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Since their 2023 punk-rock track “Blame Brett” became a runaway hit, The Beaches have been riding a career-high.
The song, a kiss-off about a breakup, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Canada Rock Charts and helped catapult the alt-rock group — Jordan Miller (lead vocals/bassist), Kylie Miller (guitarist/vocalist), Leandra Earl (keyboardist/guitarist/vocalist), and Eliza Enman-McDaniel (drummer) — beyond their home country of Canada.
“It honestly took us all quite by surprise,” Kylie, 27, tells PEOPLE over Zoom. “We’ve been a band for 12 years, essentially, and we had never seen a moment like that.”
Now, The Beaches are running with it. Not only is the band set to drop their new album No Hard Feelings in August, but they’re also playing Coachella for the first time this year.
“We actually are filming some new visuals for it, and we’ve put a lot of thought into this performance because it means so much to us,” says Kylie. “There’s going to be some fun surprises and a lot of energy.”
Ultimately, they’re hoping that they pique the interest of attendees who haven’t heard of them.
“We’re just excited to hopefully make some new fans,” she says.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Kylie details the influences behind their forthcoming album, how the success of “Blame Brett” impacted them and their Coachella must-haves.
PEOPLE: When you’re not playing yourself, who are you most excited to see at Coachella ?
MILLER: Charli xcx, 100 percent. I love Charli. I’ve seen her two times in the past year, so I can’t wait to rave it up. But I do have a show the next day, so I have to be responsible.
PEOPLE: Responsible raving. What do you think you’re going to need to bring in your bag with you to Coachella?
MILLER: I’ve never been to the desert before, so I’ve been doing some research. Obviously, I know it’s going to be pretty hot [during] the day, so sunscreen is really important for us. Water, some sort of electrolyte situation. Also, to counter that, probably some tequila and bandanas to keep the dust away, especially for singing. Singing in a dusty climate is oftentimes challenging.
PEOPLE: What was your reaction to “Blame Brett” going viral?
MILLER: I think that people just really related to the song, and the idea of blaming your ex is something that really struck a chord. But to go viral in that way was definitely really crazy for us, and it helped introduce our music to so many more people who never heard of us. So we’re really grateful that it happened.
PEOPLE: How did the success of “Blame Brett” transform your career?
MILLER: Well, when “Blame Brett” went viral on TikTok, obviously, there was a huge spike with that specific song, but what we started noticing is people went in [and] listened to all of our discography. They fell in love with the band and then discovered all of our old albums on their own. So, in a way, it’s just opened up this younger audience that we’ve been really trying to interact with for so long. Instead of it just being a viral moment or only being a TikTok thing, it actually translated to fans coming out to shows and having interactions with them. It really helped our career move to the next level.
PEOPLE: Has Brett the ex heard the song?
MILLER: Yeah, he definitely has heard it. He is also in a band here in Canada, and they actually ended up covering it for New Year’s Eve, which was pretty fun. But yeah, I think he understands — because he’s also a musician — that a good song is a good song. So, he’s been a good sport about it. He was, and then he wasn’t, and then he was again. So I mean, there’s always going to be drama when you release a song about your ex and you put his name in the title.
PEOPLE: I feel like after you have a viral hit, there sometimes is this inherent pressure that comes with it. Did you feel like your creativity was impacted after the song went viral?
MILLER: Definitely. There’s been a little bit of pressure leading up to the follow-up of Blame My Ex, because it was our most successful album yet, and it was a big departure for us. But to counter that, we tried to keep it working with the same people who we did that album with, so we can continue on the path of Blame My Ex. We didn’t want to have a huge departure from that sound, but creatively, it also is tough because when we wrote Blame My Ex, Jordan had just gone through the worst breakup of her life, and now she has a new partner, and she’s really happy.
And so oftentimes [when] you’re happy, it’s like, “Well, okay, what is there to write about now?” I don’t want to just release all these love songs, even though some love songs, a couple of songs, great, but that’s not just the message of what our band wants to say and put out there. So, it was definitely a challenge coming up with what to write about. But for this next record, we just decided to explore a little bit more inward. And instead of blaming our exes, we’re blaming ourselves, in a way.
PEOPLE: You released your single “Jocelyn” in the fall. Tell me the story behind that song.
MILLER: Speaking of pressure, “Jocelyn” is about not really knowing what to do about this newfound fame. And performing to thousands of people every night, but then also not really feeling good about yourself and still being really upset about the breakup. We wanted to capture that feeling in a song. We were working with our co-writer, Lowell, and she just started singing “Jocelyn” over again, and then we actually found one of our fans on Instagram is named Jocelyn, and we used information about her. I think that she’s a student studying at the University of Iowa. So, we put little Easter eggs in, dedicating the song to her. But [it’s dedicated] to all of the fans, in a way.
PEOPLE: Your new album No Hard Feelings is coming out this summer. What can you tell us about it?
MILLER: We’re super excited about it. It’s, again, a continuation of “Blame My Ex” sonically, so it still has that ‘80s tone with that mix of happy melodies but [with] moody and darker guitars. There’s a lot of pump-up bangers. There’s a couple of slow songs. There’s a lot of queer-focused songs, as well. But it definitely is a look inward and basically us analyzing ourselves and realizing, “Hey, maybe we’re part of the problem, too. Let’s not blame our exes for everything. Let’s try and work on ourselves a little bit.”
PEOPLE: You guys parted ways with your label and went indie last year. Are you putting out your next album independently, or did you sign to a new label?
MILLER: We are doing it independently. We have a distributor, which is AWAL, who did the last one, but [we’re] still independent technically. We’re excited.
PEOPLE: What made you realize you wanted to part ways with your label?
MILLER: We got signed when we were in high school, and we had basically worked in the major label system for 10 years. There are so many benefits to that, but there are also a lot of negative things that happen, especially when you’re falling in the middle. Being in a rock band at a time during COVID, a lot of priorities shifted, and over a period of time we wanted to see if we could do it ourselves because that way we had all the control that we wanted. We could basically do all the creative in-house, and that was really important for us. We really wanted to have a big departure from our previous sound style, so we just wanted to start fresh.
PEOPLE: How do The Beaches handle the challenges that come with being in a band?
MILLER: That’s a good question. We all have unspoken roles of things that we take care of, and we definitely lean on each other a lot for support. But for instance, I’m the one who handles the business side, the financial stuff. My sister Jordan really spearheads the creative. Leandra runs social media, and Eliza basically is our mom and makes sure everyone’s feeling okay [and] is the support system that you need. That’s just a generalization because sometimes we’re all being creative, or we’re all having to have a business discussion, but we just find that having those things set in place gives everybody a certain amount of work to do or things to follow up with, so it’s not completely overwhelming.
PEOPLE: That’s great that you have that balance. As you’ve been working on this new record, have there been any artists or albums that have influenced the music this time around?
MILLER: We’ve definitely been listening to a lot of The Cure. That is what we want it to sound like but in terms of albums that have inspired us, obviously Chappell Roan is such a huge inspiration. Doechii. We also love Role Model’s record. Not that ours sounds anything like that, but it’s a really good time for pop music right now. It’s probably the most alt-leaning that [pop] has ever been, so that’s really exciting to see that shift happen. I just like to see that that’s coming back.
PEOPLE: Who do you dream of collaborating with in the future?
MILLER: We’d all say doing something with Chappell would be absolutely insane, or Olivia [Rodrigo].We’re actually playing another festival in Montreal, called Osheaga, the same day as Olivia, so I don’t know, maybe we’ll meet backstage.
PEOPLE: You guys opened for the Rolling Stones. Do you have any stories about hanging out with the band or any funny stories from touring with them?
MILLER: We did get to meet them the first time we opened up for them, which was one of the most surreal moments of my life. Their green room area was this insane tent. Everything in the tent was somehow immaculate and white, and they had crystal chandeliers in the tent. It was kind of like in Harry Potter where there’s that mini tent [that] expands, and it’s massive. That’s literally what it felt like in there, but they were really kind to us. They took photos. And Mick Jagger kissed Jordan on the cheek, so she will cherish that forever.
PEOPLE: Did they give you any advice?
MILLER: One thing that I took from seeing them play is that if you love being in a band, which clearly they love so much, you can do it forever. They’ve had such a long and fruitful career, and they’ve continued to do this throughout their whole lives, and that’s a special thing to see.
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