The Beaches are Jordan Miller, Kylie Miller, Leandra Earl, and Eliza Enman-McDaniel, and they rock. Started in Toronto in 2013, the group has steadily grown their audiences until their most recent record Blame My Ex took them to astounding new heights, concluded with the Group of the Year award at the 2024 Junos and a tour that’s taken them around the world. Nicole Wolff, rock ‘n’ roller, travel expert and Chief Experiential Officer at KIND, a Beaches’ fan, chatted with the band’s Kylie Miller, before catching the group at BottleRock Music Festival in Napa Valley back in May. The Beaches are currently on the US leg of their tour and their latest song, Jocelyn, is streaming now.
Nicole Wolff: 2023 was a massive year for The Beaches and you have kicked off 2024 with a bang by snagging the Group of the Year award at the Junos. How does it feel to dominate the scene and snag such an award?
Kylie Miller: It was such an incredible honour to receive Group of the Year at the Juno’s! Our lives have changed so much this year and it felt so good to be recognized alongside our friends and family for an incredible weekend that we’ll never forget!
KIND: Your success hasn’t come out of nowhere. What’s the secret behind The Beaches’ rise, especially with your latest album, Blame Your Ex?
KM: I think the secret behind the success is that we’ve been writing, playing and working together for over the past 10 years. I think that we all really know ourselves and each other, and so when this moment happened, we were ready for it!
KIND: Back in 2018 I was introduced to you as you rocked the stage opening for The Glorious Sons, and now you’re hitting us with Blame Brett (which you’ve shared was about your [Jordan’s] break-up with Brett from The Glorious Sons). It’s been a huge hit for the band, what was different about this song versus some of your other singles?
KM: I think that this song is just so incredibly relatable. Everyone has experienced heartbreak in some form or another, and we all know how much it sucks. I think what sets this song apart is that it talks about a painful thing in a funny way, and by adding that cheeky humour it feels very us.
KIND: Festival season is right around the corner and you’re playing at some big ones this summer. I recently saw you absolutely rock multiple stages saw you in Napa at BottleRock Music Festival at the end of May. What’s got you pumped for the most this Festival season?
KM: We love music festivals! It’s so fun for us to get to hang out and see some of our favourite bands perform. We always wind up with some wild stories, and we tend to have a lot of fun.
KIND: You’ve ticked off some major firsts in your career and I imagine some bucket list items from when you’ve started out to now. You have just come off a bucket list show at Red Rocks, but wWhat’s been the pinnacle so far, and now that you’ve conquered that, what’s the next big thing you want to achieve?
KM: We’ve definitely accomplished a lot this year by achieving so many of our goals that we had been hoping to hit for a while. We managed to sell out our Canadian, American, European, and Australian tours, which was mind-blowing. I think the next step is to visit and play more places we haven’t been!
KIND: You’re the booking agent, and you’re curating your dream festival lineup. Who are you putting on that bill?
KM: Chappel Roan, Boy Genius, Us and The Aces.
KIND: Take us back to some of your earliest memories attending live shows. What’s one show that sticks out that really lit the fire under your passion for music? What inspired you to jump all in on music?
KM: I think we all saw Avril Lavigne in concert at a very young age, and seeing a young woman holding a guitar and rocking out with her friends on stage was such an incredibly powerful thing to witness! It was definitely an inspiration for all of us to want to join a band.
KIND: You grew up together in The Beaches, you’re friends (and siblings) first. Working with friends can be a rollercoaster. How do you keep the peace and maintain that killer dynamic both on and off stage?
KM: I think communication is key! We talk everything through whenever we’re dealing with an issue. After ten years of friendship, we know how to figure things out with one another, but continuing to have love and respect for each other is really the key to getting through anything.
KIND: Speaking of friendship, y’all are a powerhouse female rock group, flipping the script on a traditionally male-dominated arena. What’s the journey been like navigating the industry as women? Who were your biggest influences along the way? Lastly, what legacy do you hope The Beaches leave on the genre, or even music as a whole?
KM: I think for us, being underrepresented gave us this intensely competitive nature to aim to be the tightest live band ever. We felt like we had something to prove and that we had to be even better than our much older/male counterparts.
KIND: It’s cool thinking about all the groups that might come up in your wake. What legacy do you hope The Beaches leave on the genre, or even music as a whole?
KM: We’re just so happy that the industry is slowly shifting to become more open and that rock music isn’t as completely dominated by a male perspective. I think for us our goal is to inspire young girls to start bands, because that’s been the greatest thing we’ve ever done in our lives.
To stay up to date with The Beaches latest news, see TheBeachesBand.com.
