Damien Starkey on being a fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars & forming Sleepkillers
Sleepkillers is a new band with an all-star lineup. Featuring members of Puddle Of Mudd (Damien Starkey, Adam Latiff), Limp Bizkit (Sam Rivers) and Saliva (Bobby Amaru), Sleepkillers debuted earlier this year with its first single, "Dirty Foot."
I had the pleasure of doing Q&A with Damien Starkey, who has scored and wrote music for more than 70 TV shows. Beyond his work with Puddle Of Mudd, Starkey had also played with Society Red and Burn Season.
More on Starkey and Sleepkillers -- who plan on releasing its debut full-length album early next year -- can be found online by following the group on Facebook via www.facebook.com/sleepkillersband.
Word has it that you are a big Jacksonville Jaguars fan. When did that first start?
Damien Starkey: I grew up in Jax, so I’ve been a fan since the beginning of the franchise when I was 11 years old. They have definitely had their ups and downs over the years, but they are still the hometown boys and I will always be a fan.
Who was your NFL team before the Jaguars?
Damien Starkey: I did not have one.
Do you have a favorite player on the Jaguars?
Damien Starkey: My favorite players are always going to be the guys who are performing the best. Guys like [Leonard] Fournette, [Calais] Campbell, and [Jalen] Ramsey are among my current favs.
How do you think this season is going for the Jaguars?
Damien Starkey: We are hurting right now. It seems like we are having a difficult time keeping the momentum going on offense. The Jags need to figure out how to keep Fournette healthy and learn to use him as a bigger weapon. We definitely have the talent to compete with any team in the league, but that doesn’t mean anything if we can't win consistently.
Are there any teams you feel as passionately about as you do the Jaguars?
Damien Starkey: No.
Were you yourself ever a football player? A competitive athlete in other sports?
Damien Starkey: I played baseball, basketball and football growing up, but excelled at baseball.
Sleepkillers is your new band. How did it come together?
Damien Starkey: Sam and I have been friends for a long time and have always talked about doing a project together. One day we finally decided to start working on something together to just see how it goes. We loved our chemistry and the fact that we had no outside pressure and just made songs exactly how we wanted to which was very liberating. A few songs turned into an entire album and now here we are.
Do you have a favorite Sleepkillers song?
Damien Starkey: That’s very difficult for me. The newest song is almost always my favorite.
What do the next few months look like for Sleepkillers? Is the goal for this to be a full-time band?
Damien Starkey: We take Sleepkillers seriously and want to continue to release singles/videos until the release of the album. Being an independent artist gives us some amazing freedoms that we are enjoying right now. Such as not having to make a definitive decision on a release date for the album. Maybe we will just do a video for every song, who knows?
When not busy with music, how do you like to spend your free time?
Damien Starkey: Hanging out with my family, doing family stuff.
Is there something you wish more people knew about Damien Starkey?
Damien Starkey: No. I'm just as boring as everyone else -- I just have a cool job.
Finally, Damien, any last words for the kids?
Damien Starkey: Try to go out of your way to be nice to everyone you meet. No matter if you're having a bad day or not, just be good to people. It's amazing how many great things will come back to you in life if you try your best to follow that mindset.