Stolen Nova is the solo project of born-and-raised Venice, CA renegade and raconteur Josh Landau. Landau describes himself as a “former” skate rat, but it’s clear he can’t seem to shake off his wily tendencies towards empty pools. Outside of his glam-rock endeavors with the Stolen Nova project, Landau spends time between Los Angeles and London, cooking up meticulous riffs, showing face at European fashion weeks and writing for Thrasher. It’s this fusion of anglophilia, guitar prowess and a lawless, DIY mentality that makes Landau’s project so unique.
While Landau first stumbled into the spotlight by way of a previous skate-punk project, The Shrine, which he fronted, since hunkering down to craft the persona of Stolen Nova his style has shifted. Today’s sound is a synth-heavy, funky flavor of new wave that favors experimental guitar solos, and isn’t afraid of a little cinematic camp—and this summer, Landau has really leaned into it. The proof is in his forthcoming self-titled debut EP, and the energetic tracks that we’ve heard thus far — like “Eclipse,” the final single, released on Friday.
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True to form, the song comes with an accompanying video, featuring the artist and his band playing live from a Venice rooftop, a Californian homage to the iconic 1969 Beatles show atop the Apple Corps building in London. Let it be known, neither the Beatles nor Landau’s stunts were “above board” with the local police, but confused onlookers on the streets certainly enjoyed the ride. In honor of the swirly nearing delivery of Stolen Nova’s debut EP, Landau took us through the track list, song by song, unraveling the story behind each and amping us up for his September 27th EP release.
Take us track by track through the EP. With each song, what was the incentive behind it?
“Paradise,” the opener, is about falling in deep love with someone and then realizing they weren’t the one you were imagining, and you’re still looking and dreaming for the right one.
“Saturday Night Don’t Start ‘Til Sunday Morning” is a jam I did with Inner Wave. My friend had said the title line in response to me telling them about a very late night I had, and I kept the title in my back pocket for three years before finally finding the right place for it. The music kicked off with a bass riff Pablo [Sotelo] from Inner Wave played, and we all just followed it. The song was made in an hour boefre he had to give his mom a ride to the airport. It was so cool. It was like I just joined their band for the day.
“No Angel” is about the runaround — the cat-and-mouse game where it always seems to switch. Catching eyes across the room. Been there before and trying to decide if you’re gonna go there again. Also when someone pretends they don’t even know you, like you don’t even exist in public, and then later they come calling.
“Redbone” I just love to play on guitar, and it really kicked off on TikTok, so I figured I should just cover it. So fun to play live. Everyone knows it.
“Falls Apart” is another frustrated love song. There’s some daoism in there — the more we try to meddle with things, often we just make them worse.
“Eclipse” was a love that just didn’t work. Again, it was a lesson to myself in not trying to force things. No matter what your brain thinks of someone, you just might not have that real spark with ’em, and you can’t alter that. It shows in the kiss — you can’t fake it.
How do you feel about the EP, and those tracks now? How has your relationship with them changed, if at all?
Some of these songs I’ve had for five years, and some were written this year. It’s really telling when a song sticks that long and you still love it. “Paradise” is new and really different to anything I’ve done before.
What’s the connection between skating and music for you?
When I was about 12 or 13, I saw some punk bands playing at a party at a skateshop in Venice, and I think about it often — that’s definitely the nucleus. Skate videos always had the best soundtracks, too, of course. The first place I ever heard Queen was Birdhouse’s The End. Same with Suicidal Tendencies and Motörheadd on the Tony Hawk Pro Skater soundtrack!
Who are three current artists you stan?
I really love Dijon, Fontaines D.C., and Teezo Touchdown.
There’s definitely a lot of character behind Stolen Nova, aesthetically and sonically — and especially onstage. Can you talk about the Stolen Nova alter ego, where it came from, what its developed into — or is it just Josh Landau?
Sometimes I feel like my job onstage is 50% music and 50% class clown. I want to shake people up, get them loose and free. My favorite shows have a spontaneous moment interacting with the crowd. The songs are serious and usually come from a place of heartbreak and longing and confusion, but I don’t want to wallow in it. If you’re not laughing, you’re crying is a motto I like. I’m obviously pulling from a tradition of Bowie, Prince, and Little Richard with the makeup and outfits, but there’s still the teenager obsessed with Bad Brains and Minor Threat in there, too.