Djo

About Djo

Djo is the musical project of Joe Keery, who you probably know as Steve Harrington from Stranger Things. But before you write this off as another actor dabbling in music, you should know he was making music long before he became Netflix famous. Keery played in the Chicago psych-rock band Post Animal for years, contributing to their early releases before his acting schedule made it impossible to tour.

He launched Djo in 2019, and the project sounds nothing like what you'd expect from a TV actor's side hustle. The debut album Twenty Twenty dropped in September 2019, right before the world fell apart, which probably didn't help its initial reception. The sound pulls from psych-pop, funk, and yacht rock, filtered through bedroom production techniques. Think Tame Impala meets Steely Dan, but weirder and more homemade. Tracks like "Roddy" and "Chateau (Feel Alright)" showed he wasn't just coasting on name recognition.

The real shift came with his second album, DECIDE, in September 2022. This is where things got interesting. The production got tighter, the songwriting sharper, and suddenly people who didn't care about his acting career were paying attention. The album leans into synth-heavy arrangements and introspective lyrics about anxiety, relationships, and the strange experience of being semi-famous. "Gloom" became a legitimate indie hit, but the deep cut that really connected was "End of Beginning."

That song took on a life of its own in 2023 when it unexpectedly blew up on TikTok, more than a year after the album dropped. It's a bittersweet track about moving forward and letting go, with a melody that lodges itself in your brain. The viral moment was organic, driven by fans soundtracking their own life transitions rather than any marketing push. It ended up charting and introduced Djo to a much wider audience than the typical actor-musician project ever reaches.

What makes Djo work is that it doesn't feel like a vanity project. Keery handles most of the writing, production, and instrumentation himself, and you can hear someone actually wrestling with the craft rather than hiring a team to make him sound legitimate. The songs are dense with layers, sometimes to a fault, but that's part of the appeal. It feels like music made by someone who genuinely cares about making music.

He's been touring more consistently, playing actual venues rather than relying on festival slots trading on his other career. The live show has gotten tighter as the project has evolved. As of now, Djo exists in that sweet spot where he's successful enough to keep going but not so massive that everything becomes about maintaining the brand. No word on album three yet, but given how long End of Beginning took to find its audience, there's no real rush.

Djo's shows are intimate despite crowd size. Keery plays it straight, minimal banter, lets the songs do the talking. Audiences are attentive rather than rowdy—people actually listen. There's an easy confidence that keeps things grounded without being stiff.

Known for End of Beginning, Motions, Shape, Lucid Dreams, Figure It Out

See Djo Live