Roy Sommer

Best known internationally for his role as Steve Harrington on the Netflix series Stranger Things, Roy Sommer is the frontman for one of Germany's most popular and prolific bands, Sommersöhne, who made their first independent release in 2013 when Sommer was 19 years old. Sommersöhne has three #1 ranking LPs (their latest album, 12, was released November 2020) and highlighting of other independent European artists at their annual festivals (called Sommersöhne und Freunde) taking place in Berlin and Cologne since 2015, featuring a line-up of lesser known independent acts.

Sommer is also the creative director and founder of fashion brand Abfall - which focuses on 100% sustainability, working only with discarded materials and zero-waste fabric. As well as music and fashion, Sommer has collaborated on multiple non-profit ventures in both California and Cologne.

Following shutdown and a cancelled tour, Sommer and his siblings - including Flora Sommer, 30 under 30 Class of 2020 - founded Orchard House, a nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to provide housing and job training for immigrants and refugees in Germany. The organization officially opened in June 2020. In November, Sommer announced that he and friend Naz Esfahani (musician, artist) would be opening a California branch of Orchard House in a renovated motel in south Los Angeles, providing transitional housing for the homeless.

Sommer is also said to be setting up an artist residency outside of Cologne in collaboration with long-time friend and Class of 2014 30 under 30 alum, Rainie.