Artist Spotlight: Stella Lefty

Stella Lefty: Hi! It’s been great so far. I’m in town until Sunday morning.

SL: I live in LA! I actually just moved to Silverlake about a week ago.

SL: It's my favorite neighborhood. I was living in West Hollywood before. Actually, do you know Grace [Enger]?

SL: Yeah, so I lived with her and a big group of music people. It was Sadie [Jean], Grace [Enger], Lindsay, Griff, Bailey and me... that’s how I met people. I didn’t know anyone when I first moved, so I lived with them in West Hollywood.

SL: I live in California now, but I'm originally from Chicago, specifically a town outside the city called Glencoe. I moved to LA about six months ago, right after I graduated from college last spring.

SL: No, but it’s actually funny because I was at a coffee shop earlier today, and “Tim McGraw” by Taylor Swift came on. It was crazy because that was the first song I remember rewriting as a kid. When I was younger, I didn’t know how to play anything, so I would rewrite songs that already existed. I would rewrite “Tim McGraw” and keep the melody, with a few changes.

SL: Right? But then I started learning guitar. I don’t remember exactly when, but I think it was probably in first grade. I started actually writing songs. My guitar teacher would help me, and then I would write lyrics over it, but I don’t remember what they were about—probably really, really silly stuff *laughs*.

SL: It’s a weird thing, because I’ve always done it. Growing up, I had a sparkly purple electric guitar, and music was my biggest passion in the world. But I didn’t know anyone who was doing it, and it didn’t seem like it was possible, you know? My parents were like, “You’re absolutely going to college.” There was no option. But I think it was probably my sophomore year of college when I realized I didn’t like anything else. I was a Public Health major.

I just knew it would be music. I didn’t know in what capacity, but I knew I loved writing songs. It’s scary to say, “This is what I want to do.” It’s a terrifying thing.

SL: There’s so much pressure. If you're not doing it yet, people are just waiting for you to do it. So, I didn’t want to say for sure until I was probably a junior, and then I just went for it.

SL: It’s a crazy story. I had a video of me singing go viral when I was abroad in Amsterdam during my sophomore year. I was living alone, and I was kind of depressed about it *laughs*, so I posted on TikTok a lot. I had viral videos doing really well. That’s when Zach reached out!

He’s only a year older than me, so I thought we’d just be friends since we were close in age. He knew so much, so we kept talking. Then, when I moved to LA and was looking for management, he told me I had to come on board. It just felt so natural because we were already friends. As for the label, we’re definitely not with one yet. If the right thing comes along and it makes sense, we’ll see.

SL: Yeah, exactly. Also, it’s so fun to have my own opinions and steer the creative direction the way I want to.

SL: It’s been crazy. This happened to me two weeks ago: I went to my friend Tristan’s show, and these girls came up to me and said they loved “Cynic.” I was like, “What?! You’re listening to my music?!”

It’s moments like that when I think, “Holy…there’s no way this is real.” All these songs—well, “Kiss Me” was kind of different because I was just messing around with sounds and ideas in my car one day, and it became a thing. But with “Cynic,” it was so intentional. It was based on real feelings and things I had to deal with. It was the culmination of all that, so when I saw that people resonated with it, I thought, “This is the best part of music.”

SL: I was literally freaking out! I was more nervous than they were.

SL: It was much easier. With “Cynic,” I had to keep going back and forth. It was really intentional. But with “See Through,” it was still intentional, but in a different way. The last time I went to New York was last Halloween [2024], and I had the craziest weekend. The next Monday, I had a session with Austin Ward, an amazing producer in LA. I was like, “What am I gonna write about?”

Luckily, so much happened over that trip—I had a boy I was feeling a certain way about. I decided that’s what I wanted to write about. We sat down and wrote the song in 20 minutes. It was the easiest thing ever, and it was based on exactly how I was feeling. I love when that happens—when the song perfectly reflects everything you're feeling in that moment. That’s exactly what “See Through” was.

SL: It depends. Most of the songs I’ve been writing recently are about my own experiences with boys, friends and all of that. But some of my favorite songs I’ve written have been based on stories that other people tell me. I love taking inspiration from other people, interpreting their stories, and then creating something from that.

SL: That’s a great question. I think I get in my head a lot about genres. Sometimes I’ll think something sounds too folky, but I have to remind myself that I can just do whatever sounds best to me. I think that’s what I want my music evolution to look like. I just want it to be stronger in whatever way, in whatever world it exists in. I just want it to be the best version of me and truly represent who I am. I don’t know exactly how that’s gonna look, but I don’t want to focus on genres too much.

SL: I definitely think the goal is an album. I can’t put a timeline on it, but I love the creative process behind it. The reason I’m so inspired by music in the first place is when a project feels cohesive and exists in a world filled with creativity. That’s the dream. I want to be making albums that tell a story and exist in their own world.

SL: Absolutely. Her name is Baby Nova. She’s not necessarily new to the music scene, but she just started releasing songs this year. She’s amazing. “Too Pretty For Buffalo” is in my headphones all the time.

SL: That's such a hard question. Part of me wants to say The Fray. Of all the artists I listen to, The Fray or The Script are in my top two. But there’s also a part of me that wants to say Taylor Swift, right? So it’s either that—her, or Justin Bieber, or Hozier, or The Fray.

SL: Definitely more shows, definitely writing more songs. There are a lot more songs coming, which is exciting, and they’ll have great visuals to go with them. That’s really what I’m excited about. But yes, I definitely want to play more shows!

SL: Yeah! I want to shout out my friends. When I moved to LA, I met Sadie [Jean], Lindsey, Griff, Bailey, Bebe, just all these amazing people. They were the only reason I was able to stay. Grace [Enger] too. It’s so scary moving out here!

You need solid people. If you don’t have people supporting you, it’s so hard. There were so many days when I’d go to Grace, and I’d be on the verge of tears because I was stressed, and there’s all this pressure. She’d just go on a walk with me, talk things out—my friends are everything. They’re the most inspiring people.

SL: Exactly. Also, shoutout to my family, who I love very dearly, obviously! *Laughs*.