In a world where En Vogue and the Beastie Boys have a love child, Fun Tonight is born. Featuring a cappella intros, funk guitar, live band-in-a-club feels with brushed drums, and cool layered synths with crisp beats, Fun Tonight is knit with threads of joy in the creative process.
Multi-talented artist STARLA, the musical alter-ego of American songwriter Stephanie Croff, is created from a pure, positive belief that anything is possible.
“I find this incredibly freeing. I feel as if I have permission to try things, say things, play things, write things from a more optimistic mindset. I don’t have to tell it like it is, I can tell it like I want it to be. Write stories that feel good when I sing them. I like that a lot.”
STARLA feels her way through the songwriting process in a similar way that she did as Stephanie, but with a lot more ease. Aided by modern recording techniques, writing songs with her electric piano in midi-form, playing and directly recording her guitar and bass–able to edit sounds and textures later on in the computer–she finds more grace in how she approaches her instruments.
“I just know, as soon as I sit down to practice, a new song is going to fall out. It’s just how it is. So I always practice on record now. Just to get the idea. Lay it out in it’s first form. But the best part is – I don’t have to play it perfectly. I don’t even necessarily have to know how the whole thing goes – I can just lay down the parts I hear right now and go from there.”
This step-by-step, layered approach to songwriting and music production has opened up new palettes for STARLA to express through. Influenced by rock and roll, indie, alternative, hip hop, classical, and jazz, STARLA weaves her favorite sound signatures through layers of synths, guitars, bass, drums, while often featuring a clean and classic piano tone and primarily undistorted voice.
“You know, I love a stripped back singer-songwriter sound. But I also love Led Zeppelin. I love Tom Petty. I love the Beastie Boys – I love Enya! There’s so much that I love about music in general, but I really love visceral, live bands. So when I write and mix – I like to imagine there’s a band playing. It helps a lot when I’m trying to figure out where I want some notes to sit, or how I want to pan certain instruments. I want there to always be a sense of – seeing and hearing the musicians in the room, even though it’s all just me on the recordings.”
It’s not just the band that’s in STARLA’s music, it’s her magnetic vocals and lyrical acumen that resonates deeply with so many listeners. Songs with themes of encouragement or determination, of being present or playful in the moment, or simply enjoying the opportunity to fantasize and bliss out.
“I just wanna have fun. I just want to be in the moment, where I AM the music. Where – like a breath – like the comfort of a stretch – I feel the music move through me as I make it and then – getting to hear it back? Through my own, actual ears? It’s just so cool.”