With season four of the Netflix original out last week, our inescapable intrigue into what the cast get up to outside of their busy acting schedules comes to natural fruition. Don’t worry, Millie Bobby Brown’s viral singing video isn’t anywhere to be seen.

Season 4 of Netflix’s Stranger Things is finally upon us, which means I can delve into a subject I love: actors who just so happen to be musicians.

First off, yes it did take me a good six years to finally get around to watching Stranger Things and, yes, I had to look away for a handful of scenes because I am, in fact, a scaredy-cat. This season is even worse for my easily-scared self, so take that as a fair warning if you haven’t started it yet.

As I’m sure many will understand, once you binge-watch a new (to you, at least) TV show and it just happens to have a huge following, you find yourself watching interviews, behind the scenes and falling down a rabbit hole that leads you to discover that the dude who plays Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) has a whole baby. Like, a child.

Naturally, as somebody who is passionate about championing and discovering new music, I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that a few of the cast were musicians as well as talented actors.

Let’s not waste another minute.

Finn Wolfhard (aka Mike Wheeler)

Yes, everyone knows that the actor who plays Mike is a musician. No thanks to his popularity or that he has close links to bands like Weezer (he was in their music video for that cover of Take On Me) and has even performed with Mac Demarco.

It was next to impossible not to have heard of Calpurnia in 2018. If you scrolled for a few minutes on any app, you were sure to come across a plethora of teenagers sharing videos of the band. I first watched Stranger Things in the summer of 2021 and yet I had already been inundated with random information about the young actor without so much as watching a second of him on screen.

Creating the band a year into his newfound fame as Nancy Wheeler’s (Natalia Dyer) adventurous younger brother, their first offering was a cover of Wanted You by Twin Peaks (which, btw, is one of my favourite songs, so no biggie). Interestingly, they roped in Cadien James, a member of the aforementioned Twin Peaks, to produce and engineer their debut EP Scout. Cool, right? That’s one way to do it, I guess.

Amongst the songs they released during their time together, they covered numerous edgy white boy classics: from Mac Demarco’s My Kind of Woman to Pixies’ Where Is My Mind?. But, despite going on tour together and being signed to Transgressive (Foals, Hippo Campus, Alvvays), the band decided they wanted to go on and do different things, so naturally announced their split in 2019.

Although that isn’t quite it for Finn’s music career, as he joined forces with fellow Calpurnia member, drummer Malcolm Craig, to form the indie-pop duo The Aubreys.

On Valentines Day of 2021, the duo released Sand in My Bed, a testament to youth and a strikingly unforgiving song with boisterous vocals from the energetic frontman. It’s a delightful surprise, I won’t lie. I hadn’t expected much (not in a bad way, just because being popular doesn’t equate to making good music). It’s even earned itself a space on my Spotify likes.

If you’re into Mac Demarco (or you were at the time he was the cool thing to be into), then you’ll certainly gel with The Aubreys’ distinctive sound.

Although things are pretty quiet on their social media, they’re still set to play at Hinterland Festival in August of this year. Of course, when you’re busy filming a Ghostbusters movie, the live-action Pinocchio and Jesse Eisenberg’s directorial debut, you probably don’t have a lot of spare time.

2. Gaten Matarazzo (aka Dustin Henderson)

Shortly after the release of Calpurnia’s debut, Gaten’s band Work in Progress (consisting of a real family affair) shared their debut tracks Dream Eater and Waste My Time. Although they haven’t released music since then — the promise of a debut EP seems alien in 2022.

3. Caleb McLaughlin (aka Lucas Sinclair)

Teasing music in 2021 and releasing Neighborhood in November of that year, Caleb is one of the last of his castmates to branch out into music. The late start means that his second single, Soul Travel, was released earlier this year. It’s clear the twenty-year-old is only just getting started.

4. Charlie Heaton (aka Jonathan Byers)

If you’re a fan of Stranger Things or know anything about Charlie Heaton, then you may know that — at sixteen — he moved from Leeds to London with the goal of pursuing a career in music. He joined noise-rock band Comanechi as their drummer and played alongside them for over a year, including a world tour.

On Instagram, he briefly mentioned he had previously played in Half Loon, a psychedelic-rock band, but now tends to stick to jamming sessions. Whether that’s solo or with a band, we’re excited to see if he decides to get back to playing shows in between filming.

And yes, I am still in shock that Jonathan Byers is played by a Northern man.

5. Maya Hawke (AKA Robin Buckley)

The daughter of iconic actors Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, Maya is taking the route of actor-cum-musician, while leaving her famous father to be the author of the family.

Initially struggling during her earlier years at school due to being dyslexic, Maya was sent to a school that didn’t grade but focussed on creative subjects instead (sounds like a dream). From there, she decided to follow in her parents’ footsteps and dip her toes in the pool of acting.

Two years after accepting her first role in the BBC adaptation of Little Women, she shared two songs: To Love a Boy and Stay Open. In March of 2020, she announced her debut album Blush with the lead track By Myself, and a music video directed by her father.

After the release of the album, her latest offering — single Blue Hippo — was shared last year. There’s been no news on whether she’ll be releasing more music in the future but, considering how well-received her debut was, we expect there’ll be a lot more around the corner. Not to mention, she’s busy working on the Bradley Cooper directed Maestro, so balancing busy schedules with studio time is imaginably difficult.

6. Joe Keery (AKA Steve Harrington)

Joe Keery from Stranger Things and Free Guy posing in front of a blue wall with fairy lights. — *Photo: Getty*

I’ve saved the best for last. Joe has an unfair advantage: he’s got a few years on his castmates and has therefore been making noise for longer.

He started releasing music under the pseudonym Cool Cool Cool before playing the guitar in psychedelic-rock band Post Animal. Although he leant his vocals to their second album, a year after he left (presumably wanting to pursue solo ventures).

After leaving, he self-released his debut single Roddy under Djo, graduating to a psych-pop sound. That same year (2019), he released his debut album — the same album he’d written while working at a restaurant before securing the coveted role of Steve in 2015.

Despite the promise of a second album two years ago, it seems it’s still in the works, with collaboration supposedly a big aspect. Although he’s still playing live (having played at Bottle Rock in Napa Valley just the other day) and he’ll be performing at Lollapalooza, Sea Here Now and Zilker Park later this year.

The cast of Stranger Things are unsurprisingly talented musicians

With season four of the Netflix original out last week, our inescapable intrigue into what the cast get up to outside of their busy acting schedules comes to natural fruition. Don’t worry, Millie Bobby Brown’s viral singing video isn’t anywhere to be seen.

Finn Wolfhard (aka Mike Wheeler)