by madden levin
photo by meg moon
The Beaches has had quite the year as they are seeing even more traction and individuals celebrating their talent than ever before, which is hard to believe as they have had fans swooning over their tunes and stage presence for years. The four members have always ensured that their music represents authentic and powerful themes, allowing them to become insanely relatable whilst showing off their untouchable talent. We took some time to chat with the incredible individuals who make up The Beaches, hot off of some unfathomable and irreplaceable opportunities. We hope you enjoy their genuine nature as you continue to discover your new favorite songs by The Beaches!
You’ve had such a huge year, from the Billboard Women in Music Global Force Award to Tiny Desk, Kimmel, and now “Edge of the Earth” taking off again. What moment has felt the most surreal?
The Beaches: “It's wild because you just listed a bunch of things that I had forgotten happened within the year. It's all been really surreal. Tiny Desk has been a dream forever. Honestly, we got to perform for Elton John a couple months ago. He was honored with the Glenn Gould Award, and we got to play ‘The Bitch is Back’ for him, and it was such a pinch me, out-of-body moment. There have been so many bucket lists moments happening over the last three years, but even the last year has been pretty crazy. And with all the Off Campus stuff, it's been so cool. You know, those kind of things, they come in all the time, and you say yes, but you don't really expect what happened with Off Campus to happen. And so that was definitely super wild. The Elton John performance, though, was super awesome, and it was an extra honor, because he picked everyone that he wanted to perform. So, to know that he wanted us there is the biggest honor you could have as a band. It has been such a wild, fun year.”
“Edge of the Earth” is a few years old, but its Off Campus placement has given it a whole new life. What has it been like watching a song you’ve lived with for years suddenly reach so many new people?
The Beaches: “It was kind of our first song we put out that was about a queer story and my story with my girlfriend at the time. I came out during COVID and we wrote that song; so, it has definitely lived in the queer world for a long time, which has just been so beautiful and meaningful to us. And now, it has become this hockey, yearning story, and I love that it can just be a love story for anybody. And that's what any queer song should be anyway.”
You’ve said the new “Edge of the Earth” video was a chance to return to the queer love story at the heart of the song. What did you most want to capture with the video?
The Beaches: “Every video is different. It really, honestly, depends on the song and the moment. And so, we've obviously been living with ‘Edge of the Earth’ for a while; it was out before that video was out, but I think we all kind of wanted to get the same feeling that you get from listening to the song. We wanted to portray that in the video — so very dreamlike with all the haze on the stage, the way the lights are, and that the fog moment that’s meant to be like the edge of the earth. That was a good effort with our managers, our management team, the production team, and the director. Everyone just did a really incredible job. It's such a beautiful video. I'm really proud of it.
It was pitched to us because the song is three years old and we never made a video, and we're like, ‘Okay, well, lots of people are finding out about it and listening to it. We should definitely make more content for it.’ The director and the production team pitched the idea and we're like, ‘If we can combine the two worlds of dreamy, queer love song and this hockey world that it’s now living in,’ I think we were all so happy with how it turned out.”
With No Hard Feelings, you leaned heavily into messy emotions, queer love, and personal growth. How do you think you’ve changed since writing the album?
The Beaches: “Since we put that album out, a couple of us turned 30, so I think we have matured a little bit since that album was written. It hasn't even been that long, but at the age that we're at, you do mature so exponentially fast. I think we're making a lot less toxic choices these days where we're hanging out with healthier people; we're just healthier in the emotional sense. And I think we have more boundaries now. I mean, the next record… listen, it's still going to be messy. It's still going to be raw and honest. But we're growing up a little bit.
A lot of the songs on that album were about a relationship I was in two years ago that I very much loved and it kind of didn't end the way I wanted to. I wasn't treated the way I should have been treated, and now, two years past that, having been through a couple of those relationships and written about them, I have a stronger sense of love for myself, and boundaries that I can put up for myself. That has been through getting to write these songs with my best friends in this band, who also uplift me, and let me know my worth. So it has been a lot of growing together. That being said, the next album, I know I've got to do a couple things to have fun things to write about. So… maybe I'm going on a little getaway with an ex of mine. It’s all for the art, you know? It's for the plot, but this time I feel good about it. I feel these boundaries. We're feeling good.”
Why is it important for you all to have your music reflect your growth and where you are at in life?
The Beaches: “We are always writing from a very honest point in our lives. We will go into sessions and just kind of debrief about what's going on in all of our lives and choose what to write on based on what the strongest idea is. So if it's like, you know, I'll be coming into a session being like, ‘Well, I just went on a three day vacation with an ex I haven’t talked to in two years.” And someone will say. ‘Let's write about that, because that's kind of crazy.’
We’re always very honest in our writing, and I think that's why so many people can relate to our songs. We are never gonna lie in our songs. That's what we're going through. The listeners are always so intelligent within their ability to make sense of the music that they are listening to. I think some artists these days definitely dumb down their lyrics and don't give the fans enough credit; like… they can read between the lines: they’re smart and they're emotionally intelligent. We're all growing together.”
The deluxe adds four new tracks, including “Should’ve Known Better” and “Perfect 10.” What made these songs feel like they belonged in the No Hard Feelings era?
The Beaches: “We had songs that we had written that we knew we wanted on the deluxe. It was just about like, ‘Okay, well, let's take some other songs that we've written, let’s book some more sessions, and try to put together a couple other ones to loop in to give the fans something new.’ It’s like a little snack to tie them over until the next project came out.
We’re super happy with those songs. I personally think ‘Should’ve Known Better’ is my favorite. It's nice to have an earnest song that's not so tongue-in-cheek. I think it's a breath of fresh air in our catalog.
We have had ‘Hypothetical’ for probably like two years and it felt really special to us — we wanted to release it. I think we've been trying to figure out the theme for the next album and these breakup songs kind of still live in the No Hard Feelings realm. It was kind of like closure on that part of our lives.”
Has performing on these different stages changed how you approach being a live band? What do you hope fans take away from your shows?
The Beaches: “I think the thing that we've always had as a live band — and just as a band in general — is authenticity. And that's because we genuinely are a family, where we've been doing this together for nearly 20 years, and at that point, you just become sisters and we genuinely are having the most fun on stage. Even if we've had a really terrible travel day, you get up on stage and it's just the four of you again just having fun. When people see that, it's refreshing because a lot of these days you get overnight TikTok artists that have never played a show before and the concerts are very… there's no authenticity. We want people to take that away and there's a lot of girlhood energy in our crowds too, which I love. And the men get in on it too! It’s awesome. The sense of community is just really beautiful in our band and fans. Yes, we are a band of four girls, but we don't want to feel like a clique. We’re all there together; we're all the last girls at the party, enjoying the night together. Concerts are fun, and it really brings people together.”
Have you all had a general outline or timeline of goals within The Beaches? How do you see the development over time?
The Beaches: “I think the goal for this band has always been to do this for as long as possible, and this has been our lives for so long. Most of the memories I have are doing music, and I think we've just always wanted to be a band that stands the test of time. We hope people are still coming to shows 20 years from now. And whatever we need to do to make that happen, we will.
Getting older, I'm noticing I need to start just taking care of myself better to make sure I can support my body through these things, because it's hard on your body and on your mental health. Doing whatever we can to keep ourselves as healthy as possible for as long as possible [is necessary]. That is the toughest part about this and growing older is I never thought I'd be on the stage twirling about and have a wrist injury from never-ending touring. I've been touring for 13 years in this formation and it never gets boring. I'm excited for every trip, and asking, ‘What are we gonna do? What restaurant we're gonna go to?’ It’s always just an adventure and I want to keep that childlike innocence of touring and working with my best friends. I just want to keep that going forever. And I think it's easy with this bunch of girls and our crew. It’s honestly so much fun.”
Which one (or two) songs of The Beaches would you recommend for someone’s introduction to the band?
The Beaches: “Ooh, that's tough. I would say one would have to be ‘Should’ve Known Better’ because I want to show that side of us. The second one would be either ‘Edge of the Earth’ or ‘Last Girls At The Party.’ And maybe ‘Blame Brett’ because it's the one that helped us gain an audience all around the world. I don't know what it was about that song, but it’s infectious and relatable.”
And with that, we thank The Beaches for taking the time to chat with us. It’s clear why they have had fans obsessed for the entirety of their career as their down-to-earth, very humanlike demeanor is truly hard to find in the present. Don’t forget to visit The Beaches on social media to ensure you know when their next releases and shows are!
