Starcrawler talk touring Australia, dealing with hype and Arrow de Wilde's rise as an unlikely feminist role model

This is a band who's received the dreaded or blessed - depending on your perspective - "saviours of rock" tag from multiple music journalists in the US.

It's not surprising the four-piece have become darlings of the music press since releasing their self-titled debut album in 2018.

All the elements for classic rock mythology are there. Four good-looking kids producing a punchy mix of glam, punk and pop which soundchecks everything from Black Sabbath, The Runaways, Iggy Pop, The Ramones, Nirvana and The White Stripes.

Then there's the theatrical live performances led by charismatic frontwoman, Arrow de Wilde, 20, and flamboyant 19-year-old guitarist and Jack White lookalike, Henri Cash.

Standing at 190cm, the waif-thin de Wilde could pass for the love child of Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson if they'd hooked up on the 1999 Big Day Out Tour.

Throw in her notorious stage antics of spitting fake blood, wearing a straight jacket and hospital gown, simulated oral sex and masochistically hitting herself in the head with her microphone, and she's impossible to ignore.

Despite the hype, Starcrawler are doing the hard yards. For their first Australian trip they opted to support fellow LA band The Growlers, on a tour that passes through various regional towns like Sawtell and San Remo.

READ MORE: The Growlers' Brooks Nielsen talks Beach Goth, Natural Affair and working with Julian Casablancas

When the Newcastle Herald caught up with Starcrawler on Monday as they prepared for their third Australian show in Brisbane we found four wide-eyed kids loving the chance to see kangaroos and emus and swim at clean beaches.

"It feels more like a summer vacation than a tour," de Wilde said.

Back home Starcrawler have attracted some serious admirers. Elton John, Dave Grohl, Garbage's Shirley Manson, The Sex Pistols' Steve Jones, Iggy Pop and Morrissey have publicly expressed their love of the band.

"I don't know how you can't enjoy it, it's pretty cool," said de Wilde. "It definitely makes you feel good inside. I'm just grateful."

De Wilde's nonchalant acceptance of Starcrawler's popularity with some of "the gatekeepers" of rock'n'roll is probably partly explained by her lineage.

Her mother is rock and design photographer Autumn de Wilde, who's shot album covers for Elliott Smith, Beck, Jenny Lewis, and Childish Gambino, while her father, Aaron Sperske, has drummed for US alt-country band Beachwood Sparks and Father John Misty.

De Wilde, in stark contrast to her onstage persona, was awfully shy as a child, struggling to even speak to other children.

That all began to change at 14 when she discovered Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard of Ozz album. She became obsessed with music and soon started collaborating with drummer Austin Smith in 2015.

Shortly after fellow Grand Arts High School student Henri Cash, who looked "cool" and was a whiz guitarist was asked to join, as was bassist Tim Franco to complete Starcrawler.

De Wilde's family connections also helped establish the band. Controversial US alt-country star Ryan Adams, a friend of de Wilde's mother, produced their self-titled debut which created a buzz on its release in January 2018, driven by the catchy single I Love LA.

The hype continued to build after Starcrawler won the Grulke Prize for Developing US Act at South By South West Festival two months later, followed by an appearance on Later With Jools Holland in the UK.

Following the initial success Starcrawler teamed up with experienced rock producer Nick Launay (Silverchair, INXS, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds) for their second album.

The result was Devour You, released in October, which showcased how rapidly Starcrawler had developed. The album continued their punky version of glam, but added touches of alt-country (No More Pennies) and doom-rock (Bet My Brains).

"We just play and weren't trying to change anything," Cash said. "It was just what came out naturally at the time.

"I think we've gotten better at songwriting and the more we've done it, the more we've been able to expand upon ourselves and grow as people."

Through the band's meteoric rise, the notoriety of de Wilde's antagonistic, yet theatrical, antics also guaranteed Starcrawler stood out among their mostly dull indie rock contemporaries.

"It's not something we ever talk about, which is weird," she said. "It's not like we had a meeting, 'OK we're gonna do this'.

"We just did it and it worked, so we stuck with it. I can't imagine not doing it now."

Some commentators such as Shirley Manson have labelled de Wilde a feminist role model by "challenging the norms in which women are seen in music."

De Wilde said there's no "deep message behind it, it's just fun and me.

"I never really had any intentions behind what I do. I knew it would effect people one way or the other, good or bad, which it does.

"But I wanted to let people figure it out for themselves and if it does effect them in that way then that's really cool and I back that."

Catch Starcrawler when they support The Growlers on Thursday at Newcastle's 48 Watt Street.