FOND DU LAC (NBC 26) — Ben Baker and Michael Stensland met in middle school jazz band.
Now, the two young musicians and Fond du Lac natives—better known as The Astronomers— are working on music that’s listened to by more than 800,000 people a month on Spotify.
“We like to call it 'indie poptimism,'” Baker said. “So it’s like independent pop, like alt-pop with lyrics that are, like, optimistic and fun. Like windows and summer-y.”
Stensland is the main songwriter and vocalist, and Ben produces the music in their Oshkosh studio.
“I think ever since I was younger I always wanted to do something related to performing,” Stensland said.
The hours they’ve spent in that basement recording studio is finally paying off.
“Now we’re going to Seattle, Phoenix.. We’re going all over…. we’ll be going to Denver, all the way up to Seattle, down to Portland,” Baker said.
With tours planned on the west and east coast, the group says they’re still trying to process their newfound success.
“Sometimes Ben and I or the rest of the guys have to sit down and really think about and really take it in,” Stensland said. “I think it’s important. my sister always tells me to celebrate any feat you accomplish, to celebrate every moment.
Their manager and friend Jack Rindhal says the group has no plans of slowing down with a “lot of new music on the way!”
Their music can be found on most streaming services and tickets for upcoming shows can be found on their website.
