Category Archives: Artist to Watch

girlfriends Join The “Creative Control Tour” ft. The Used & Pierce The Veil

Travis Mills and Nick Gross, collectively known as girlfirends are ready to take over your summer with their infectious throwback pop punk! They just announced they’ll join The Used, Pierce The Veil, and Don Broco on select dates* for the “Creative Control Tour” across North America this Summer!

Travis and Nick have been working tirelessly with all star producer Andrew Goldstein (blackbear, Waterparks, The Band CAMINO, Papa Roach) polishing their latest single, “Over My Dead Body” which sees the pair create a catchy, intense, and cathartic release from a toxic past relationship.

Check out all of the tour dates below and grab your tickets before they sell out!

“Creative Control Tour” 2023 ft The Used, Pierce The Veil, Don Broco, girlfriends*, & DeathbyRomy#
May 23rd – HEB Center at Cedar Park – Austin, TX – Buy Tickets #
May 24th – The Fillmore Harrah’s New Orleans – New Orleans, LA – Buy Tickets #
May 26th – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa – Tampa, FL – Buy Tickets #
May 27th – Mizner Park Amphitheatre – Boca Raton, FL – Buy Tickets #
May 28th – The Saint Augustine Amphitheatre – St. Augustine, FL – Buy Tickets #
May 30th – Coca Cola Roxy – Atlanta, GA – Buy Tickets #
May 31st – Nashville Municipal Auditorium – Nashville, TN – Buy Tickets #
June 2nd – RBC Echo Beach – Toronto, ON – Buy Tickets #
June 3rd – Pier Six Pavilion – Baltimore, MD – Buy Tickets #
June 5th – The Rooftop at Pier 17 – New York, NY – Buy Tickets #
June 6th – Virginia Credit Union LIVE! – Richmond, VA – Buy Tickets #
June 7th – Oakdale Theatre – Wallingford, CT – Buy Tickets #
June 9th – Skyline Stage at The Mann – Philadelphia, PA – Buy Tickets #
June 10th – Cross Insurance Arena – Portland, ME – Buy Tickets #
June 12th – Stone Pony Summer Stage – Asbury Park, NJ – Buy Tickets *
June 13th – The Rooftop at Pier 17 – New York, NY – Buy Tickets *
June 15th – Wind Creek Event Center – Bethlehem, PA – Buy Tickets *
June 16th – UPMC Events Center – Moon Township, PA – Buy Tickets *
June 17th – Blossom Music Center – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Buy Tickets *
June 19th – GLC Live at 20 Monroe – Grand Rapids, MI – Buy Tickets *
June 21st – The Andrew J Brady Music Center – Cincinnati, OH – Buy Tickets *
June 22nd – The Sylvee – Madison, WI – Buy Tickets *
June 24th – Fair Park – So What?! Music Festival- Dallas, TX – Buy Tickets *
June 28th – The Complex (Outdoors) – Salt Lake City, UT – Buy Tickets *
June 29th – Grand Theatre at The Grand Sierra Resort – Reno, NV – Buy Tickets *
July 1st – FivePoint Amphitheatre – Irvine, CA – Buy Tickets *
July 2nd – Arizona Financial Theatre – Phoenix, AZ – Buy Tickets *

Watch the official lyric video for “Over My Dead Body” below!

Be sure to follow girlfriends and Secret Fangirls on social media for the latest on your favorite artists!

Album Preview: We Were Sharks – “New Low”

We first met We Were Sharks several years ago and now they’re back with an epic new record, “New Low,” due out May 21st via Revival Recordings.

The record comes out of the gate swinging with the massive track, “Shameless” with a giant “F*CK YOU” inspired by co-writer and Silverstein guitarist, Paul Marc Rousseau’s in-studio admission of faking happiness while being absolutely miserable.

When asked about the new album, lead vocalist Randy Frobel shares, “‘New Low’ is a collection of songs that focuses on being down but not out. Since the release of ‘Lost Touch,’ we’ve experienced many of life’s ups and downs. We’ve lost relationships, friends, and family, and have gone through a lot of unexpected challenges that life has a tendency to throw at you when you least expect it. However, no matter what may have tried to keep us down or hold us back, we always take it and keep pushing forward.”

The record is full of massive sing along choruses and mosh pit starters liken “Bring Me Down,” and “Omens,” alongside pop punk ballads like “Burning House,” which reminisces on an old flame that’s swallowed up your entire world and left it in ashes.

The latest single ahead of the album release, “Over This,” will have fans screaming along and hitting replay immediately. About the track, guitarist Jason Mooney said: “A lot of songs tell stories, but when we talked about what ‘Over This’ was going to be about we decided to talk about a feeling or a vibe rather than go the narrative route. We wanted to talk about a feeling you have when you find yourself in a place in life where you should be filled with joy, happiness, pride, and essentially every positive feeling imaginable. Instead you feel lost with no sense of enthusiasm. Although you should appreciate the moments, you feel like you would rather be doing absolutely anything else and be anywhere else than where you are right now.”

We Were Sharks also wrote a lamenting follow up to the blisteringly fast “Ashley” from the last record, aptly titled “Ashley (Part 2).” Just as fast but a little bit longer, “Ashley (Part 2)” clocks in at one minute and 58 seconds but still captures the feelings of young love lost due to growing up. “The original ‘Ashley’ was a fun, fast song we’d had kicking around for years, but we hesitated to put it out because putting out a 70-second song is a death sentence,” said guitarist Colin Jacques.

The Canucks are proving they can’t be pigeonholed with their latest record and we can’t wait for shows to return to see how these translate to a live audience.

Watch the official video for “Over This” below!

Pre-save “New Low” on your favorite streaming platform or pick up a pre-order bundle from We Were Sharks’ official site and get exclusive merch, vinyl variants, and more!

Be sure to follow We Were Sharks and Secret Fangirls for more on your favorite artists.

Willow Smith Releases “T R A N S P A R E N T S O U L” Ft. TRavis Barker

Willow Smith has always been a cultural icon but she’s got her sights set on making her mark in pop punk with her latest single, “T R A N S P A R E N T S O U L” with a little help from the man himself, Travis Barker.

The track floats along a fine line of “being too soft/ not punk enough” but Willow slams her foot down, shaking up the scene. It would be easy to confuse the track for an early Paramore b-side but make no mistake, Willow knows the history and she’s forging her own path through the pop punk sea. This is the first single from Willow’s forthcoming album, due out this Summer.

The glitchy Dana Trippe-directed visualizer for the single evokes 90s – TLC fashion and we are so here for it!! Watch the official visualizer below.

Be sure to follow Willow and Secret Fangirls for the latest on your favorite artists!

Watch Waterparks’ “The Anti Tour Livestream” Show March 27th

With a new record, Greatest Hits, due out May 21st, Waterparks refuse to sit still. The band are promising an immersive and totally unique livestream experience.  The “Anti-Tour Livestream” is a virtual tour coming nowhere near you TOMORROW!  You can catch the show Saturday, March 27th, at 4pmEST/1pmPDT.   Make sure you tune in live!

Tickets to see Waterparks on their virtual “Anti Tour” Livestream are on-sale now at Veeps.com! VIP bundles are also available with exclusive merch and posters.

Armed with new music, Waterparks are ready to step outside of their comfort zone and into the future.  The first two singles from the new record, “Lowkey as Hell,” and “Snow Globe” were instant hits with the fandom as Awsten teases the next song, “Numb” is expected to drop March 29th.  We’re hoping they will give us a preview in the livestream on Saturday!

Watch the video for “Snow Globe” below! 

Be sure to follow Waterparks and Secret Fangirls for the latest on your new favorite artists.

Pale Waves Release “You Don’t Own Me”

Pale Waves are proving they can’t be boxed in by anyone with their latest guitar laden, angsty single, “You Don’t Own Me.”

When asked about the new single, lead singer, Heather Baron-Gracie says, “‘You Don’t Own Me’ is a song for women about what it’s like to be a woman in this world. How society depicts, judges, and criticizes women on a daily basis. This song is incredibly important to me and I wanted to represent my own experiences. I also wanted to say a f*ck you to everyone that plays by these fake, delusional rules that say women and gender need to fit inside a specific box.”

Pale Waves’ sophomore album, “Who Am I?” is due out February 12th via Dirty Hit, ushering in a more guitar driven and straight to the point pop rock era for the band. The band are creating a confident and safe space for people to be themselves by tapping into Heather reflecting her own life experiences, facing mental health head on, and opening up about her sexuality with a newfound optimism and clarity.

Comprised of lead singer Heather Baron-Gracie (she/her), drummer Ciara Doran (they/them), guitarist Huge Silvani (he/him), and bassist Charlie Wood (he/him), Pale Waves haven’t been a secret for too long. Bursting on the scene with their debut record, “My Mind Makes Noises” in 2018, they were soon performing at Reading and Leeds, touring with the 1975, as well as Muse and The Cure, and racking up over 70 million streams on the debut record alone.

The new album acts as Pale Waves’ manifesto – inspiring inclusion, promoting self-discovery, and just be whoever the hell you want to be!

Listen to “You Don’t Own Me” below!

Pre-order a copy of the new album “Who Am I?” on the Dirty Hit webstore or on your favorite streaming platform now.

Follow Pale Waves and Secret Fangirls for more on your favorite artists!

Artist To Watch: SZNS

Girl groups are back and we LOVE TO SEE IT! SZNS are bringing girl power to the front with their brand new single, “Behave.” Made up of four friends, Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn blend their unique vocals creating a fresh, new take on the classic 90s girl group sound.

SZNS new single, “Behave,” features the group’s conversational lyricism and wit, setting them apart from the crowd. When asked about the new single, the girls agreed “Behave is for every girl who’s been told to act like a lady: to sit up straight, be polite, to let the grown ups talk. Our entire lives we’ve been told that we’re ‘doing too much’ or acting ‘too intense’ – Behave is about being unapologetic, and taking up the space you deserve, despite what anyone else might say. If being demure and soft-spoken is good behavior, then I guess we never learned how to behave”.

Listen to “Behave” below!

SZNS expect to have an EP for each season, highlighting their wit, emanating power, and vulnerability, with tracks ranging from dance dropping beats to sultry ballads.

Be sure to follow SZNS and Secret Fangirls for the latest on your new favorite artists.

Kid Quill Premieres New single “90s Kids”

Kid Quill is back and launching 2021 with a bang with his new track, “90s kids.”  It’s the first new music he’s released in a while and we’re thrilled to have a new jam to blast.

“Too pop for the rap kids, too rap for the pop kids” is how the track opens, but we think Kid Quill has figured out the perfect balance between pop and rap.  We love his fun style and clever lyrics and can’t wait for even more new music from him this year.  Hope we’ll get to see him (virtually) perform again too.

Stream “90s kids” on your favorite platform!

Be sure to follow Kid Quill & Secret Fangirls for more updates!

Album Preview: girlfriends – “girlfriends” Due Out Oct 23rd

Inspired by the pop punk they grew up on, Travis Mills and Nick Gross enlisted legendary producer John Feldmann for their debut as girlfriends.

Travis Mills tossed his hip hip sound to the side to explore a more accurate sonic portrait of his emotional catharsis and process his feelings while tapping into influences like blink-182, 5SOS, All Time Low, Phoenix, and The 1975.

“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.”

Travis enlisted his good friend, Nick Gross and before they knew it, they had practically written the debut album. Nick said, “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.”

girlfriends brings the spirit of pop punk back to the forefront of music and seamlessly weaves in pure power pop groundwork from early CashCash and Boys Like Girls to 5SOS. With the help of John Feldmann, the record is catchy AF and an instant classic.

Watch the official video for girlfriends’ debut single “California” below.

girlfriends’ debut self-titled album drops Friday, October 23rd, 2020. Fans can pre-save the album now!

Be sure to follow girlfriends, Big Noise, Big Picture Media, and Secret Fangirls on Twitter for the latest on your favorite artists.

Album Preview: Yours Truly – “Self Care” Due Out September 18th

Yours Truly are poised to have the greatest breakout of 2020 with their debut record, “Self Care” due out September 18th on UFND.

With the average age of 21, lead vocalist Mikaila Delgado, guitarists Teddie Winder-Haron and Lachlan Cronin, and drummer Bradley Cronan, thrust themselves into unraveling the biggest year of their career, from incessant touring, mounting imposter syndrome, and more to write the best debut album we could have imagined from the Sydney, Australia natives.

Titling the record, “Self Care,” the band are wearing their hearts on their sleeves using the record as a vital antidote to the whirlwind they lived in for so long.

Right off the bat, “Siamese Souls” grips you with a pedal to the metal intensity we haven’t seen in a long time and it’s exactly the kind of urgency that propels this record forward.

Early releases, “Composure” and “Together” spun well deserved noise around the new record as “Vivid Dream” paints the reality that Yours Truly were living in. Not being home for more than two weeks at a time takes a toll on you. “Vivid Dream” might be our favorite track on the record, complete with an acoustic drop that comes back in and hits you square in the chest with everything this record brings to the table.

Mikaila recalls how her long distance relationship broke down, how each member could barely hold down a job, and the fear of time and distance of touring would suck away her reality of home. Guitarist Teddie Winder-Haron adds that having just graduated high school, “While all of our friends started going to uni and getting ‘proper’ jobs, I could see I was going off in the complete opposite direction to everyone else.” That feeling of out of touch with his world back home eventually sparked the inspiration to write the record.

Yours Truly tapped producer Stevie Knight (Stand Atlantic and Between You & Me) and together they harnessed the collective power of the pop punk and turned it into an anthemic rock album that will cement the band’s rightful place in the scene.

Tracks like “Ghost” and “Funeral Home” display the clever, cathartic effort that lays any ideas that Yours Truly may not belong in the game, if not for anyone else, but the band themselves.

“Undersize” is a tender, heart on her sleeve track Mikaila wrote for a friend of hers trying to navigate the various obstacles in life, “I wrote this just to let them know that I’m here for them through all of that.”

“Half Of Me” and “HeartSleeve” are two super vulnerable tracks, letting light shine into the darkest parts of the band’s past year. The latter closes the record and stitches together a positive, uplifting blanket saying “you will be ok, take time out and be kind to yourself.”

The album cover art, designed by Sydney-based artist and photographer Georgia Maloney, further propels sentiment behind the title, “Self Care,” a crocheted human heart intertwining with the body while flowers grow from the veins. Mikaila recalls feeling only thinly stitched together at times and explains the style reflects feelings of holding the broken pieces together and intends to ignite a sense of comfort.

“We really learnt and lived a lot in one year, writing these songs allowed me to understand myself on a whole new level throughout it all,” she closes. “The experience was a true form of self-care that ended with me feeling stronger, smarter, enlightened and positive after a rollercoaster of emotions. For me, this album was my version of soaking in vanilla candles and that comforting taste of chocolate and red wine under blankets. We hope it brings solace to whoever listens to it and can relate too.”

Watch the official video for “Funeral Home” below!

Pre-orders are still available for Yours Truly’s debut album “Self Care” on UNFD’s official site or pre-save the record on your favorite streaming platform.

Be sure to follow Yours Truly and Secret Fangirls on Twitter for the latest on your new favorite artists.

Artist To Watch: boyband

GRAMMY-nominated producer, boyband, is making a splash with his debut 10-track project, “alone in a boyband” out today.

After producing for Young Thug, Gunna, and Lil Nas X on “Kick It,” which earned him a GRAMMY nomination, boyband has made a name for himself and the producer collective, Internet Money, but he isn’t stopping there.  “I’ve learned how to do every style, so I’m always just curating different vibes,” he says of his borderless approach to music. “You have to be versatile when producing for others, it’ll take you far.”

Written on a three day anime binge watching session, boyband wrote “Death Note” with Billy Martin of Good Charlotte.  Billy approached boyband’s collective Internet Money for help on a new project and boyband quickly responded via Twitter, “Do you know who you are? You’re a legend! Let’s make history.”

The genre-spanning project also features Mike Kinsella of American Football on “big face” which injects 90’s midwestern emo nostalgia into the project and blends the two genres seamlessly. With blue-collar work ethic and sheer willpower, boyband’s reputation in the LA music scene is on full display. The debut project is filled with sparkling pop hooks and plenty of hidden gems in the lyrics that will have you hitting replay before the song is even over.

Watch the Anime inspired video for “Death Note” below!

Grab a copy of boyband’s debut project “alone in a boyband” on your favorite platform!

Be sure to follow boyband and Secret Fangirls on Twitter for more on your favorite artists!