We are here to kick your Friday into high gear with the surge of punk-pop sounds, served up by the band, girlfriends. Dropping their brand new album, (e)motion sickness, the pair have thrown us back into our early 00s feels, with angsty cuts rippling with powerful production and the electrifying sounds of rock-tinged instrumentation. With the band’s romantic-yet-tortured confessions also laying at the core of cuts such as “Toothbrush” and “Told You So”, the album becomes a nostalgic ode to the pop-punk genre and one that we can’t help but stick on repeat.
Speaking on the project, the pair explain, “We spent over a year and a half making the album. We wrote over 60 songs, and had to narrow it down to 14; it wasn’t easy. We really took our time with this one and wanted to make sure it was an evolution of what we did on our first album. Everything from the tones of samples, drums, guitars, all of it. It’s a fun album where we got to explore different styles of songs and had a lot of fun. it’s definitely a maturity and growth of the band.”
Upon the release of the album, the duo sat down with Wonderland to discuss their instant musical connection, the origins of their name and their favourite tracks from their latest project. Head below to enjoy our interview with girlfriends.
Hey guys, how are you doing?
Doing great! getting ready to head out on the road for some headline shows and in rehearsals playing the new songs
Where are we speaking to you from right now?
Los Angeles, CA.
First of all, how did you guys meet?
Nick and I met back in 2013 when I used to record at his studio – it was called STRZ at the time. We had a mutual friend who thought we should meet and we hit it off right away. Fast forward a couple of years, I was playing a Christmas show for my solo project at the time and needed a drummer. Nick learned the entire set in one rehearsal and we played an amazing show together. In 2019, I saw an Instagram post of him wanting to go back out on the road and tour and I had taken a 3 or 4-year hiatus on releasing music myself and shared the same sentiment. I called him up and proposed the idea of starting a band together and he was in. The rest is history.
And the name, girlfriends, what was the inspiration behind the band’s name?
I wrote down five band names in my notes app and showed up at the studio with Nick. I told him that I had some names in mind and girlfriends was the first name on the list. When he heard it he said, “that’s it.” I don’t think he ever heard the other four names.
You guys are a pop-punk band! Who are your main pop-punk inspirations?
Blink 182. The Starting Line. Taking Back Sunday. All American Rejects.
Your album, (e)motion sickness, is out now! How are you feeling about the world it?
Honestly, it’s such an awesome feeling. We spent over a year and a half making the album. We wrote over 60 songs, and had to narrow it down to 14; it wasn’t easy. We really took our time with this one and wanted to make sure it was an evolution of what we did on our first album. Everything from the tones of samples, drums, guitars, all of it. It’s a fun album where we got to explore different styles of songs and had a lot of fun. It’s definitely a maturity and growth of the band.
Talk to us about the name firstly, is it reflective of the theme inside?
Nobody talks about the repercussions of feeling too much. the stresses that come with heartbreak. We’ve all seen the world change before our eyes in the last two years and it has undoubtedly had an effect on how we process things.
What do you want people to take away from the project?
That girlfriends is the best band in the world. Ha! Probably the fact that Travis and I are real guys that came from this scene and this genre of music. We lived it as teenagers, grew up in the scene, and there’s no faking the music we make or who and why we do this. It’s authentic to us and our souls, something that you won’t find in every project coming out today. We hope you can hear it in the songs, in our records, and in our live shows.
Is there a certain emotion or message you are trying to put across to your listeners?
We all struggle with something. mental health. heartbreak. relationship issues, family issues, etc. I want people to not feel alone when they listen to this. to keep going. to create community and know there are other people out there who feel the same things they do.
Do you both have favourite tracks from the album?
“Scared”. “High Again”. “Therapist”.
You have already opened for some huge industry players, including Travis Barker, MGK and 21 Pilots! Who is next, do you have a dream collaborator?
We’d love to collaborate more with Travis Barker and have plans to do that in the future. We can’t really say who is next, it normally comes pretty naturally and organically for us whenever we collaborate or play shows with other artists. The future is bright.
Aside from your exciting album release, what is next for you guys?
Trying to focus on touring, playing shows, and being in front of our fans. It’s funny, Travis and I have been in and out of bands for so long and doing music for a while, but girlfriends is so new and fresh. It needs to be treated as such and we understand the process that it takes to grow something great, and we’re in for the ride. we’ve made two albums now in two years, that’s a lot of music. We believe so much in what we do and are in a place in our lives where I think we can have more fun doing this than anything in the past. We’re a little older, a little wiser, and understand what it takes. We just want to continue making songs we believe in and hopefully, gain more fans along the way.