Meet Stuyedeyed

Have you ever been mugged by friends? Well according to one Stuyedeyed member that’s what their music sounds like. Although their music at first listen does sound like a punch in the face with a fuzzed out collage of screaming and noise it also has something important to say about this society we’re living in.

Below, we chat with Stuedeyed about truth lassos, their creative process and message, animals with unexpected wings, and where this group comes from.

A self-portrait by, Stuyedeyed

Would You Rather

have a magic lasso that would make people tell the truth or everyone believes every lie you ever told? Why?

NE: BE HONEST. LASSO ALL THE WAY.

LR: Magic lasso because I like cowboys

GR: Hows it make people believe your bs? Do u have to tie them up with it? Would rather hang myself with the truth

Hg: Truth lasso. Imagine the things you may learn?

Some questions with Stuyedeyed

Did you ever get detention in school? If so, why?

NE: I don’t remember a time where I wasn’t skipping school or classes. Got detention/suspended once for playing with the devil’s lettuce on a school trip.

LR: No I was a mathlete

GR: Yes for both standing up to bullies and bullying. It was contagious.

HG: I had a lot of fights. I was a small kid. And always eager to speak out for friends.

Do you have a drink of choice? What is it?

NE: I’m out there slamming orange juice.

LR: Come see at a show

GR: Water

HG: Anything Ginger. Y’all ever had Black Radish juice?

Did growing up in Brooklyn impact your music?

LR: FRESNO 559

GR: I’m from Queens

HG: Didn’t grow up here. I would say the diversity here in BK gave me access to bring my flavor into the mix in a place that is your element. NY was a contrast to the population of when I lived in New England, in terms of cultural diversity. Coming from an Afro-Latin world it felt good to be in a place where you’re not misunderstood.

NE: I grew up between Bed Stuy and Ozone Park, Queens. I think NYC in general supplies you with a film of anxiety and teaches you basic survival for big city living. The attitude of most new yorkers is “You gotta do what you gotta do”, so I can see how our songs derive from necessity.

How does the notion of community play into your work?

LR: Plead the 5th

GR: Rising tide raises all ships. We’ve all been doin this since we were teenagers so along the way we‘ve met too many people and have been given a hand by many more to not invest our time and resources into areas that not only behoove us and our peers in art/music but also to people like us (not white) tryna just live from one day to the next

HG: I cannot remember a thing I did that did not warrant the guidance of another human, aware or otherwise. Being involved in community programs and with incredibly driven folks not only taught me acumen of academic value but how incredibly diverse the human experience is. The thought of someone out there seeing our experience and realizing that it’s a possibility for them as well (something I didn’t have access to growing up outside the US) is one of the aspects of music I enjoy the most: empowerment.

If you didn’t live in New York, where would you live and why?

LR: Lollipop Guild, no reason

GR: Mind your business

HG: Back on my farm. Half a km away from the beach. A place where all get treated by merit and not status.

NE: Somewhere no one can find me. Maybe in the desert, or Puerto Rico after liberation from state-sponsored murder and neglect.

As your sound draws on a lot of different influences, how would you describe or identify your band?

LR: Dry Ice Snow

GR: Have you ever been mugged by friends?

HG: Mike Tyson: “Everybody has a game plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

NE: Necessary.

When writing a song, do you privilege harmony, melody, or lyrics first?

LR: Whoever yells the loudest goes first

GR: For song-based compositions this idiot favors the sound’s caliber, its quality, and context. Fuck outta here w ya privilege.

HG: No formulas. I’ve been lucky to be a bass player in many musical projects of different roots. But my biggest joy with the Stuy boys is that Nelson being the main component of composition, we all enjoy a great deal of creative freedom that transcends what we find “good”. Make it funky. Make it uncomfortable.

NE: Beats first. Always. Lyrics last.

If you could give one animal species (besides people) the ability to fly which would it be? Why?

LR: Elephants, imagine the tires that would be coming down

GR: Will answer when i’ve taken a hit of whatever whoever wrote this piffed

HG: Idk. Global warming and shit.

NE: 100% want flying dolphins

What was the difference in your creative process of making your most recent EP, Moments of Terribleness, compared to your previous work?

LR: George

GR: Me

HG: A new member in the band. An astonishing couple of years of ups and downs in life. The creative process, the recording with Jeffrey Berner at Strange Weather, it all had something to do with it. Made it feel fun and effortless, which was not. Nevertheless, it felt most real.

What led you to start an Indiegogo campaign to fund the EP?

LR: Broke and tired of other people owning our music

GR: Pay it forward yall. To everyone who ever said “Good Set.” to us and contributed ya weren’t bullshittin

HG: I mean… coming from where I’m from people be like “trust fund? Ay pero que eso?”

The EP incorporates a lot of social commentaries. What do you hope listeners take from the project?

LR: ACAB

GR: Theres more of “us” then there are of “them”. Do something about it.

HG: Something I am still learning today: to be real with yourself. That we are all equal, but not the same. To be open to the realities of the plethora of human experience.

NE: We all rise and fall. We make mistakes. We are human. The idea is to believe and trust in your heart that redemption for yourself is possible.

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.

LR: Get party!

GR: Thanks for listening. Pay yr artists. Vote.

NE: Be your best self, delete the old self. Get up and try again. Fuck surface level. Dig a little deeper.

Stuyedeyed