Bonnaroo 2025 Artist Spotlight: hey, nothing

Like we’ve been doing for many years now, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with many of our favorite acts from Bonnaroo‘s 2025 lineup. A festival that feels like it’s ever evolving (especially with some big tweaks and improvements in the past few summers post-pandemic), this year marks Bonnaroo’s 22nd installment (and 24th anniversary), boasting not only another great and varied lineup, but also some exciting additions like the brand new, high-tech Infinity Stage, billed as “the world’s largest 360-degree, immersive sound experience” and unlike anything that’s ever been showcased in North America. Back once again in its usual June 12-15 timeframe, we’re counting down the days until another great weekend on the farm.

As we dig through the entire schedule, we’ll highlight a spread of performers spanning across genres and stages, big and small, new and old, to bring you some of the most interesting, lesser-known, and most highly-recommended among this year’s crop of artists. And as our time at ‘Roo approaches, we’ll also be bringing you some special features and full list-style daily lineup guides, to help you plan your weekend ahead of the fest. While these previews won’t span every artist, and might omit some more obvious must-see acts, we hope they’ll serve as a way to help you navigate Bonnaroo’s gargantuan lineup, and to make the most of your busy weekend at the fest!

We’re told tickets are very low and on track to sell out, so grab those right here if you haven’t already (and don’t forget the camping or parking pass), and read on for our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight!

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Hailing from just outside of Atlanta, emo folk duo hey, nothing is made up of best friends Tyler Mabry and Harlow Philips, who met as preteens, instantly bonded over a shared musical taste and sense of humor, and have spent years crafting their raw, earnest, and confessional sound, beginning to release songs in high school, and attracting viral attention throughout their teens (the pair only recently turned 20, so nearly their entire career so far has taken place during their teen years). Following some buzzy early singles and social media attention, hey, nothing (who got their name from Stephen Chbosky’s classic coming-of-age novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower), released their debut album, We’re Starting to Look Like Each Other, in 2023, met with positive buzz, especially for tracks like “Too Drunk to Drive” and “Like a Brother.” It was last year’s Maine EP, however, recorded- fittingly- in a small cabin in Maine, that helped the pair connect with an even wider audience, thanks especially to resonant, wise-beyond-their-years tracks “Maine” and “The Sink,” further honing the band’s literary, sharp, emotionally vulnerable fusion of folk, emo, and indie rock, channeling greats like Modern Baseball, Pinegrove, and The Front Bottoms, with a hint of some classics influences like Violent Femmes and Modern Lovers. Tackling adult themes like addiction, death, and heartbreak- themes the pair allude are unfortunately all to real to their lived experience- hey, nothing feel like a bridge between generations of emo because their music is so heartfelt and deconstructed, giving it a timeless quality that, while not out of place in the modern musical landscape, sounds just as much like a callback to the 2000s and 2010s indie emo scene which Mabry and Philips were a bit too young to have experienced firsthand, but one that clearly informed their writing style. The band have been on the road for the last couple of years, selling out shows across the nation and earning accolades from the likes of NPR, Stereogun, Brooklyn Vegan, Alt Press, and countless other tastemaking outlets. Their latest EP, 33º, dropped back in February, and matures their sound even further, landing a bit more on the folk side of their influence, but just as honed and earnest, racking up millions more streams for singles like “Sick Dogs” and “Barn Nursery.” And, prolific as ever, they’re already released a new single since, the Modern Baseball-channeling “Waiting Room,” co-written with Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull. In addition to ‘Roo, hey, nothing’s busy summer includes stops at Lollapalloza, Shaky Knees, and more major fests, and while we imagine they’ll be back in Nashville sooner than later (they played Paradise Fest at Brooklyn Bowl in 2023, and at The Blue Room last year), if you’re fan of fantastic, heartfelt, no-frills emo like we are, they should be at the top of your must-see list at Bonnaroo as well!

WATCH | “Waiting Room” (Official Lyric Video)