STARSET

Columbus, Ohio’s STARSET is a synth-driven alternative rock band known for science fiction-influenced lyrics. ∙ Their debut single, “My Demons,” spent 42 weeks on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs chart in 2014, more than any other song. ∙ “Monster”—a 2016 song written from the perspective of someone wrestling with existential questions about morality—reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs chart. ∙ STARSET was nominated for three awards (Hard Rock Artist, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year) at the 2017 Loudwire Music Awards, which honor achievements in rock music. ∙ In 2017, STARSET founder Dustin Bates cowrote a graphic novel, The Prox Transmissions, that delved into the group’s complicated fictional origin story. ∙ MNQN, Bates’ synth-pop side-project, released a self-titled album in 2019.