Starflyer 59 is an American alternative rock band from Riverside, California that was founded in 1993 by Jason Martin, brother of Ronnie Martin of Joy Electric. While Jason Martin has written nearly all of Starflyer 59's songs, the band has included a number of different musicians over the years, including Jeff Cloud, Frank Lenz, and Richard Swift. The band's sound was initially identified as an outgrowth of the shoegaze movement of the early 1990s, but the band's music has gradually evolved to the point of little resemblance to that of its early days. History 1993–1997: Formation and "shoegaze" era Starflyer 59 was signed to Tooth & Nail Records, their original and current label, after Jason Martin gave a demo to Brandon Ebel when the two met at a music festival in 1993. Shortly afterwards, Ebel contacted Martin and offered him a record contract. The band was one of Tooth & Nail's original signees. In 1994, Starflyer 59's debut album, Silver, was recorded and released. In mid-1994, Starflyer 59 released a follow-up EP to Silver entitled She's the Queen. Both Silver and She's the Queen exhibited heavy shoegaze influences with significant usage of reverb, phaser, and delay. In 1995, Starflyer 59 released their second album, Gold. The sound was similar to their first release, while Jason Martin continued to add layers of guitar riffs to each song. This album is considered instrumental in developing the "shoegaze" sound. In 2016, Pitchfork Media ranked Gold as the number 41 best shoegaze album of all time. Lyrically, the album continued the trend of somewhat depressive and lovelorn content in contrast to the message of the band's Christian record label. In 1996, the band released a live album via Velvet Blue Music entitled Plugged. For Starflyer 59's next studio album, Americana (which was released in 1997) several changes to the band were made. Bass player Andrew Larson departed and was replaced by Eric Campuzano (The Prayer Chain). In addition, Wayne Everett, also of The Prayer Chain, became the band's studio drummer. Campuzano left the band before it began touring to support the new album. Replacing him was Jeff Cloud, who had been Starflyer's touring manager. Americana had a more rock bent than the band's previous two albums with more uplifting and explicitly religious lyrics. 1998–2001: Change in sound with The Fashion Focus The release of The Fashion Focus in 1998 signaled a significant change in