Francis Farewell Starlite

Early life and education

Starlite was born on June 14, 1981 in Oakland, California. He was raised in Berkeley, California, California and attended Berkeley High School, where he befriended future collaborators and Francis and the Lights members Rene Solomon and Jake Schreier. In 1999, Starlite enrolled at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.

Musical career

Starlite befriended future Francis and the Lights collaborator Jake Rabinbach while a student at Wesleyan. Starlite attended Wesleyan from 1999 before ultimately dropping out in 2002. While at Wesleyan, they were schoolmates of MGMT's members Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser, who they have since toured with. Starlite began traveling across the United States by train in an effort to find where he was going to take his life. While on a train traveling from Elkhart, Indiana to New Orleans, Starlite came to the decision that he was going to pursue his passion of music as a career path. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2010, Starlite said, "I had played music and loved it my entire life, but hadn’t fully committed to it. And there was a moment when I wrote down the different things I could do. And then I wrote down, "I think I’ll give the band a go." Shortly afterwards, Starlite returned to his birthplace Oakland, California, where he lived and worked in a rehearsal space at Soundwave Studios and wrote songs for close to a year. Starlite subsequently drove across the U.S. in a decommissioned postal truck to New York City, where he then formed Francis and the Lights. The band rehearsed for an entire year before starting to perform through a series of invitation-only shows at a white fabric draped warehouse space.

In 2007, Francis and the Lights self-released their debut EP, Striking.

In August 2008, Francis and the Lights self-released their second EP, A Modern Promise.

On 3 November 2008, Starlite incorporated the company Francis and the Lights, LLC, a limited liability company, as an alternative to signing a record deal. It was followed by an investment of $100,000 from the Normative Music Company, giving Francis and the Lights, LLC a valuation of $1 million. Normative's president, Jake Lodwick, a fan of Francis and the Lights, said, "Francis Starlite is an uncompromising musician and a strong leader. I believe he will bring Francis and the Lights to international stardom. The spectacular live shows, beautiful recordings, and his relentless character back me up."

On 20 July 2010, Francis and the Lights released their third EP, It'll Be Better, through Cantora Records. It was produced by Francis Farewell Starlite and Jake Schreier.

In 2010, Francis and the Lights toured with Drake, MGMT, Ke$ha, and La Roux.

In 2013, Francis and the Lights released their fourth EP, Like a Dream.

In 2016, Francis and the Lights were featured on Chance the Rapper's "Summer Friends" from his third mixtape, Coloring Book. Francis and the Lights will serve as the opening act of the North American tour dates of Chance the Rapper's Magnificent Coloring World Tour, which run between September 2016 and October 2016.

On 15 May 2016, Starlite released a solo piano song entitled "Thank You," which was recorded on a phone in Justin Vernon's living room. Vernon later said on Twitter, "This man. I can't say enough words. Recorded right in my living room. I cried then. I love you Fran."

On 7 July 2016, Francis and the Lights released a music video for the new song "Friends" featuring Bon Iver and Kanye West.

On 13 August 2016, Francis and the Lights debuted their debut studio album Farewell, Starlite! during their performance at the Eaux Claires music festival. The album was released on 24 September 2016.

Personal life

Starlite legally changed his name to Francis Farewell Starlite. When asked in an interview with Entertainment Weekly why he had changed his name, Starlite answered:

Let me think about how I want to answer that question. Let me think for a moment. [One minute passes] It’s very difficult because I’m very proud of the fact that I changed my name. It has meaning to me. I believe that people change, and that you are what you make of yourself. And that that is true. That’s true … I don’t want to, I don’t want to … The problem is that I feel like when I start talking about these things, I start to say things that I wouldn’t necessarily want to read myself saying. They might be too easily misinterpreted. So I think I’ll just leave it at that. I’m proud of the fact that I changed my name. I am what I make of myself.

Albums

EPs

Singles

Compilation Appearances

Appearances/Production/Writing Credits

Film Scores

Singles

Production

Writing

Performance