Interview & Live Music: The Beaches
Photos by Berk Özcan
Article by Anna Busalacchi
Park West in Chicago, IL
Alt-indie rock group, The Beaches, brought confidence and sass to their Chicago performance at Park West opening for Dope Lemon last week before their milestone Lollapalooza debut, which the band described as a “dream come true.”
Hailing from Toronto, the group formed in 2013 by lead vocalist and bassist Jordan Miller, along with her sister Kylie Miller on guitar and vocals, Leandra Earl on keys, guitar and vocals, and Eliza McDaniel on drums—the perfect storm of rockstar girl bosses.
“It’s always really exciting playing for U.S. crowds and especially festivals because there are often people there that maybe wouldn’t get the chance to see you,” Eliza said.
The band played their new hit and break song of the summer, “Blame Brett,” which has topped alt rock charts in Canada and the U.S. all summer with nearly 10 million streams on Spotify. The song is one of three released singles from their new album coming out Sept. 15 titled “Blame My Ex.”
Jordan said she wrote the song when she was going through a breakup, and coincidentally Leanrda and Kylie also experienced breakups around the same time.
“You can blame your ex for the breakup, but also who you become after the breakup,” Jordan said. “You can blame them and you can thank them,” Leandra added.
During the pandemic the band went through significant changes between breakups, to new management and being dropped from their previous label, but they used everything as inspiration to take a different approach to their sound and songwriting.
“It’s sort of the double punch of all that change and rediscovering yourself and learning to stand on your own both as a band but also as a single woman and that’s kind of the theme of the record,” Jordan said. “Going through that change, that heartbreak, and that devastation and learning from it and becoming a stronger single person.”
Their latest release “Me & Me” is a single woman’s anthem with a powerful message about embracing alone time, taking yourself out on dates and refusing to settle when Jordan sings, “Because I'd rather be dead, than with 99% of all men.”
From their upcoming album, “Everything Is Boring” is a witty tune that taps into the relatable boredom with existence in the aftermath of a breakup and an overall annoyance with men in the lyrics, “I was thinking about girls supporting other girls, then I woke up in a meeting with a bunch of random dudes telling me what I should do.”
The band said there was a lot less female representation in the rock world when they first started making music, but it has grown since then and they are hopeful that the industry will continue to become more inclusive of women, people of color and queer people.
“We are so lucky to be a part of this, there’s so many women out there doing rock music, pop music, everything, I feel like the top five songs in top 40 right now are women,” Eliza said. “It’s becoming the norm.
Chicago will be blessed with another show from The Beaches on Oct. 7 to play Chop Shop on the “Blame My Ex” Tour, which has already sold out multiple U.S. shows including New York, Milwaukee, and Nashville.
