I See Stars first saw the light at Warped Tour years ago

July 14, 2016 at 12:05a.m.

Andrew Oliver attended his first Warped Tour exactly a decade ago.

The Michigan native vividly remembers going home that day with two things: the worst sunburn of his life and a blueprint for his career path. The former eventually healed while the latter is still burning today as the drummer, keyboardist, sequencer and programmer of I See Stars.

Oliver said the electronicore band’s earliest beginnings included a memorable Northeast Ohio show that took place a year after the Warped Tour experience.

“We played our very first out-of-state show in Cleveland,” said Oliver, calling from Virginia Beach, Va. “I was about 15 and at the time we were playing local shows. They were the same venues every weekend. Then we got offered this Cleveland show by someone who would become our first manager.”

What follows is straight out of Hollywood with the teen band members telling parents they were staying over at each other’s homes. The outfit made it to the Lakewood gig but in true touring fashion the band’s car broke down.

“We almost got away with it,” Oliver laughed. “After taking a Greyhound bus back to Michigan and taxiing back to our neighborhood, our vocalist’s dad was waiting. I’ve never seen the guy yell like this. He screamed at us and was swearing. At first he was angry but then he was just happy he found us safe.”

“I think that was kind of what opened his eyes how bad we wanted to tour and do this professionally. And to this day, my mom doesn’t know what happened.”

Over the last decade, I See Stars has enjoyed an ebb and flow ride. Most recently the band trimmed its lineup down from a sextet to a quartet and released its fifth studio effort “Treehouse.”

Oliver said the new album crystallizes the band’s vision to create a culture of electronic music while maintaining hints of hardcore and rock.

“When we were writing ‘Treehouse,’ we wanted to write an album that if you took away the vocals and the guitars there would be a strong electronic core that could stand on its own,” Oliver said. “To do that, we started writing around electronics. Basically, take this composition and make it a rock song. That was our experiment.”

That experiment appears to be a success with “Treehouse” providing the listener a dynamic experience. Highlights include the anthemic “Two Hearted,” the prog-rock sounding “Yellow King,” the hip-hop oriented “All In” and the cinematic “Calm Snow.”

Fans can expect to hear plenty of those tunes when I See Stars returns to Northeast Ohio as part of the Warped Tour. The bill rolls into the area for a Friday show at First Niagara and a July 20 show at Blossom Music Center.

Considering his sunburned experience a decade ago, what tips does Oliver have for those venturing out to the Warped Tour this summer?

“Bring a lot of sun block and wear the right attire,” Oliver said. “Don’t try to look cool. This isn’t a fashion show.”

Oliver’s suggestions seemed obvious. Then he said, “Also, don’t forget to stretch. The worst thing in the world is you go there to see somebody playing later on in the night and you spend all of your energy in the first couple of hours.

“So really stretch it out and try to stay limber out there.”