Meet David F. Starr of Fullerton

Today we’d like to introduce you to David F. Starr.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Of course! I’m going to drop in my bio because it’s was written up nicely!
David F. Starr is best known for his old master-style paintings and drawings enhanced with digital color. His work delves into myth, science, cuteness, violence, and relationships. Starr was born in Algoma, Wisconsin, and attended the University of Wisconsin–Stout. As a student artist in residence and later as an emerging artist grant recipient, he explored religion and science more deeply through large figurative and robotic works. Starr’s current multi-year project investigates education, scientific discoveries, cuteness, music, and violence. The draftsmanship, luminosity, and illusion of textures in his figures make his work accessible and engaging to viewers of all ages. He lives and works in Southern California.​
David is now teaming up with his son, Gustav Starr, to create the series and cartoon band “MetalLord.”
Meet MetalLord, a father-and-son band unlike any you’ve encountered. While family duos are nothing new in music, MetalLord stands out: teenage frontman Gustav Starr is a world-class metal vocalist and music production prodigy, while his father, David, commands the guitar as they both bring the band’s visual universe to life through visual art.
But their talents don’t stop at music. Gustav excels at stop-motion animation just as David does with a paintbrush, and together they co-create the comic book that anchors the MetalLord universe. Their collaboration fuses traditional heavy metal with a surge of modern underground hardcore energy, delivering a sonic experience every bit as dynamic and vivid as their artwork.
This is showcased in their debut EP, Enter the Death. Step into their world: MetalLord, a teenage guitarist, dreams of starting a band. He’s thrust into the spotlight after saving Earth by commandeering a powerful extraterrestrial robot during an alien invasion. Piloting the mech with his guitar prowess, he instantly becomes an intergalactic superstar. “We see MetalLord as a heavy metal Voltron,” says David Starr. “Building our songs around this universe opens up endless possibilities for epic lyrics and storytelling, but great songs come from real emotions and we dug deep for those.” Now, with a world-saving robot at his command but still searching for his perfect band, MetalLord begins his quest, scouring the galaxy for musicians to join him on interstellar tours. Yet Earth remains his home, and he’s always ready to defend it from monstrous threats.
“Snake Oil Salesman,” “HeartAche,” and “Waltz of Ghosts,” released this year, will help round out their first full-length album, “Black Rainbow.” This, along with the successful launch of the Kickstarter project for the first MetalLord comic book, has generated excitement as fans await what this father-and-son duo will create next!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It seems like every artistic endeavor I take on has this extreme challenge to it. It also gets me excited and I really feed off that. From wanting to paint in an old master style at a time in the early 2000’s when that info wasn’t readily available, to getting gallery representation for my painting, to creating the most high end ABC book, which took about 7 years to get created and produced, to creating and releasing a comic book story with my son, and then a creating a band and releasing professional music with him, to now performing that music, each step has been a mountain to climb. But those mountains have been worthy challenges… that’s what I’ve told my son, is that we have a dragon inside us (due to our energy and disposition) and it will allow us to conquer great feats or it will eat us alive (through negative habits) we just need to keep feeding our dragons exciting challenges, and not leave it to its own devices.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Award winning professional figurative oil painter, showing work professionally for over 20 years, most recently had a piece at Muzeo in Anaheim and performed a portrait demonstration this year. Author and artist behind “A-Z Baby Animals + Scientists”, the most high end ABC book every created. Co-Creator of Happy Yoga with Sarah Starr, an accessible yoga TV show with 10 seasons on public television and CreateTV, created with his wife Sarah. Half of MetalLord, band and comic book story with his son, Gustav Starr.

I love doing things at the highest level possible… if my son says I want to make a comic book, I say lets make it happen. If my wife says it would be cool to make a yoga show for PBS, I’m like “lets figure out how we can make it happen.” But what sets me apart, and I think that’s what my wife and son have in common with me, is a relentlessness to bring it into the world with the level of execution we envision. If that means painting a painting for 120 hours until it looks like what you envisioned, to re-shooting the shot you wanted for a TV show a dozen times, to trying to master a musical craft, you have to envision yourself being able to do it, and keep trying until you get there. And I like to have fun if possible while doing it, even if all the steps aren’t “fun”.

What’s next?
I really look forward to performing live with MetalLord, which is my son and me, and printing and releasing our first comic book for it. We’ve been working on the story for over 6 years and working on the music together for the last 5, but I’ve been playing many of the songs since I was my son’s age, so getting to make them into professional music and perform them with him is such a treat! If anyone wants to follow along for the journey all my socials are @davidfstarr and www.gustavstarr.com for the website for MetalLord (Music and comic book) and www.azbabyanimals.com for the ABC book! Cheers!!

Pricing:

• MetalLord Comic Book is availble for preorder for $25 www.gustavstarr.com
• A-Z Baby Animals + Scientists is $40 www.azbabyanimals.com
• MetalLord Music is available on all platforms and youtube
• original paintings: https://davidfstarr.com/main.html

Contact Info:

• Website: www.gustavstarr.com and www.azbabyanimals.com & https://davidfstarr.com/main.html
• Instagram: @davidfstarr for all socials @metalLord_art for MetalLord
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetalLordArt
• Twitter: @davidfstarr
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/davidfstarr & https://www.youtube.com/gustavstarr
• Soundcloud: https://open.spotify.com/album/6F5DHrCFL7PykR3lR5IKa6

Image Credits
David F. Starr or Sarah Starr