BIO

San Fermin’s music exists in a state of vivid, conflicted emotion. Lauded by The New Yorker’s Jia Tolentino for a “knack for simultaneously expressing beauty and crisis,” songwriter and composer Ellis Ludwig-Leone writes songs that move seamlessly between joy and dread, quiet intimacy and lush orchestral scale.

Since bursting onto the scene with their acclaimed 2013 self-titled debut, San Fermin has established a unique footprint in modern music, bridging the gap between indie rock ambition and contemporary classical precision. Over a decade of releases and worldwide touring, the band has earned widespread critical praise from outlets like NPR Music, The New York Times, Pitchfork, and Rolling Stone, becoming known for dynamic, theatrical live shows that have filled major venues and festival stages across the globe.

Beyond their core ensemble, San Fermin's restless curiosity has sparked an extraordinary cross-genre collaborative universe. Prominent indie musicians (Wye Oak, Thao, The Districts), contemporary classical luminaries (Nico Muhly, Attacca Quartet, Lavinia Meijer), folk visionaries (Sam Amidon), and distinctive guest vocalists (Lucius, Samia) have all joined the fold across the band's studio albums—a testament to Ludwig-Leone’s instinct for bringing disparate musical worlds into conversation.

Yet across every shifting sonic landscape, the songs remain anchored in human detail, relying on what Exclaim! calls a “sublime knack for keying into the molten undercurrent of intimate examinations of the self.”

“Every song I write starts from some emotional friction, where there’s a dissonance between two things that I feel really strongly,” says Ludwig-Leone. “The rest of the song comes from a desire to work that conflict out.”

That expansive artistic vision continues to push into new territory. The band’s latest multidisciplinary endeavor is The Woods, an immersive show created in collaboration with director Troy Schumacher and production company BalletCollective. Featuring songs from San Fermin’s catalog set on a cast of 25 dancers, singers, and performers within a custom installation by designer Jason Ardizzone-West, The Woods premiered in 2025 with a sold-out run at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn ahead of a major multi-city tour.