Episode Details

Luke West and Mike Tyrrell of the band Superintendo stopped by Live & Local last week, following the release of their debut full-length album “Beauty Routine.”

Follow Superintendo on Instagram.

First formed in 2023, Superintendo’s been releasing music for just a year – but they’ve already established themselves as a major player in Chapel Hill’s pop/punk/ska scene. (As their online bio nicely puts it, “they play both genres: fast and slow.”) But while the band has only been around a short while, West and Tyrrell have known each other a lot longer.

“Luke and I went to punk rock high school,” Tyrrell jokes. “We met in the skate park when we were both 13 – rolling to the gas stations, trying to get adults to buy us cigarettes, just the humor that comes with not taking yourself seriously at all when you’re around a good friend and a skateboard – (and) it’s just kind of evolved through the years.”

But it wasn’t until recently that the two friends forged the musical partnership that turned into Superintendo.

“I was making songs in my bedroom and sending them to Mike, who plays drums,” says West. “And Mike suggested we formalize the matter and create a band.”

The result, three years later, is “Beauty Routine”: pop-punk with substance, ten powerhouse tracks that blend catchy, fast, driving melodies with real lyrical depth (and the occasional direct foray into politics, as in “God Save the Billionaires”). “The archetype of the band is joking around, but there’s sincere stuff on there,” West says.

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