With non-stop tours, video shoots and TV spots for his music, it makes sense that Ryan Star’s upcoming album “11:59″ has an underlying theme of time.

“Socially and personally for me 11:59 is about seizing the moment so all of the songs have an urgency in them,” Star tells andPOP.

And one thing is for sure: Star has plenty of moments to seize. 

Being busy is probably an understatement. In the span of a few months, Star’s music was aired on sports highlight reels for ESPN and Nike, and he had two songs featured in Super Bowl commercials. And in case you’ve seen Fox’s new show “Lie To Me,” you may have noticed Star’s song “Brand New Day” as the theme song.

The rocker is currently on tour with American Idol winner David Cook (which could confuse the hell out of Idol fans, since Ryan Star shares the same name with a season one female contestant [who spells her name Ryan Starr]).

“I am honored to be going out with [Cook] on this college tour,” says Star of the American Idol winner. “Cook really has given me a great opportunity and a perfect way for me to get in front of some great people.”

But Star is anything but new to the music scene. At the age of 14 he already had an eye for the business, selling copies of his own music. “I was selling Pearl Jam bootlegs along with my four-track recordings,” Star confesses. “I locked myself in the basement. While all of my friends were playing Zelda, I was making music. I was selling them to teachers too. They had more money.”

After a classmate heard he was selling music, Star was approached and asked to be lead singer of the band Stage. They played throughout high school and college in various New York clubs, and even garnered the attention of pop queen Madonna.

“Madonna signed my band Stage to her record label Maverick. My band loved [Maverick] because of the Deftones and Alanis Morissette but unfortunately it was the wrong time at the wrong place,” Star admits. “The let down unfortunately broke the spirit of my band. We were friends since nursery school but it was just time to move on. I love Stage and am determined to make sure people hear the music.”

Star decided to go solo, playing at piano bars in Manhattan and anywhere else that would take him, including the hit CBS reality show “Rock Star: Supernova.”

The rocker made it pretty far in the competition but didn’t win the gig. Still, he didn’t give up on music. Star even released a solo album entitled Songs from the Eye of an Elephant, but he says the album is completely different from 11:59, describing his first CD as “Pearl Jam meets Tori Amos.”

“It’s a stripped down piano album but still with my vocal rock roots. At the time I had no band and no money so it’s a very pure and raw album,” Star says of his first solo recording.

“11:59 is the album I have always wanted to make. I worked on it for two years and collaborated with some incredible people,” Star says. “It has some rock tunes, some modern sounds and some songs are still just me and a piano.”

According to Star, there’s a strong connection between his music and film. “In the songs I write I put an emotion into three minutes what filmmakers put in to in three hours and there is a real similarity between the two for me. To see them put together is really rewarding.”

Through TV spots, he’s also garnered the attention of the sporting world. “I love the spirit of sports and people reaching their best. Having their moment, their 11:59.” Star says many of his new songs deserve airplay in arenas. “I love Freddy but there are only so many times you can play ‘We Are The Champions,’ right?”






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