Julian Casablancas Picked Him at an Open Mic. Now Superfan Is 21

Julian Casablancas handpicked Kali Flanagan to support the Strokes after seeing him at an open mic — when Flanagan, who records as Superfan, was 18 and performing solo in New York. He is now 21 and releasing music built, in the source's words, around "the rushing emotions of youth."

That is the hardest fact in this story, and almost the only one. The Guardian's playlist column frames Superfan as its lead recommendation this week, pairing him with a familiar reference triangle: Cameron Winter, Adrianne Lenker, Alex G. Those names tell you the register — introspective, guitar-led, songwriter-first indie. They do not tell you what the songs actually sound like beyond "breezy, youthful indie," which is the column's phrase, not a critic's verdict on the finished record.

What is actually on the calendar?

The source gives three concrete anchors:

• From: New York
• Recommended if you like: Cameron Winter, Adrianne Lenker, Alex G
• Up next: the album My Piledriver Heart, out now; a UK tour beginning 4 November

The album is released. The tour has a start date. Everything else in the story is origin myth, and origin myths deserve a second look.

How solid is the Casablancas story?

The Guardian's account runs like this. A teenager posts breezy indie online. That posting earns a record deal. Covid interrupts. The artist moves to New York, changes his artist name to Superfan, and then Julian Casablancas — the Strokes' frontman — spots him at an open mic and invites him to open for the Strokes in Colorado. Solo. At 18.

Each link in that chain is attributed to the Guardian column, not to Flanagan directly, and the piece quotes no one. The column itself concedes the setup sounds improbable, opening with the observation that "making coming-of-age music as a young person can feel strange after a pandemic" and then offering "a few more curveballs." The curveballs are the career. Fair enough. But a reader should note what the source does not say: which label signed him, how old he was at the deal, which Strokes dates he played, and whether Casablancas has confirmed any of it publicly. The claim rests entirely on the column's authority.

None of that makes the story false. Strokes-adjacent patronage is a well-worn launchpad, and Casablancas runs his own label operation, so the pattern fits. It makes the story unverified — a distinction that matters for an artist whose entire public identity, so far, is built on being seen before being known.

What does this change for listeners?

Practically, two things. First, My Piledriver Heart is available now, so the claim can be tested directly: an 18-year-old who opened for the Strokes should show something on record. Second, the UK tour opens 4 November, which gives British audiences a chance to check whether the open-mic-to-arena narrative survives a small room.

The bildungsroman framing — the Guardian calls these "buzzy bildungsromans" — is the column's conceit, and it is a useful one. Superfan's stated material is coming-of-age itself, written by someone still inside the age being chronicled. That is either the genre's most honest version or its least tested. The record, out now, is where that question gets answered; the UK dates from 4 November are where the answers get louder.