The LA-Based Band, Right The Stars Discuss Working With Film Actors, Their Third Album, “The Only Thing” and Much More!

The LA-based band, Right The Stars, released their third album, The Only Thing in October.

It is their 3rd album in 4 years and they’ve seen some great success in the world of music licensing. Placements include an AD for Honda Australia, Target and X-Box/Pixar, Grey’s Anatomy, One Tree Hill, Pretty Little Liars, and the feature film Furry Vengeance. Frontman Rich Jacques also spent years working, and continues to work, with other artists and actors including producing Kina Grannis’ debut album Stairwells, coaching Ben Affleck on guitar for the movie Hollywoodland, and working with Emma Stone to improve her bass skills for The Rocker.

Learn more about Right The Stars in the following interview:

Do you remember when you first decided to start this project? Where did you come up with the group name?

I had a studio in the old bank building on Hollywood and Cahuenga. It was a great space. It was a 7 story building full of people making music, producers, mixers, artists. I started writing songs with friends of mine and it was starting to sound like an album. I wanted a name as a sort of a creative umbrella to not pigeon hole the music as a singer songwriter. I heard the Wilco song “Esus, Etc” while I was driving around and the line “you were right about the stars” stuck out to me. I was toying with right about the stars and my friend Rob Giles suggested I condense it to right the stars.

How do you think being from Los Angeles has influenced your music and/or your career in general?

LA has a great creative freedom and collaborative spirit. It’s inspiring to be around and have access to people who are truly at the cutting edge of music. And as far as the business, I think it’s necessary to be around the people that make it happen.

Can you briefly tell me what it’s like working with actors like Ben Affleck on guitar for the movie “Hollywoodland,” and Emma Stone to improve her bass skills for “The Rocker.” Is it difficult to make a musician out of an actor or do they typically rise to the occasion?

I’ve found that actors have a really heightened curiosity for detail which makes them really quick learners. Ben’s really sharp. He would point out subtle things that I wasn’t even aware I was doing.

You just released your third album, The Only Thing. What are some of the emotions you are feeling about that?

It took about 2 years to make. And in that 2 years, there were definitely a lot of ups and downs. I think every artist feels at some point they want to throw in the towel but I’m very glad that I pushed through. It feels really good to have it completed and out in the world.

For this album, you teamed up with quite the list of musicians and producers – Matt Wallace (Maroon 5), Jeff Trott (Sheryl Crow), Kyler England and more. How did you decide to work with these people in particular?

That’s the great thing about LA, there’s a lot of amazing talent. Over the years I’ve worked with all of these people on a number of different things and these collaborations just happened to stick.

How does the music on The Only Thing differ from your previous two albums?

This is a more synth-based record then the last two. Also it’s the most I’ve time I’ve put in as far as rewriting and reproducing songs. It was an interesting experiment and I learned a lot. Definitely see the benefit in reworking things now. Interesting to hear where they started and then finished.

Thus far, what’s a favorite memory or something funny that’s taken place with you (in-studio or elsewhere)?

Eric Rosse mixed the song “The Only Thing” and accidentally sent me and my co-writer Aron Friedman our demo back to us thinking it was the mix he made. Of course we were extremely underwhelmed and confused because he was excited on the phone about the mix. Once we figured out what happened we had a good laugh.

What do you hope people take away from listening to The Only Thing? Is their an overall message?

I hope it leaves them feeling inspired.