There are no egos here. When the going gets tough, Asian-American boy group NSB lets their friendship do the talking.
If you think about it, social media and music go hand-in-hand. So, since both thrive off each other, we see our fair share of social media content creators who try to parlay their success into becoming recording artists. Most famously, we have the rise and rise of Addison Rae as the newest pop girl on the scene. And in that conversation of successful music content creators, the North Star Boys, aka NSB, can be included.
Composed of members Oliver Moy, Sebastian Moy, Regie Macalino, Ryan Nguyen, Justin Phan, Darren Liang, Tyler Bray, and Kane Ratan, NSB came together in 2021 as a boy group of popular Asian-American content creators. In the years since, not only has NSB kept up with their music career, but the group has also attracted fans worldwide called Stars who subscribe to their fun and personable content and discography. Nobody is doing it quite like NSB, and that’s why they continue to thrive (they recently dropped their comeback single, Stardom, and are currently on an Asia trip) in an era where trends and viral fame come and go. Best of all, they are navigating this journey like Gen Z best friends who don’t let the attention get to their friendship.
During the group’s recent trip to the Philippines, which included, among other things, performing on Unang Hirit and a show at One Ayala, we caught up with the boys as they opened up about their return to the country, taking on new career paths, how their bond has formed over the years, and more. Read the full interview below.
How does it feel to be back in the Philippines as a group after a couple of years?
Sebastian: It feels amazing. We’ve been trying to come back for the past two years, and now that we released our new single Stardom, we found a perfect opportunity to come and visit our Filipino fans. We love them so much. We always say that this is one of the best countries because the people and the culture is one of our favorites. And of course, the food.
How would you describe your Filipino stars?
Oliver: Very dedicated. Our Filipino stars are very dedicated, very welcoming. Every time we visit the Philippines and we have an event or a show, they’re all sure to join us in a very special moment. So seeing them in the audience is such a lovely thing.
You guys have quite a busy week here in the Philippines. How do you feel about your shows in Manila?
Oliver: Very excited. We’ve been doing a lot of rehearsals, planning for this Asia trip, and I think we are ready.
So some of you have met BINI recently. What was it like getting to meet and shoot content with them?
Oliver: BINI is very lovely. They’re very lovely. They’re very sweet. Their team was very kind and helpful, and I hope that we can work with them moving forward as well.
You guys have been together for a while now. How do you think your group dynamic has changed from when you first started to now?
Tyler: I believe that our group dynamic from the very beginning has been very friendship oriented, and as we grew and lived together and learned together and pushed through hardship together, our bond just really became a lot closer, because we know the good sides of everyone. We know the bad sides of everyone, when people are super tired and working super hard, and we just know how to talk to each other, lift each other up, and just be there for our fans. And so I think that’s how the dynamic really has changed. Throughout the years, we’ve just become better friends.
How was it like to live together?
Tyler: First two years, we all lived in the same house, but I remember sharing rooms. Some of us had to sleep on beds, on the floor, on couches, and it wasn’t the easiest, but it really brought us closer together, just to go through all that and never be separated.
Oliver: I miss it! I miss it. I like the loud environments. Nothing—it was never a boring day.
They say never work with your friends, right? How do you navigate being NSB while still having all members’ opinions and voices be heard?
Oliver: I think everything is all about compromising. Since we are a team, of course, there are members who might have disagreements. However, we are doing this for the Stars and, you know, for our families.
Regie: So we’re very open minded.
Kane: We always put each other first before the business. We always make sure our friendship stays intact no matter what.
Sebastian: And one thing I really appreciate about everyone here is that the willingness to understand different perspectives. We all come from different backgrounds, and I think it’s a beautiful thing that we all have different opinions on many things. And, you know, we don’t use that to bash heads or mix things up in the pot. We understand that, ‘hey, you may have a different opinion.’ And I think that goes a long way when it comes to our music as well. Although we may want to have different directions for this song a lot of the times—if not every single time—we decide, like, ‘hey, I’ll trust you on this,’ because we don’t know the outcome of the future, but we might as well enjoy the journey.
Tyler: And I think, just to cap it off, I think friends is an understatement. We’re brothers, so we make it work.
Aside from the music, you guys are also content creators. What have you learned from your background in social media that has helped you as a music group?
Justin: Being a content creator—it really differentiates us, because we know how to make content already, so we can build better ideas around music when we chop away songs and things.
Sebastian: Also, I think social media now is filled with music everywhere, right with TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, we hear music, so since we are content creators, we get a lot of inspiration from other songs, and we’re able to take the inspiration and create our own music and kind of make our own mark in the music world.
Oliver: I would also like to share, to any aspiring social media content creators or artists, even, I would suggest that all artists and upcoming artists look into social media, because I think it’s a great way to form a community and get closer with your fans. I believe that without social media, and we just did music, we wouldn’t be able to reach as many Stars and touch as many hearts, because they may not understand our personalities. And I think when you watch a content creator and you can match them, they can become your friend through the phone. And I think that’s how we feel with our stars. We are really close with them.
What’s the best thing about being in a multicultural group?
Justin: We get a taste of every food.
What’s your favorite?
Justin: I like pork tocino.
Sebastian: I personally love sisig. It’s my favorite.
Kane: I’ve been addicted to the porks around here. I don’t eat pork in America, but I ate pork every single day here.
Oliver: Also, besides like Filipino culture and food, we visit Tyler and Kane’s family back in Texas quite frequently when we do shows there, and their mom cooks really well. So sharing cultures and different foods from different cultures is such a cool thing. When we were in Texas, Darren’s dad took us out and we had really cool Chinese food. So I think that’s another beautiful thing about us having different backgrounds, that we’re able to enjoy each other’s cuisines.
How do you balance that line between being public figures on social media and also giving yourself the space to be young and explore the world?
Tyler: I think, ultimately, when you try to live two separate lives, it’s almost impossible to maintain that. But when you stay true to yourself and you can connect authentically with your fans and with the people that you love, I think it’s not difficult to live a life that you want to live, right? We’re eight best friends who travel the world with each other and get to be in front of 100,000 people who support us every single day and watch us perform and see us do our passion. I think that it when you look at it that way, it’s not difficult to maintain that, because we’re just living the lives that we want to live, and we’re chasing the dreams that we want to chase.
What would be your advice to people who also want to follow those paths, like a non-typical 9-to-5 job, that you guys are pursuing now? What’s your advice to young people who want to try other opportunities, whether it be content creation or music?
Sebastian: It’s very hard to take the leap of faith to try something new, because most of the time, you’re not going to have a clear path in front of you. So for those that don’t want to work the nine-to-five life and want to become something, whether it is through entertainment or maybe starting your own business, then really you just have to do it, and you have to start and work your way through all the hardships. It’s not going to be easy, but it definitely will be worth it if that’s what you want to do.
Oliver: Surround yourself with people who want the best for you. I think that’s very important to your own success is surround yourself with people who are always trying to push you towards being your best and towards your own success. And you help them out. They help you out.
Kane: I think a lot of people are very hesitant, and they have wonderful and like great ideas. However, they are always overthinking ‘what if this doesn’t happen, what if this doesn’t happen,’ but you never know unless you try. So I say, just do it. If you have a great idea, just go for it.
Ryan: I would say the number one thing is to always believe in yourself and be confident about everything you do.
For people who may not have heard of NSB yet, how would you introduce yourselves to them?
Oliver: It is our goal to bring music to different planets, and we believe that one day soon, we will be able to achieve that. And we will perform on different planets. And we’ll do live streams there too. But for the people that just discover us and want to know what type of people we are—we are very crazy sometimes. We can be a little bit unfiltered at times, but I don’t think you’ll ever find a more loving group. We not only love each other, but we also love our fans. We do everything for them, and we will go the extra mile to make sure that they have the best day of their life, whether it’s just watching us online or seeing us in person. I cannot describe to you how many times we’ve gone that extra mile, but that’s something that is engraved into us, and something that we will always do for the rest of our career.
Creative Direction by GELO QUIJENCIO
Photography by ROYCE MAGSANOC
Assisted by GIEO MARCK SANTOS
Makeup by KATHY ORAN & ED ALFARO
Managing Editor RAFAEL BAUTISTA
Brand Associate BIANCA LAO
Interview Conducted by NICA GLORIOSO
Shoot Coordination by JASMIN DASIGAN & NICA GLORIOSO
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