Fightstar

Fightstar is a London, United Kingdom post-hardcore and rock group formed in 2003. The band consists of Charlie Simpson on vocals, guitar and keyboard, Alex Westaway on guitar and vocals, Dan Haigh on bass guitar, and Omar Abidi on drums. It is active from 2003 to the present and is associated with Trustkill Records.

Releases

The band’s debut EP is They Liked You Better When You Were Dead, released in 2005. Its first full-length album, Grand Unification, arrives in 2006 and shows a marked break from Simpson’s previous work in Busted, with a heavier sound built around raw energy, melodic guitars and hard rock hooks. The second album, One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours, follows in 2007, with singles including “99”, “We Apologise For Nothing”, “Deathcar” and “Floods”. Alternate Endings appears in 2008 as a compilation of B-sides, acoustic performances and covers.

The third studio album, Be Human, is released in 2009 and reaches number 20 on the UK Album Chart. It includes the singles “The English Way”, “Mercury Summer”, “Never Change” and “A City on Fire”, and it incorporates orchestral elements. The band’s fifth and most recent album, Behind The Devil’s Back, follows in 2015.

Hiatus and related projects

Fightstar pauses activity for periods while members work on other projects. Westaway and Haigh form Gunship, a music project focused on creating music for film, and they also complete film work with Philip Koch of LucasFilm and compose the score for Grzegorz Jonkajtys’s short film The 3rd Letter with Audrey Riley. That film receives several awards at festivals around the world.

Charlie Simpson also pursues a solo career, releasing the EP When We Were Lions through Pledge Music and his debut album Young Pilgrim in 2011. In 2014, the band marks its 10-year anniversary with a show at London’s Forum. It later performs a one-off show in 2024 to mark 20 years since its formation.