About Amulet
MJ Phoenix – Bass, guitar, keys, composition
Stephanie Stryker – Lead vocals, composition, styling, design
Bob Carr – Guitar, live music production, vocals
MJ Phoenix
MJ Phoenix grew up near Liverpool, England, and became interested in music at an early age. He started playing guitar and bass as a teenager and played in – and managed and promoted – various bands in southern England.
After moving to the States, he joined funk ensemble The Secret (Charlottesville, VA) as bassist and co-songwriter. In DC, he played bass in cover band The Black Rails for a decade before forming Amulet with Stephanie Stryker.
MJ is the bassist in our live lineup and plays bass, guitar, keys, synthesizers, and sequencers on our recordings. He is a principal songwriter, along with Stephanie. He also works with her on video production and style concepts for our video and photo shoots.
MJ is also a birdwatcher, chess player, sci-fi nerd, photographer, and videographer.
Stephanie Stryker
Stephanie Stryker is a Northern Virginia native and has Virginia ancestry back to Jamestown. Her mom and brother are professional musicians, but she never considered herself among them outside of being a karaoke DJ and a 6-month stint on saxophone in 7th grade. MJ took a chance on her and it seems like she can at least carry a tune.
A self-proclaimed goth girl since her teens, Stephanie enjoyed typical suburban mall goth activities like dyeing her hair black, moping around, and listening to loud, explicit music in her bedroom with green light bulbs glowing in a chandelier while drawing portraits of Marilyn Manson. Once she was old enough to go to the goth club, she began her relationship with real goth music and developed her love of electronic music in the form of EBM and various expressions of industrial dance music.
Stephanie has a degree in fashion design and daylights as a graphic designer. She has a deep love for fashion and makeup (her wardrobe is considered a family member). She’s the fashion editor for super cool and goffik Procession Magazine.
She is an illustrator, photographer, genealogist, pagan, vegan, budding video editor, and Mac nerd. She also loves happy hardcore, but don’t tell anybody.
Bob Carr
Bob Carr thinks he’s funnier than he is. If someone in the band is laughing, it’s usually a pity laugh for Bob.
He grew up in Groveton, VA where he was surrounded by a musical family who instilled his love of all musical things.
He started making music in his early teens playing bass and guitar wherever and in whatever genre he could find.
Prior to Amulet, he played stages all over the DMV as the guitarist-vocalist for M4TR. Bob is an avid audiobook starter, husband, father, and YouTube addict.
