Matt Welling (La Chât, 2001) and Stefan Pasternak (La Chât, 1994) aka Flarestar
Matt Welling (La Chât, 2001) and Stefan Pasternak (La Chât, 1994) both studied at La Châtaigneraie, where their parents were also teachers. They are now part of the returnees, aka alumni who came back to teach or work at Ecolint. Matt is a Chemistry Teacher for the secondary and Stefan is a Music and Drama teacher in the primary.
But they are not your typical “teachers”. After a day of teaching at La Châtaigneraie, they leave their school clothes behind and turn into “Flarestar” and jam.
Is it a bird...It’s a plane...it’s Flarestar
Flarestar is just their latest band. Matt and Stefan have both been playing music since they were kids, so they have been part of a long list of bands. Although they did not hang out while they were at La Châtaigneraie, music brought them quickly together as adults. Stefan knew Matt was a bassist after seeing him playing with the teachers’ band. Their first concert together was when Stefan’s band, Flower Power, needed a bassist for the FASTFEST tribute concert for Adam Smolik (La Chât, 1989) and Matt stepped in. They enjoyed playing together so much that they decided to create a band with another alumnus, Dan Shaw (LGB 1996), called The Flocking Murmuration. Stefan was on the drums, Dan on the guitar and vocals and Matt on the bass. But after a few years, the band members drifted apart. Matt took a sabbatical in the Seychelles but did not think twice when Stefan needed him for a gig and flew across the globe for a concert.
When Matt came back from his sabbatical, Stefan was playing solo and they started their newest project, Flarestar. After reflecting on their various experiences with more traditional bands, they decided to keep it simple with only two members. But this does not limit their creativity, since they decided to “decouple the musician from the instrument”. Following the flow of the music, they exchange instruments, they both sing and even learn a new instrument when necessary. They play “galaxy rock”, as they describe it. On stage, they are unpredictable, going from a song with electro inspiration to a blues one with double bass- much like a flare star with its volatile bursts of pure energy.
The show must go on
The pandemic has put their concerts on hold and the second lockdown came into effect just as they were programmed to play at a music festival, “Les Hivernales”. But they keep performing online and even in the streets of Nyon. While it does not give them the same feeling as playing in front of a live audience, it keeps them “stage fit”. According to Matt and Stefan, they have to keep playing at least once a week as music is their “raison d’être”. And they have fun, like when they were kids organising flash concerts at lunchtime at La Châtaigneraie or rehearsing in the drum room for “Gordon the Gnome”.
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