This article is partly taken from the winter 2025 issue of Dazed. Buy a copy of the magazine here.
The day after we speak, Chanel Beads shares a video on Instagram: in it, fans line the roof ledge of a suburban house, others scale trees, tangling themselves in the branches to catch a view of Shane Lavers, alongside collaborators Maya McGrory and Zachary Paul, performing below. As the crowd packs out the picket-fenced backyard, a kid hunches over a white folding table, juggling sound tech and sending swelling hypnagogic-pop into the mass. It’s a small-town band scene lifted straight from a low-budget cult indie film.
It’s not so far from the real beginnings of Chanel Beads. Starting as a series of voice memo collages and small experiments for Minnesota-born Shane Lavers, who cut his teeth on basement shows in Seattle’s DIY scene after college. Since then, the project has mined “this big old world” for inspiration. Last year’s debut album, Your Day Will Come, laid the blueprint for Lavers’ sound: layered guitars, programmed drums, and warped samples that pull memory and emotion into the same strange orbit.
On the road, the band’s shows have gained a kind of mythology. Their name has become shorthand for iykyk within the art-school Brooklyn scene: from playing a show in a drugstore’s lotion aisle or, more notoriously, in a train tunnel at a show organised by their friends, GodCaster and YHWH Nailgun. But even as they move between sticky-floored basements to larger stages, like opening for Lorde on her Ultrasound tour, their DIY spirit remains unflinching.
Below, we talk to Lavers about Minnesota, the online world and what’s coming next for Chanel Beads.
What have you been up to recently?
Shane Lavers: I just finished an album in terms of masters, and I kind of went crazy during it. I mixed it all myself, for the most part, and I just drove myself insane in a little room in Brooklyn.
You recently opened for Lorde – what was that experience like?
Shane Lavers: It was really cool. It was definitely an insane experience. It’s such a different way of touring and performing music than anything we’ve done before. I feel like we’ve toured in dozens of different ways – super DIY bootstrap tours, more proper headline tours, and other support tours.
It was really cool to see her set, because she commanded that room. Her set is just so immediate and earned and amazing. It was really inspiring. It never dawned on me that something like this was possible.
You mentioned being used to unusual spaces – what kind of venues or shows have you played that shaped that experience?
Shane Lavers: We’ve played so many different spaces not really intended for live music. Some college shows are amazing – excited people, have a budget, and can put on a real show – and then sometimes, you’re at a school function where a few people are doing homework with headphones on. We call those humiliation rituals, because you’re singing about an intense part of your life and people are just… doing essays or something.
It’s weird, it’s bizarre, but it’s also part of learning to play in different spaces. You adapt, you learn, and sometimes it’s really fun – other times, it’s really awkward. That’s part of touring in a DIY and support capacity.
“When the Israeli genocide really started, I didn’t want to pop the bubble of what the music meant to people. The songs are personal – about grief and consciousness. But it feels so stupid not to talk about what’s happening”
People often describe your music as dreamy or nostalgic. Do those labels resonate with you?
Shane Lavers: There’s a big difference between dreamy and dream-like. The music has dream logic, but it’s not chill or vibey to me. If someone thinks it’s dreamy, then good on you, but you might get disappointed. To me, it feels more like you took an edible and you’re trying to fall asleep and every memory you have is rushing in and it’s not really pleasant.
A lot of people discover your music online. What’s your own relationship with social media and the internet?
Shane Lavers: I’m super addicted to cooking YouTube videos. That’s mostly what I spend time on. I don’t have TikTok. I think it’s cool to let the music live over there while I do my own thing.
How do you communicate that feeling to collaborators when performing live?
Shane Lavers: The direction I give a lot is: you’re on the verge of having a panic attack, but the thing you’re trying desperately to do is make sure no one can tell.
You’ve spoken out about political issues. What do you think about using your music or platform for activism?
Shane Lavers: I’m from Minnesota, and right now ICE has invaded. They’re detaining people for no reason. I don’t know what my reach is, I just think you have to try to be involved in your life and stand on principle. That’s the only thing you can do.
It’s a really bizarre moment to talk about certain things. Everybody’s at a different level of exposure and backlash and understanding. When the Israeli genocide really started, I didn’t want to pop the bubble of what the music meant to people. The songs are personal – about grief and consciousness. But it feels so stupid not to talk about what’s happening.
