The “Stranger Things” Stars are Back Behind the Mic

It’s been nearly three summers since we last saw the cast of Stranger Things, Netflix’s critically acclaimed sci-fi drama, onscreen, but that doesn’t mean we were left without any new content. When not shooting a new season, some of the cast members funnel their creative energy into making music and have earned their stars for it, too. Joe Keery, who plays Steve Harrington, Maya Hawke, who plays Robin Buckley, and Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike Wheeler, have all been essential players in the music scene, each with a distinct artistic identity and excelling in their respective genres. 

MAYA HAWKE

Singer-songwriter Maya Hawke is a force to be reckoned with in the indie-folk world. Born and raised in New York City and the daughter of household names Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, Hawke was exposed to art from a young age. It was only natural that she decided to turn to instruments and songwriting to channel her self-expression. In 2020, Hawke released her debut album, Blush, a sincere and soulful project that marked her breakthrough as a musician. It became clear that Hawke’s evocative storytelling skills and exploratory-driven sound were the perfect combination for an emerging artist. She took it a step further with her next album, Moss, another collection of tracks that cling to what she knows best– diaristic, relatable lyricism. The project was produced by Christian Lee Hutson and Jonathan Low, who hold credits for albums like Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers and Folklore by Taylor Swift.

Hawke returns before the release of Stranger Things season 5 with her most recent release, Chaos Angel, and its sister EP Clipped Wings, where her signature rasp and soft-spoken wit weave in and out of delicate acoustic arrangements. She brought “Missing Out” from the album onto The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, a song that tackles her experience with fame, fortune, and the drawbacks of her upbringing. As a musician, Hawke is in bloom and carries herself with poise and sureness.  

JOE KEERY

While you may know Joe Keery as the well-loved Steve Harrington on Stranger Things, the alternative indie artist Djo is Keery’s stage name for his musical alter-ego. Over the past year, Keery’s dreamy-synth song “End of Beginning" off his 2022 album DECIDE gained a resurgence through social media, hitting Billboard’s Top 100 Chart at No. 11. With flavors of psych-pop and rock in his discography, Keery made appearances at top music festivals including Coachella and Laneway, as well as a TV performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. His most recent album, The Crux, was released this April and revealed a side of Keery that feels most authentic. Its tracks ooze with a magnetic confidence that can only come from the skills he’s pocketed from his first album, and the experiences of love and loss that ensued. The project is stamped with his Djo DNA from top to bottom, from the production quality, using self-played instruments, to each track’s original lyrics co-written with Adam Thein. My favorite track has been “Charlie’s Garden,” a sweet, Beatles-esque friendship love letter to Charlie Heaton, who plays Jonathan Byers in the show. 

FINN WOLFHARD

If hearing the names Calpurnia or The Aubreys spurs any ounce of nostalgia, you’ll know that Finn Wolfhard has had a pulse on the indie scene from the start. While he was part of a few musical groups in the past, he’s taken control of his sound this time with his solo debut album, Happy Birthday. “I started realizing a general theme in a lot of the other songs involving my identity, anxieties, nostalgia, childhood and loneliness,” he shared in an article with Rolling Stone Magazine. With Stranger Things coming to an end, Wolfhard is turning a new leaf in his creative journey, grounding himself back in a medium he’s always found solace in.  In 2022, he set a goal to write 50 songs by the end of the year, and a handful of them made it into this upcoming project. Its first single, “Choose The Latter,” is a sneak peek into the sound that made the cut, and it bleeds with vivid imagery and indie-rock energy. Wolfhard’s album, which is set to be released on June 6, will be accompanied by a seven-date tour across the U.S.

We’re excited to see where this new chapter leads for each of our favorite Stranger Things cast members, and we’ll be the first to sit in the front row at their next live show. Be sure to tune into the fifth and final season of the series, which will be available for streaming on Netflix this Winter. In the meantime, you can find Maya, Joe, and Finn’s music on all of your favorite streaming platforms.