In an interview at the Hard Rock Hotel New York, The Beaches joined Brad Steiner to talk about their TikTok popularity surge, the bravery in releasing their latest album, and how they rely on one another.
LISTEN NOW: The Beaches at Hard Rock Hotel New York
The Beaches have been in the Canadian Alternative music scene for a while now, but just recently made their U.S. Billboard debut with the help of some TikTok fame. Their single “Blame Brett” went viral this fall, gaining serious nods from fans like Demi Lovato, Mark Hoppus of blink-182, and more.
“You know, we've been in a band for about, like, I think the four of us have been playing together for 10 years.” Jordan Miller began, who plays bass, sings, and writes for The Beaches. “For us to have this moment right now feels so special and we work so hard on the songs and for people to be receiving the music and liking it. It's just so humbling and so cool.”
And though drummer Eliza Enman-McDaniel mentioned they faced a “little bit of jealousy” when they were a band at their Canadian arts high school, clearly things have changed. “Some of the bullies are asking for tickets to our shows now,” keyboardist and guitarist Leandra Earl quipped. Hopefully she wasn’t referring to The Beaches performances at Audacy’s Riptide Music Festival and KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas. Riptide is coming up this weekend and Almost Acoustic is already sold out, and besides, no bullies allowed at either!
As the musicians joke and laugh throughout the interview, it’s clear that The Beaches have hit-making chemistry. Single “Blame Brett” has peaked at number 22 in its sixth week on the chart, but success was far from certain when the band was songwriting. “I was definitely afraid to put this record out because I think in the past, I've kind of always approached songwriting with a little bit of sense of humor, like a Bugs Bunny character almost,” Jordan Miller reflected. “And obviously like this record was about my breakup. So I was a little worried about how people would feel about me being so sincere with a lot of the songs.” For the rest of the band, they completely saw the album’s potential. “Everyone loves it. It's just her ex who doesn't like it” Leandra again joked, before Jordan clarified, “He did give me permission to use his name!”
And yes, while they do use her musician ex’s first name in their biggest single, the Blame My Ex album really isn’t about him. Instead of focusing on the relationship itself, Jordan revealed that she wrote each song correlating to a phase in her heartbreak and healing. “Blame Brett” was influenced by some of Jordan’s new dates, post breakup. Learning to love and being alone brought about the song “Me and Me,” and even going through bouts of depression and anxiety inspired her to write “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid.”
“I thought, like, there's not really a lot of records about what happens after you get your heart broken and the journey that you go on to finding yourself again,” Jordan explained. And while the other members noted that watching her go through the breakup was hard, they feel stronger together. “We ground each other and we're just best friends” they said collectively. “If we're feeling scared or insecure, we always have each other. There's three other people to help you snap out of it.”
The band is currently on their Blame My Ex Tour, which is set to run in the US through March. “I hope the sky's the limit” Jordan noted. “You know, we just are so excited to tour and to share our music with as many people as we can.”
Check out the full interview with The Beaches above, and to find out more about their upcoming Audacy shows check out audacy.com/riptide or kroq.com/xmas. Can’t wait to see you there!