San Diego Reader

Mark James Haemmerle: Electronics, Guitar (acoustic), Guitar (electric), Keyboards, Vocals | Christina Haemmerle: Harmonica, Keyboards, Percussion, Vocals | John Falk: Bass guitar, Guitar (acoustic), Guitar (electric), Keyboards | Shadow Dr-5: Bass guitar, Drums, Keyboards, Percussion

Genre: Electro | DJ, Noise | Xprmntl, Rock

RIYL: Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus, the Smiths, the Cure

Upcoming Local Shows

Discography

Synoposis

Inception: San Diego, 2001

Ex-Band Members: Bridgit Bardell, Guitar (acoustic), Guitar (electric) Mishey Moreno, Bass guitar, Vocals

Influences: Bauhaus, Joy Division, the Cure, Sisters of Mercy, the Chameleons UK, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Wire, Clan of Xymox, the Smiths, Mission UK, For Against, Echo and the Bunnymen, Depeche Mode, the Church, Skinny Puppy, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Killing Joke, Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Pixies, Dinosaur Jr.

Background:

“The first bass line I learned was Joy Division’s ‘Disorder’ in 1986,” says Starcrossed singer/guitarist Mark Haemmerle, aka Mark Starcrossed, who founded his band in 2011.

From the start, he drew inspiration from life itself. “I used to deliver pizza for Round Table,” says Haemmerle, “and every time I got off freeway 52 and went into downtown La Jolla, there was either an accident or someone who almost caused one.” Thus was born the band’s popular sing-a-long anthem “All the Fuckers in La Jolla Drive like Shit.” Sample lyric:

“ 'Cause your car cost more, don’t mean you own the road
Best get off my ass, don’t make me lock 'n' load.”

“So I wrote a song about how shitty people drive in La Jolla. It’s not just people that live there; it seems to be everyone. I think, when you get in that area, it just seems to happen. For a video, I started collecting accident footage from every time I drive down there…I caught some footage of a fire truck and a police car at a two-car accident on the side of the road. I also got footage of the crazy traffic when one of the stop lights went out.”

Haemmerle has also written a song about the local suicide cult Heaven's Gate. "I was shocked and surprised when I heard about the Heaven's Gate cult, and I wrote the song shortly after it happened," says Haemmerle of "39 Dead." The song refers to the mass suicide that occurred in Rancho Santa Fe in March 1997. Eighteen men and 21 women took their lives at the instruction of music professor Marshall Applewhite, who'd promised his followers a comet ride into the afterlife with aliens.

"I heard it on the news today/ 39 people dead they say/ A madman had led them astray.../ Triangles on their faces and money in their hands/ he told them they would venture to faraway lands."

Starcrossed guitarist Bridgit Bardell died in September 2007 from an accidental heroin overdose. Mark Haemmerle formerly played with local goth bands Sleepy Hollow and Winter Winds, and currently runs the audio/video production company Devil Town Studios. He began hosting an open mic night in January 2008 at the Skybox Bar in Clairemont.