“Very few artists capture the original essence of the genre in as organic and seamless of a way as girlfriends.” – American Songwriter
“A catchy pop-punk banger that calls to mind
nothing,nowhere. and Waterparks.” – PopCrush
“We're in the middle of a daydream with girlfriends
in their new pop-punk anthem” - Alternative Press
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OCTOBER 2, 2020 - LOS ANGELES, CA – The two young dudes at the center of girlfriends have packed several lifetimes’ worth of success, heartbreak and redemption into their first couple of decades on earth. Now, they are bringing it back to the start, with the announcement of their debut self-titled album full of the caffeinated pop-punk style that first inspired them. Travis Mills (musical artist, Beats 1 Host, actor) and Nick Gross (Big Noise, Gross Labs, Find Your Grind) will be releasing girlfriends on October 23, 2020 via Big Noise. Fans can pre-save girlfriends today at https://ffm.to/girlfriends.
“This record has been a long time coming,” shares Mills. “It encapsulates all of my teenage despair with a perspective I haven’t been able to articulate until these last 5 years. It’s an exercise in honesty, vulnerability, angst and excitement with nostalgia as the glue that holds it all together. This is my journal entry. This is my life. This is girlfriends”
It was a no-brainer for the duo to enlist John Feldmann, whose production and songwriting collaborations resulted in landmark albums by blink-182, 5 Seconds Of Summer and The Used. “Nick and I bring in what we want to sound like, all of our elements, and Feldy helps steer,” Mills explains. “You’ve got to trust the guy with the career he’s had. He knows what he’s doing.”
The songs owed even faster than the pots of coffee at the studio. Quickly, a debut emerged. “All the worlds collided between what Feldmann was already doing with his production style and where Travis wanted to go musically,” Nick explains. “It’s been really cool and went really quickly. We wrote close to 20 songs in just a few months.”
Fans have already received a taste of the album with recent singles “Eyes Wide Shut” and “California.” Both tracks have received adds to coveted playlists including Spotify’s New Noise and California Rock State playlists as well as Apple Music’s New Music Daily and Breaking Alternative playlists. Additionally, support has come from MTV’s Friday Livestream, Loudwire, Alternative Press, PopCrush, idobi Radio, Noctis Magazine and more. Fans can look into the writing of “Eyes Wide Shut” through a recent Beat x Beat feature with Beats by Dre.
Like the punk rock music that first inspired him as a teenager, Mills sees girlfriends as a vehicle for soulful expression and emotional catharsis, a means to process his feelings of grief, uncertainty, and renewed vigor for life, in a way that’s likely to connect with others who struggle. Nick is equally enthusiastic to have another crack at pop-punk, the genre that first set him on his career path.
“This is definitely the most vulnerable I’ve been through my music,” Mills says. “The music I made in the past, it was fun, but it wasn’t an accurate representation of anything I was going through in my life. I had profound experiences and tragic losses, but I didn’t talk about them. I struggled with severe anxiety and depression. I think people have opened their hearts to mental health issues now, they’re more accepting of it in music. So, there’s a lot on this record that I’ve never said before. This kind of music really allows those topics to come to life and accentuate them.”
Gross and Mills first walked right up to the edge of rock stardom before either of them had even left their teens. The brash and catchy hip-hop Travis made in his Riverside, California bedroom and posted on MySpace as “T. Mills” led to a major label deal, a spot on the Warped Tour, and an electric buzz, presaging the era of SoundCloud emo-rap and laptop hooks that was to come. At 17, Gross found himself in New York’s Times Square playing MTV’s TRL, in a pop-punk band featured prominently on Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, with a major label contract of their own.
Like the punk rock music that first inspired him as a teenager, Mills sees girlfriends as an outlet for soulful expression and emotional catharsis, a means to process his feelings of grief, uncertainty, and renewed vigor for life, in a way that’s likely to connect with others who struggle. Nick is equally enthusiastic to have another crack at pop-punk, the genre that first set him on his career path.
Pulling from influential artists like blink-182, 5 Seconds Of Summer, The 1975, Phoenix and All Time Low, girlfriends is destined to cross boundaries and inspire massive sing-alongs with energetic hooks, fury, and optimistic swagger.
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girlfriends is Travis Mills (Vocals/Guitar) and Nick Gross (Drums).
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