Strange Days
Not everyone can say they were in diapers touring with Lenny Kravitz, but Devon Ross can. At 26, the LA girl is stepping out of her family’s rock-and-roll lore and writing her own legend.
Published in Takeaway Spring/Summer 2026. Get your copy here.
Interview by SABRINA FUENTES
Photos by WALKER BUNTING
Fashion by ANGELINA VITTO
Devon Ross: Hello?
Sabrina Fuentes: Hey girl. How’s it going?
Devon: Good. Are you on tour?
Sabrina: I just got back to New York. We just played Paris,London, and Vienna. Where are you right now?
Devon: I’m at home in LA. I was in Paris but left the day before you played. I was so sad to miss it.
Sabrina: Oh no. It was fun though. Have you toured much?
Devon: We did a little tour for my E.P., Oxford Gardens, driving around England with Thurston [Moore] and his wife Eva. We even stopped by Liverpool and Bristol. I grew up touring with my dad [Craig Ross], going from place to place and being on the move, so I’m pretty used to the chaos of it all. I want to do more of it though.
Sabrina: How old were you on your first tour?
Devon: I was a tiny baby. I mean, it’s classic. You don’t think things are different until people tell you they are. It wasn’t until I got older that I was like, Oh, so most kids are not going on tour during the summer. This is not normal. I got really good at entertaining myself because I would be left alone for two, three hours every night and was otherwise around adults all the time.
Sabrina: What was it like growing up in LA around music?
Devon: Being a teenager in LA was pretty special. You grew up in New York, right? It’s kind of similar; you’re exposed to a lot of things when you grow up in a city like this. But here, you get your license at 16, and you kind of just drive around.
Sabrina: What bands were playing back then?
Devon: Lydia Night and the Regrettes were happening. Girlpool was happening. The Smell, which is this all-ages venue where anyone could play, was happening. I would just hit the clubs all the time. I honestly wouldn’t trade that time for anything.
“I mean, it’s classic. You don’t think things are different until people tell you they are.”
Sabrina: What is your favorite thing to see a crowd doing now that you’re playing your own shows?
Devon: Everyone’s so serious all the time, especially in places like LA, so it’s nice when people are actually letting loose, dancing, going ballistic. I don’t really play dancing music, but I love when the crowd’s vibing. What about you?
Sabrina: I like when people mosh, obviously. I also like seeing people singing along. And I love watching people meet each other. I still follow all of those girls that I met at, like, a Mac DeMarco show when I was a kid—I’m like, Love you girl. When did you move to London?
Devon: After Covid happened, I went to live with my dad in the Bahamas for four or so months, which was sick. I played guitar every day, then I left for London later that year and stayed for four. It was really the mecca of everything I loved. We lived on Melrose Ave. when I was younger, where there was a store called Posers that had all the English Fred Perry clothes, the creepers and shit. And I love the Beatles—people who love the Beatles want to move to London—so I was happy I did. My first years there were kind of like a dreamscape.
Sabrina: Did you like your neighborhood?
Devon: Yeah, I loved living in Ladbroke Grove. Every weekend I’d walk to Portobello Road, where the Clash started. I even visited where Marc Bolan lived and where Pink Floyd played their first show. Being so close to all of that was unreal to me, and I’m sure people feel that way about LA, too, but I didn’t appreciate it back then.
Sabrina: When did you start making music?
Devon: Well, I’ve played guitar since I was 14, and I would write songs here and there, but I wanted to be really good at strumming before I ever tried writing my own music. I guess growing up with a classic rock dad and always listening to what he listened to, I thought I had to learn everything, but when I first heard Sonic Youth a few years ago, I realized I didn’t have to, and that freed me in a way.
Sabrina: All that practice paid off because I love the way you play guitar. You have such a great style.
Devon: Aw, thank you. I learned so much from Thurston and Lee [Ranaldo] with the open tune, honestly. I also always got open tunings from Jimmy Page, which was cool. They all really opened my mind.
Sabrina: That’s so full circle because you work so closely with Thurston now, right?
Devon: Yeah it’s crazy. I just sent him my songs one day like, “What do you think? Are these crazy? Do they suck?”And he was like, “We’ll put them out.” I said, “Wow. Okay, let’s do it.”
Sabrina: Do you have any favorite venues in either city?
Devon: I’ve played Zebulon 10 times, it feels like my living room now. The 100 Club also has a very special place in my heart; it was the first venue I played in London, and I grew up with this book about it that I’d read all the time, so it was pretty surreal. Didn’t we meet in London?
Sabrina: Either London or Paris... Wait, didn’t we go to Chez Janou? I was just here a week ago and thought, The first time I came here was with Devon.
Devon: It’s all coming back to me.
Sabrina: When did you get into acting and modeling?
Devon: My mom was a model in the’90s, and I would always look through her portfolio as a kid, but it didn’t really fall into my lap. I would do small campaigns around LA, then I booked a Gucci show at 17, which is when it really kicked off. I got an audition for Irma Vep through my agency in 2022, which was so scary..I booked it, and didn’t sleep for a month leading up to filming because it was with Olivier Assayas, who’s such a fucking legend. Alicia Vikander,too—she has a fucking Oscar. And there I was, never having acted before. I learned so much.
Sabrina: Was there a red carpet premiere? Had you done one before?
Devon: Yeah, but that was probably the scariest one. Being at Cannes when you’re 22 is so fun. Looking back on that time now, I’m so glad that I was actively trying to be present for it because I knew it was a rare moment. It is also the most fabulous I’ve ever felt, like a mermaid.
Sabrina: You’re in a new movie by Matt Sukkar, right? What’s your character like?
Devon: Yeah it’s called The Deputy. I play Molly, a teenager in a small town who dreams of bigger things. Every role I play changes how I think about acting in a sense, I learn something new every time. I’m really excited to work with William H. Macy, Duke Nicholson, Stephen Dorff, and Julia Fox.
Sabrina: Do you have a favorite modeling memory?
Devon: Definitely shooting with Yorgos Lanthimos in Rome for Gucci by Alessandro Michele. I just remember being on set and knowing it was a very rare opportunity.
Sabrina: Has working in fashion changed your personal style?
Devon: I feel like I’m evolving all the time, but I do end up dressing the same as I have my whole life. I guess I feel more womanly than ever. I used to just really only dress like a tomboy all the time, and I revert back to that pretty often, but I am feeling more feminine as I get older.
Sabrina: What are your favorite places to shop?
Devon: I love going to Scout on Melrose. It’s kind of fancy, but it’s really fun. I also just love going to Silverlake Flea. And in London, I love some of the stores on Brick Lane. Do you know Shop Yotts?
Sabrina: Yeah. I always go there when I’m in London. She has great stuff. What’s your creative process like across music, acting, and modeling? Do you feel any overlap in how you approach them?
Devon: Music and acting feel really different. Music happens on my own time, I don’t really work with anyone else, so I can do things my way without feeling shy or holding back. Acting is more disciplined, I love how much work goes into preparing for a role. I love both sides of that: playing guitar alone for hours, doing whatever I want, and also having to show up prepared for a role and meet a deadline. One of my favorite parts of acting is the lead-up, figuring out who your character is, building their story.
“Music happens on my own time, I don’t really work with anyone else, so I can do things my way without feeling shy or holding back. Acting is more disciplined, I love how much work goes into preparing for a role.”
Sabrina: Do you ever approach music that way, like crafting a character, or is it more just you?
Devon: It happens in a totally different way. I’m just on my own. Sometimes I spiral a bit like, What am I doing? because I’m the only one hearing it. But that’s part of the fun.
Sabrina: That happens to everyone—the vortex. You produced your last E.P. yourself, did you produce the other one too?
Devon: Yeah, that one was literally just me in my house with a drum machine app.
Sabrina: How is the LA music scene right now?
Devon: Maybe when I was younger it felt more concentrated just because my world was smaller, but I don’t know—there’s definitely something here, it’s just not as tight.
Sabrina: I feel like people go out differently, too.
Devon: Yeah, exactly. Here it’s more of a choice.
Sabrina: Have you been to any shows recently or are there any newer artists you’re into right now?
Devon: Unironically, I went to one of Lenny’s shows recently. I mostly listen to older music but I’m trying to get better about that. I love Pretty Sick.
Sabrina: Thank you. But same—I was like that for a long time. I only really got into new stuff when I forced myself to. What do you think your 16-year-old self would think of you now?
Devon: I wanted to be doing all the stuff that I’m doing now so I’d be pretty happy.