She’s Got The Beat

This weekend, the Siren Festival hits Coney Island, bringing with it hipsters by the drove (well, those who haven’t carpooled their way to the other hipster music fest of record, Pitchfork in Chicago). Here in New York, Ilirjana Alushaj (pictured, front) and her band, Apache Beat, whose first album arrives this October, will be taking the stage—dressed, no doubt, better than just about anybody else.

Style cred? Yeah, she’s got that. Alushaj name-checks designers such as Suno and Ashish when talking about her love of print, and she recently rocked a Camilla Stærk dress at a concert. “I’m into clothes that are innovative yet realistic,” she says. “No Gaga gun bras for me, I’m afraid.” Bonus style points for founding and editing The Pop Manifesto, her online mag, which mainly focuses on music but occasionally dips a toe into designer waters, too. The magazine pre-dates the two-year-old Apache Beat, and Alushaj says that the band is in some ways an extension of that project. “I guess I felt like another way of showing my love for music was by making it,” she notes. “And I think you see my taste in both, obviously. The bands I choose to write about reflect my taste, and the sound of Apache Beat reflects my taste, too.” Alushaj describes said sound as “psychedelic tribal rock,” but you can judge that for yourself, since the band is debuting the album version of its song “Tropics” here.

—Maya Singer