Die Spitz Find Their People at Sea.Hear.Now 2026
I have been attending Sea.Hear.Now since the first festival in 2018. One thing I learned early on is to pay attention to the Sand Stage.
Danny Clinch, Tim Donnelly, and their team have consistently curated a blend of established artists with bands that are still finding their audience. For me, the Sand Stage has become one of the best places at the festival to discover those artists.
Over the years, I have seen St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Ron Artis II & Thunderstorm, Andy Frasco & the U.N. and Mannequin Pussy there. Die Spitz was their latest discovery.
The Austin, Texas, four-piece played the Sand Stage at 4 p.m. Sunday. The second day of the festival had been dealing with rain on and off, and a steady mist was coming down shortly before their set. Fortunately, it moved out just before the band took the stage.
Die Spitz is made up of Ellie Livingston, Chloe De St. Aubin, Ava Schrobilgen and Kate Halter. Livingston and Schrobilgen have known each other since they were very young, while Halter became part of their circle in middle school. De St. Aubin came into the group later, and the four formed Die Spitz in 2022. Their history is closely tied to friendship and making music together.
Trying to put Die Spitz into one musical category is difficult, and I don't think they are particularly interested in making it easy. Punk is there. Metal is there. Grunge is there. There are also elements of hardcore and pop-punk. The band has talked about keeping the freedom to move between different sounds rather than limiting themselves to one style.
After watching them live, I don't think they need a more precise label.
What I remember most is the movement.
Early in the set, the band called for a mosh pit circle to form. The crowd was more than happy to oblige. From where I was standing, it seemed like they were waiting for someone to give them the signal.
Once that happened, the Sand Stage changed.
People were moving everywhere. The band was moving too. There were jumps, kicks, guitars going overhead and members pushing the energy back toward the audience. From the photo pit, there was always something happening. I wasn't waiting for the next big moment. There seemed to be another one every few seconds.
The set included “Monkey Song,” “Grip,” “My Hot Piss,” “Voir Dire,” “Groping Dogs Gushing Blood,” “American Porn,” “Pop Punk Anthem (Sorry for the Delay),” “RIDING WITH MY GIRLS,” “Hair of Dog,” “Punishers” and “Throw Yourself to the Sword,” along with “I Hate When GIRLS Die” and “Down On It.” (Setlist.fm)
That list tells you something about the music, but watching the band tells you much more.
Die Spitz seemed completely comfortable being part of the party they were creating. The Sand Stage is a good place for that kind of performance. The audience is close, the stage is more intimate, and on Sunday afternoon there was sand, surf and a crowd ready to get moving.
This was easily one of the most energetic sets I saw at Sea.Hear.Now 2026.
It was also exactly the kind of set that keeps me coming back to this stage during this festival.
You can spend the weekend knowing who the headliners are going to be and have your schedule planned around the bigger names. Then you walk over to the Sand Stage and find a band you didn't know much about before that afternoon...
Die Spitz is one of those bands.
I can't wait to see where they go from here, how far they take it and how their voice continues to develop.
This is going to be fun.
Die Spitz Sea.Hear.Now Bill Baumann
