Alex Stensel is the band’s resident guitar slinger, sonic explorer, and occasional pirate. His musical awakening came early, the first time he watched Pete Townshend slide across the stage with guitar in hand. In that moment, young Alex discovered what he describes as “the true meaning of cool”—an experience so powerful it nearly rivaled Christmas itself.

Like many future guitar players, Alex initially fell in love with the glory of a face-melting solo. As a kid, nothing was cooler than a blazing guitar lead; as an adult, he maintains the same philosophy—only now he believes any instrument can melt faces if it’s played right. Guitar, saxophone, drums, keyboards… it’s all fair game as long as the moment is explosive.

Interestingly, the first instrument that truly captured his heart wasn’t the guitar at all—it was the saxophone, thanks in no small part to the legendary animated virtuoso Lisa Simpson. That early fascination with sax also shaped his musical worldview. Artists like Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy rewired his brain, teaching him that music doesn’t need rigid rules to make sense. For Alex, a note, chord, or phrase is justified simply by sounding cool. Rules, as he puts it, are “for suckers.”

Alex’s playing carries echoes of unlikely influences as well, including the sharp, angular style of James Chance from the Contortions—an artist he insists more people should know about, even if only “43 people” currently do.

The band itself formed through a moment that could only happen in a guitar store. Alex met Liam while the two were nerding out over pedals at the Hollywood Guitar Center. After discovering a shared love for the pioneering art-rock band Television, they decided to combine their musical powers, eventually building the band around a shared appetite for adventurous sounds.

Alex describes the band’s creative process as chaotic in the best possible way. Everyone arrives with ideas, riffs appear during random breaks, and a stray groove can easily turn into a half-hour jam session that evolves into a full song. What excites him most about writing is the breakthrough moment when something vague and half-formed suddenly snaps into place—when the right chords meet the right rhythm and melody, and the idea becomes a real track.

Musically, Alex thrives on bending structure rather than obeying it. His philosophy is simple: use great chords, then break them. If it sounds cool, it works.

Despite the band’s serious musicianship, Alex admits the hardest part of being in a serious band is resisting the urge to play SpongeBob music all the time. That spirit of fun is something he considers essential to music—and life.

When he’s not playing guitar, Alex claims to spend his time committing acts of piracy against the East India Trading Company or exploring ancient temples, where his non-musical skill—Disarm Traps Level 2—comes in handy.

If there’s one word he’d use to describe the band right now, it’s “hungry.” Hungry for riffs, hungry for songs, and hungry for the next moment where chaos turns into something powerful.

And if you want to understand Alex’s musical soul, listen to “Red Sails” by David Bowie from Lodger—a song he says feels like a pulp-adventure novel in musical form—or blast “Painkiller” by Judas Priest, which perfectly captures his belief that music should always leave room for a little fun and a lot of volume. 🎸