

The first glimpse into "Disco Punk is Dead" is the lead single, "Karate," which encapsulates STARMOTHER's inherent contradiction: creating ridiculously fun sounds to address profoundly serious subjects. Inspired by "stupid-fun pop songs," Rathbone chose "Karate" as a three-syllable word that felt lighthearted. However, the song quickly evolved into a meditation on addiction, acknowledging its perpetual presence even after achieving sobriety. He described this as a "precarious balance, like a violent peace within the soul," and considered an earlier title, "Horses and Glue," to reflect the lingering stigma of a past life. Ultimately, "Karate" is about mental self-defense, re-parenting the mind, and breaking down childhood traumas, delivered in a manner that avoids sounding preachy or philosophical.

Naturally, the music video for "Karate" embraces B-movie horror, featuring a cannibalistic serial killer. The Rathbones, self-proclaimed nerds with a love for sci-fi, slashers, and all things weird, have even developed an elaborate fictional mythology for STARMOTHER. They pushed the song's theme of addiction as a haunting presence to its extreme, envisioning a serial killer addicted to killing. Directed by Danin Jacquay (Deathcats), the '70s-set video features Rathbone as the killer opposite Sheila, with one memorable sequence showing Sheila's disembodied head singing from inside a refrigerator, a practical effect crafted by production designer Olivia Maaghul. The video was also notably brought to life by an all-female production and post-production team, including cinematographer Paisley Zerr. This project firmly established STARMOTHER's ethos: serious subject matter with an overarching goal to "have a good fucking time." Sheila emphasized, "If it's not fun, we don't want to do it."

STARMOTHER's commitment to this attitude extends to their independent, DIY approach. "Disco Punk is Dead" was created without a label or distributor. Rathbone personally designed the album artwork, combining one of Jacquay's photographs with his own miniature photography, featuring robots, kaiju, and disco saucers. Even the band's logo was hand-cut to create its shadow effect. Despite prioritizing fun, their work ethic is intense, with Sheila's powerful vocals often surprising musicians from neighboring studios. After 15 years, Jackson finally found the record Sheila wanted to make, and in doing so, created something deeply personal that he hadn't initially set out to achieve. They describe it as their "favorite record," made for themselves. Beyond "Karate," the album includes tracks like "Hesitation," a catchy '80s-infused disco punk bop with a sci-fi sound, and "Landfill," a percussive banger with a memorable bridge.