Meet: The Beaches

Image credit: Meg Moon

Continuing their rise through the indie rock world are Toronto-based four-piece The Beaches who have just released their fourth single of the year, the driving, emotional sounds of What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid, ahead of their sophomore album Blame My Ex out September 15.

Tackling the topic of insecurities and perpetual ‘what ifs?’, What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid sees lead vocalist Jordan Miller lament on the trials of self-doubt in relationships as she switches up the classic adage of ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ into the potentially more relatable ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you paranoid / what doesn’t kill you makes you feel like your love ain’t shit’.

The band expand on this, explaining "'What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid' is a song about feeling intense anxiety after a breakup. This had been my experience when my relationship had just ended. I wasn’t used to being on my own, so I found myself feeling really insecure in social situations - which was really surreal because I’m usually very confident and self-assured. However, the more people I’ve shown this song to, the more I’ve come to understand I'm not alone."

With their new single the latest in a string of achievements including hitting over 5 million Spotify streams, hitting number 1 on Canadian Alternative Radio and having just played iconic music festival Lollapalooza, we got to know The Beaches as we checked in with guitarist Kylie Miller.

How was Lollapalooza this year?

Lollapalooza was absolutely surreal. Being four girls from Canada it was such a dream come true to play such an internationally renowned festival. Seeing a crowd of around 10,000 people all jam out to ‘Blame Brett’ was something that we’ll never forget.

Your band name really resonates with me living in Perth, W.A., and lucky enough to grow up in a suburb next to a beach… Could you tell us about the neighbourhood the band is named after?

The Beaches is a really cute and interesting neighbourhood in Toronto. In a sense, it feels like a small town in the middle of a big city. There’s a boardwalk that stretches along the entire beach, little coffee shops, bars and ice cream shops. Growing up there really was such an incredible experience because we could meet all our friends down by the beach at night and misbehave lol.

Tell us about your new single What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Paranoid?

‘What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid’ is a song that discusses the anxiety and lack of self esteem that one can experience during or after a breakup. We’ve found that sometimes you can isolate yourself after dealing with traumatic experiences, and when you try to reintegrate to social situations it can be a challenge and you can begin to question yourself.

What makes you all paranoid?

I think as a band we’re all over thinkers. We tend to worry if we’ve been embarrassing after a night out (classic anxiety) or worry about the future.

What’s it like having Elton John as a fan?!

Elton is an absolute icon and it’s still wild to us that he considers himself a fan of our band. He truly is such a down to earth and generous man. He told us that his goal is to help shed some light on up and coming artists because a lot of people helped him get to where he is today. He really is such an inspiration to all of us.

How did your new album Blame My Ex come together?

Blame My Ex came together over the span of about a year and a half. This is our first independent release so we had the freedom to play around, try different sounds and work with different writers. After a period of exploration, we found our dream team - settling on working with Gus Van Go and Lowell as co-producers and writers. The album obviously is about Jordan’s breakup, and the ups and downs that she went through while healing from that. There’s songs that are hopeful, and some songs that are sad.

What are you most looking forward to about your upcoming North American tour? Did you learn any lessons or pick up any tips from your massive tour last year?

We are so excited for the Blame My Ex tour, truly everything about it. Getting to play these new songs for the fans, meeting new fans, the fact that almost every show is sold out! Definitely something we’ve learned is the importance of keeping a good routine and not burning out. It’s easy to go too hard too fast, so we all try to hold each other accountable and check in with one another to avoid that.

What have you been listening to lately?

Boy Genius, girl in red, Valley, The Aces, The Cure!

Follow The Beaches: Instagram / Facebook