Been Stellar are the blazing new stars of the transatlantic guitar music scene. 

Sam Slocum (vocals), Skyler St. Marx (guitar), Laila Wayans (drums), Nico Brunstein (bass) and Nando Dale (guitar) were magnetised together in 2017 at NYU and have spent the past five years crafting their sound that’s refreshing in its melodic melancholy. Been Stellar’s music decisively avoids post-punk clichés but sits cleverly and comfortably within the tastes of the contemporary scene; displacing commonplace tropes of angular riffs, Mark E. Smith style vocals and noise to offer audiences something alternative to feel, consider and hold onto. 

The first three singles 'Kids 1995', 'My Honesty' and 'Manhattan Youth' released from the band’s forthcoming eponymous debut EP signify the influence that their intense home city has over the music they make. This tale of New York as a place that infiltrates the psyche is far from folklore, as Been Stellar divergently follow their musical predecessors Interpol, Sonic Youth and The Strokes. Responding to their particular context, the New York City band have directed the Big Apple’s pandemic fuelled fallout into their writing; the city’s rotten core of social crisis lay bare to witness in the absence of romanticised glamour. 

Slocum’s astute lyrics reflect this demise through deep introspection in what feels like a coming-of-age epiphany, most notable in Kids 1995: And even if I was solipsistic / Or even if I am solipsistic / Would it really make any difference? / Because as much as I tell myself it’s all real / It’s just as real as it really isn’t. All the while, guitar riffs soar and drum beats pulsate to coalesce in cinematic soundscapes reminiscent of the New York cityscape. The band’s search for honesty in the midst of this decrepitation is tangible in their music that has been imported to the UK via the brilliant So Young Records. The label’s roll of the dice has landed with certain fortune as Been Stellar have begun to carve their space in the UK’s musical landscape with an impressive string of shows at The Great Escape, touring as support for The Goa Express in spring and embarking upon their first UK headline tour this summer.

Bad Luck had the pleasure of hanging out with Been Stellar at a Brighton pub over pints and Thai food ahead of their gig that night at Green Door Store. The story of their organic beginnings from Slocum and St. Marx’s school friendship in Michigan, to meeting their roommates Brunstein and Dale at NYU and finally recruiting Wayans into her first band to complete the quintet played out in real time as coming-of-age the band bounced off each other's dry humour and sharp intellect. We chatted at length about their experiences of the US and UK music worlds. It was genuinely encouraging to hear their praise of the UK’s music scene, audience and surrounding infrastructure that makes live music more accessible than across the pond. With a particular nod of appreciation to Brighton, the band marked The Great Escape as a real catalyst in their rising trajectory; as expressed by St. Marx but felt by all, ‘that was by far the most that anyone has ever given a shit about our band’. Gone are the days of playing to half empty venues in New York; Been Stellar have well and truly asserted themselves into the thriving UK music scene clearly yearning for some NYC imbued indie rock. 

The gig was kicked off by Brighton-based rock newcomers recently signed to Nice Swan Records, Shady Baby, followed by ethereal shoegazers, She’s In Parties. On stage the headliners built upon their recorded sound to masterfully create an experience that was both melodic and punk, delicate and barbed. Been Stellar’s sound is designed to be heard live. From out of town and country but totally cool in the comfort zone, the band melded youthful angst with mature contemplation discernibly much older than the musicians’ years. Their electrifying set boasted that more new music is due to follow their five-track debut EP, awaited for release on 12 August 2022. Bass and guitars enmesh and ride, drums shuffle and pound, and Slocum tunnel visions at the mic, rising up to it and leaning into us; we are enveloped by Been Stellar. 

First of all, congratulations on your first UK headline tour! How does it feel to be marking your space outside the States?

Skyler St. Marx: Thank you! It feels great. It’s strange because we’ve been playing and existing in the US for a long time now so it feels like a natural step but with that being said, it’s pretty uncommon for a band our size to be touring the UK and Europe. I think we’re laying a good foundation for when we next come back. It’s been a good experience so far.

You kicked things off in London at The Windmill and have been all over the country playing venues and festivals. What are your thoughts on the UK music scene so far?

Nico Brunstein: It’s very rewarding. We’ve realised a lot. Obviously, the US is a lot bigger but there’s a lot of markets you’re almost forced to play even though it doesn’t necessarily make sense. You have to drive so far from New York to Chicago, Chicago to LA, and you might as well just play the cities that you’re sleeping in along the way even though they don’t enjoy your music. Sometimes it feels a little forced and disheartening because guitar music isn’t appreciated as much over there. That’s not to say it’s like that everywhere because sometimes we expect the worst and we receive a great crowd. The UK is just much more consistent; people seem to get where we’re coming from.

Laila Wayans: I think people in the UK are also more willing to go see a band that they don’t know. In the States, unless you’re already a fan, you’re not really just going to go out to some random show. Tickets are expensive, drinks are expensive and it’s just not as accessible to go out and have a good time. But here it feels like people are just out anyways! You seem more willing to see what’s going on. 

Out of interest, how much does a ticket to see you guys generally cost in the US?

Sam Slocum: $15 at the least. 

Brunstein: Usually, if it’s a 16+ or 18+ show they make tickets more expensive or give us less of a split. Pre-pandemic, $15 to see a band like us would have been a hard no but now it’s a standard which sucks. 

In the UK, you spend £5-£7 to see a small band. It’s so much more accessible.

Slocum: The infrastructure makes a lot more sense over here. In two days, we’re playing a free show in Paris and that’ll be our second free show, the first free show was in Hull. Free shows are literally unheard of in New York. 

Brunstein: The show in Hull was unbelievable! It was one of our favourites. It was a Tuesday night and no one had heard of us but it felt like a proper scene.

Wayans: I think the idea of the promoter really helps in the UK because we don’t really have that in the US. Obviously, we have people who put on shows but here it feels like promoters are sort of like tastemakers. People trust that the bands they’re putting on must be good so people will come out based on their word.

St. Marx: In New York, you just don’t see sold out shows by local bands. It’s an obstacle that has helped us learn more about how the music world works. We’ve had to be very, very guerrilla about how we sell tickets to our shows. We’ve put flyers up on every square inch of Brooklyn and Manhattan. We even made a band Tinder one time in college.

It’s great to hear from you guys that the UK music scene is doing something right. How did it feel getting signed to the brilliant UK label So Young?

St. Marx: It was awesome and we were really surprised. It was as much of a project for them as it was for us. They took a huge gamble! They’re the best people. So Young is one of the few bright lights in music these days, they really put a lot of care into what they like and we really respect them.

That’s very encouraging to hear. You guys made a huge impression last time you were in Brighton for The Great Escape - there were queues out of the tent on the beach! How was that experience for you? And, is it nice to be back?

Brunstein: We were the first band on the line-up on the So Young stage and obviously no one knew us so it was a great opportunity. When I first stepped on stage to put waters out for all of us, I looked out and was like ‘holy shit’ because it was literally filled to the brim. We didn’t know until later that there was a queue to get in. It was very surreal for us, even half the audience would have been crazy. 

St. Marx: We had arrived in the UK a few days prior with zero expectation and that was by far the most that anyone has ever given a shit about our band.

Slocum: It kind of messed me up for a couple days. As Skyler said, besides our friends no one has really given a shit about us for the five years that we’ve been doing this. It had been just the five of us making music together and it felt like it was our thing. The Great Escape was the first time where I felt like that was being taken from us because other people are identifying with it or industry people are wanting to be a part of it. Even though that’s not the reality of people telling you that they love your band but initially it felt like that after not hearing it and taking total ownership over your little thing. It got a little bit overwhelming. 

I imagine those feelings must have been amplified with this all happening overseas. Being from New York, I wonder how important the geography of the band is to the music that you make?

St. Marx: I’d say it’s very important. New York is a very intense place to live. There’s a lot of people in New York who shy away from that and make beachy sort of sounds even though it’s the most stressful, expensive, brutal place to live. That’s always sort of rubbed us up the wrong way about New York music. New York asserts itself in your psyche and our music could not have existed or been made in any other place. Without the proverbial fire under our ass all the time it would sound a lot different.

That makes total sense. Aside from the coincidence of college, what was the main force that pulled you together as a band? 

Wayans: The Garden. I’m originally from LA and they’re from California. I first met Sam and Skyler at a puzzle trail and I don’t think there was all that much interaction but they had matching bleach blonde hair and looked like The Garden. 

Nando Dale: I was roommates with Skyler in freshman year but went to high school in Australia so I listened to all of those garage rock bands like Hockey Dad, Skegss and Dune Rats. I got Skyler into all that.

St. Marx: We were also listening to a lot of Interpol, particularly their first record. They portray New York City as this dramatic, cinematic, blurry kind of place and that really excited me. But what else brought us together? I think we just generally really like being together and can withstand each other's jokes. Imagine dating someone for five years and you don’t find them funny but have to be around them constantly… 

Slocum: It happened really organically too. I went to high school with Sky. Nando was Sky’s roommate and Nico was my roommate in freshman year. Initially Sky, Nando and I played together with other people but it didn’t click. 

Brunstein: I didn’t go to college to do music and didn’t even bring my bass with me. I went to their show and the next day I asked my mom to ship me my bass from home. I was really inspired by it all and that’s what made me want to do music. 

Wayans: I had never been in a band before this. Skyler sent me the songs to learn and I would listen to them every day on the way to class. I remember the first show all five of us played together and I was just so happy to finally be in a band.

It’s so cool how organic it was for you and so nice to see how well you all just really get on.

Slocum: Oh yeah, we love each other! We’ve been on the road a lot recently and also know how to push each other's buttons.

Dale: I love that term! I got that from one of the guys from The Goa Express. 

St. Marx: We toured with The Goa Express back in May and I mean it when I say that they’re the most punk band around right now. They’re doing something that’s very brave to do in UK music which is to make good melodic songs that people can actually sing along to. We’ve become aware of the whole post-punk thing over here and we feel that it’s become so repetitive and derivative with Mark E. Smith vocals and angular guitar riffs or whatever. So that’s why we love The Goa Express!

I get it. I’m pretty tired of the post-punk thing too. 

Brunstein: The same thing happened a few years ago in the US where everyone wanted to be Tame Impala or Clairo. 

Slocum: Landfill indie has become landfill post-punk. It’s starting to sound like noise.

St. Marx: I think the pandemic changed my perception of music. I wanted to listen to music that made me strongly feel a particular way. For me, it’s about melody and some sort of pop sensibilities. 

Well said. That all relates directly to how your own sound has developed both vocally and stylistically from your early singles to the first three singles from your upcoming debut EP. Your sound has definitely grown in grit and honesty, and I gather themes of coming of age and unmasking facades. Do you agree? And, what else do you think the EP says?

St. Marx: That’s so cool, thank you. I agree. There wasn’t much of a conversation about what we wanted the songs to be about specifically. But those were the life conversations we were having during that time of the pandemic, being thrust into a world that was very confusing and uncertain, and also stripping away the normal facades of bullshit that you get in New York. 

You also did well to slip solipsism into a song.

Slocum: I’ve always been pretty inspired by philosophy and because Sky is a philosophy major, I’ve become a philosophy major by extension.

St. Marx: Solipsism is an interesting concept because it bridges the psychological and philosophical. Like yeah, you can study it at school but you can also really feel it on a personal level. It’s like the real person’s philosophy.

Slocum: That song is a little over three years old. I’m not really too concerned with solipsistic thought these days but at the time I really was. The song has a new life now and I really enjoy performing that part where it outright calls out solipsism. I like to look at people directly during that part of the song because it’s about a really innate human instinct. I think that’s what I was trying to get at when I wrote those words; something to comfort me and maybe comfort others when they get hit by that same fear.

Article by Meg Sweeney originally written for Bad Luck Magazine.