Localized: Sean Baker’s Recycled Stardust

On Thursday, August 15 at Kilby Court, folk-punk group Sean Baker’s Recycled Stardust and alternative band IMAG!NARY FRIENDZ will play SLUG Localized, opened by singer-songwriter Petr Chubak! As always, the show opens doors at 7:00 p.m., costs just $5 for entry and is sponsored by Riso-Geist.

Sean Baker’s Recycled Stardust was created by the “band leader by default,” as Sean Baker describes himself. Before becoming the songwriter of the group, he wrote the EP Purple House, a collection of songs about shared human experiences and emotion.

Through the open mic nights hosted at Alliance Theater, the band found each other through their different talents and skills that they bring to the table. “Open mics are the reason we exist as a band,” Baker says, who has been an open mic performer and advocate since he was 15 years old.

The eclectic band is composed of five friends: Sean Baker on vocals and acoustic guitars, Jeremiah Jeffers on drums, Saul Zelaya (aka “Sleeves”) on bass, Danny Washing on lead guitar and backing vocals and Arron Jacques on violin.

“…We take all of our influences and what we’ve learned throughout our musicianship and apply it when we play songs.”

Naming artists like AJJ, Tom Petty, The Beatles and Frank Zappa, Sean Baker’s Recycled Stardust takes light inspiration from various artists from the ‘80s and ’90s. “All genres are made up, so it doesn’t really matter,” Baker notes, and other members explain how they combine their inspirations in music to create their own made-up genre of “existential folk-punk.”

“A lot of it is feeling and energy and feeding off the other members of the band,” Jacques says.

“We vibe as musicians really well and as friends even better, so … we take all of our influences and what we’ve learned throughout our musicianship and apply it when we play songs,” explains Zelaya.

When it comes to the creative process, the band follows a philosophy that was born from the song “Recycled Stardust.” “It encapsulates it all … we are all stardust,” Baker says. He describes the idea that humans are all made of the same materials but reorganized into different versions that exist in different timelines. The band illustrates the beauty of the human experience through community and makes music to express that.

Baker calls the songs from the Purple House his “children” because of the evolution of his music from then to now. As a band, the members perform differently each time to reflect the essence of their sound. “The music can live and breathe that way, it’s not so constricted with what it needs to sound like,” Baker says. He talks about how his songs are not forced into one style—it’s more about what is expressed through them. To Baker, the songs are something to lean on in times of darkness.

With songs mentioning death and loss, the band’s existentialism is more about revealing universal truths. “Yeah, we are talking about death, but the songs aren’t about death. They are about living your life because you’re going to die,” Washing explains. The band contrasts themes of the good and the bad in order to exemplify the reality of living, as well as to help themselves cope with the world.

“The music can live and breathe that way, it’s not so constricted with what it needs to sound like.”

While touring together, the band went to the Building Wo-Man Festival this year in Green River, Utah. Seeing the growth of audience members from fans they knew to new listeners allowed the band to acknowledge the power of music. They reminisce about seeing the pouring rain starting at the end of their set and describe how perfect that all came to be. That concert was their first performance out in the desert, which also made it memorable.

When it comes to other local bands, Sean Baker’s Recycled Stardust has a long list of favorite musicians. DoomCupcake, Dolï, Fur Foxen and HOOCH are just a few of many that they mention, encompassing various genres of music like indie folk, garage rock, prog rock and pop.

Sean Baker’s Recycled Stardust is always in the works with new music. Make sure to find the band on their Instagram @seanbakermusic and see them live at Localized at Kilby Court on Thursday, August 15.

Read more interviews with local bands:
Opaque Shades: Strength Through Tenure and Tenacity
Localized: Scott Lippitt