Between front man Josh Kiszka’s boundless vocal range, the group’s elaborate onstage ensembles, and a sound that puts a fresh spin on classic rock, Greta Van Fleet provides nothing short of a feast for the senses. They’re also a laugh riot. (The Michigan-bred band is something of a family affair, if you couldn’t tell just by looking at them: Josh’s twin, Jake, plays lead guitar; Sam, their younger brother, on bass; and drummer Daniel Wagner is a close friend.)
Josh and Sam are the half of the band that Zoom with me from Nashville, their spirits high and brotherly banter quick and funny. Yet both are deadly serious about their craft, describing how they carefully calibrate each song, outfit, and pyrotechnics-packed performance for maximum effect.
Greta Van Fleet first captivated audiences with their second EP, 2017’s From the Fires, which earned them a Grammy for best rock album in 2019. Now the band is set to release their fourth album, Starcatcher, on July 21 and embark on a world tour not long thereafter. Asked how they’re feeling about fans finally hearing the new record, the Kiszka brothers don’t mince words: Josh quips that he’s “scared shitless.”
“I’m surprised every time a song comes out, and I get a notification on my phone that Greta Van Fleet released a new single,” Sam wryly adds.
Their anticipation is owed, in part, to the unconventional creative process from which Starcatcher emerged. The band went into the studio with a loose structure for half of the album’s tracks, leaving the rest to spur-of-the-moment jamming. “One of our main goals for Starcatcher was to create something candid, exciting, and authentic,” Sam says. “It’s likely the least-preconceived album we’ve ever put together,” adds Josh. “So much of it came to life in the studio, and it was very lively in that sense. A lot of the things that were happening and recorded on the final take only happened once.” He continues, “I had to embrace this philosophy that the only thing we have to hold onto is letting go, because typically I’m very neurotic and want to have things exact.”
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Among the 10 tracks’ highlights are the strum-y, spectral “Meeting the Master” and “Sacred The Thread”—a song that Josh wrote about his iconic collection of jumpsuits, each of which he’s given a name. (There’s the nautical jumpsuit, the hierophant jumpsuit, and the red rock jumpsuit, to name just a few of his favorites.) “I’ve lost track of how many jumpsuits I’ve got at this point, which is a very good sign of hedonism and self-indulgence in self-expression,” he says, laughing.
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Indeed, self-expression is another thing that this group takes very seriously. As they enter their Starcatcher era, the brothers and bandmates are eager to present their most authentic selves. While Josh recently took a stance on LGBTQ+ rights in Tennessee on Instagram, describing his “loving, same-sex relationship” with his partner of eight years, the band’s plan as performers is to turn the visuals for their upcoming tour up to a 10.
All that begins with their wardrobe. “[Our style] has to be cohesive and feel slightly intentional,” Sam says. “We’ve become more planned in our style as we’ve evolved, because Elton John gave us permission to do that.” He’s not kidding—Sir Elton John himself attended a Greta Van Fleet show in London in 2018, during the band’s early days, and went backstage afterward to personally encourage them to flaunt their stuff.
The brothers agree that getting dressed up to perform is a deeply personal and somewhat competitive process for all of them. They constantly try to out-do one another, stealing glimpses at each other’s style references (Sam’s inspiration for the last tour was 17th-century armor; for this one, Josh is into 1970s Elvis and Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra), sketching their ideas in colored pencils, and then working with designer Amber Doyle to bring them to life. Based in New York, Doyle is perhaps best know for designing Phoebe Bridgers’s signature skeleton costume—as well as the blue power suit that Fezco’s grandma wears in season two, episode one of Euphoria.
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“What I like to do through a tour is evolve my look,” Sam says. “I’ll start with one version one of a suit, and then during the next leg, we’ll redesign it—maybe there’s more gold, embroidered swords, or beads.” Dramatic stage makeup has also worked its way into Greta Van Fleet s aesthetic universe; it was Josh’s idea, inspired by the likes of Annie Lennox and David Bowie, to take the rhinestones from their jumpsuits and migrate them to their faces. (Since last summer, fans have joyfully followed along with the band’s cosmetic creations—and satirical commentary and skits—via their popular TikTok series Rhinestoned Diaries.)
“You have to give yourself permission to go there and open up to the idea of being your flamboyant self and being confident in who you are, and [for me] that’s what the wardrobe achieves,” Josh reflects. “I’ve had horrible days where I’ve been so anxious, and I can’t possibly fathom going on stage. But when I put on the jumpsuit, all of a sudden it completely changes, and I’m like, I’ve arrived. It’s a uniform, and it’s a suit of armor.”
