KROQ Sound Space Artist Interviews

Sum 41 joined us for a special performance and interview from the Helpful Honda Sound Space at KROQ in Los Angeles, giving us a taste of their 2024 live set as they continue the second North American leg of their Tour of the Setting Sum -- and speaking with us about how the outing has been going so far.

It truly was a historic night at KROQ, with Sum 41 joining the station that has been with the band for all 23 years of their epic run, now as they give fans one more go before packing things up for good.

Just months ago, the band released their final album Heaven X Hell, with Heaven representing their Pop-punk side and Hell focusing on the heavier side of their songwriting -- two equally tense worlds that the group has brilliantly straddled since the start.

“I don't know if we call it tension,” says frontman Deryk Whibley. “We're fans of that kind of music and other kinds of music as well. I think we just, I don't know, I don't think we ever really talked about it or thought about it, we just did stuff. Even with this record, ‘Heaven and Hell,’ we didn't say, ‘Let's make a double record.’ The music was just there, and we all collectively listened to it separately, but came up with the same idea.”

This year has been feeling like a throwback to 2001 for the band members as they make the press rounds amid their current tour. “I think the funniest thing that I think back to is that it doesn't feel like it was that long ago,” Deryck says. “It really just feels like a couple of years ago.”

Back then he adds, “It was a lot of work and it was a lot of fun -- everything was happening so fast. It's kind of the only difference now with everything happening so fast and so much going on is that we're old enough to recognize it and take it in because back then you're just like, onto the next thing, onto the next thing, and you kind of forget. You don't take those moments in.”

Calling it quits after this record Deryck explains “was never the plan. Nothing was ever thought of this whole record. Like I said, the songs are by accident. The idea was just a thing that the music spoke to us, and then I think once the record was finished and it was mixed and recorded, the whole thing was done is when that hit me. I felt like this to me was the record that we've always been trying to make -- this encapsulates everything that we've always wanted to do.”

“That's the sound of Sum 41 from the beginning to now,” he says. “It just kind of made too much sense for this to be the final one.”

Words by Joe Cingrana Interview by Kevan Kenney

Earlier this month, host Miles the DJ was joined by current Sublime frontman Jakob Nowell's solo band -- Jakobs Castle -- for a special performance and interview live from the Helpful Honda Sound Space at KROQ in Los Angeles.

Jakobs Castle’s 2024 debut, Enter The Castle, was released in April coinciding with frontman Jakob Nowell’s Coachella performances -- not only with Sublime -- but also a pre-party held with his solo band. “It was a lot of fun out there, Coachella,” Jakob tells us. “Super excited to be playing with my dad's band Sublime and continuing to do Jakobs Castle all together. It's one big family out there, let me tell you!”

“To keep that vibe,” Nowell explains, “every single Sublime show I play, you know, obviously a lot bigger and stuff, I always try to go out into the audience and just have fun and romp around a little bit.” Gesturing off stage to his friend, “My boy Mark over there saved me from drowning on three occasions,” he laughs. “I like to usually like jump in the water if we're playing by a beach or in a pool.”

Following Sublime's second Coachella weekend set, fans may have noticed Jakob screaming to the crowd when the microphones were cut. “I think I was just trying to incite chaos if I remember correctly, that's usually my goal,” he says.

Though both weekends were amazing and “different in their own ways," he tells us of his time with Sublime, “The more we play shows, the more we just get locked into that vibe and we get more comfortable with one another," describing it as “totally a surreal experience.”

“It's so amazing,” he continues, “how many people's lives have been touched by that music and that sound, and this amazing, amazing scene we have here in Southern California, the best place to be in the f***ing world.”

“It's so beautiful because every show I play, whether it's a Sublime show or Jakobs Castle show, people come up to me with amazing stories and ways that that music has affected their life and continues to do it,” Jakob explains. “I think playing with my uncles like that has just sort of strengthened our relationship, and it's challenged me as a musician, and its shown me that music goes beyond just the sounds that we make and the fun events that we do. It's the memories that we create here, you know, all these things that we do -- we do it because those are the memories that no one can take away from us.”

Stepping into the Castle today, a place that would exist “somewhere in the present that's also rooted in history,” according to the band’s bio, Jakob states further, “To be my most authentic self, I have to draw from where I come from -- the sounds of the past. That's sort of referencing the entire Skunk Records scene in Long Beach in general, in Southern California, but with also an eye towards the future, and innovation, and all the amazing musicians in many different scenes, and many different genres, that have also been inspired by that.”

Jacobs Castle, he contends, “is my attempt to create this big collective and mix it up altogether. What we've been doing a lot with our band is putting on all these awesome local shows with some of our friends. There's just so much awesome music that I'm excited about nowadays, and these are people that were not only just inspired by my dad's band, but a lot of the contemporaries from that era. I find myself in a unique position getting to play for a big band like that and I wanna use that platform to just boost up all of these amazing sort of like locally unknown, somehow unseen musicians that are doing really cool, amazing things. So, come on out to some more local shows, man.”

Jakobs Castle is hitting the road for a number of Midwest and East Coast dates this fall with friends Little Stranger providing opening support.

The Castle's dates kicked off in their hometown of Long Beach, CA this Labor Day Weekend on Aug 31 -- International Overdose Awareness Day -- for a charity event benefitting The Nowell Family Foundation to bring treatment to musicians struggling with opioid addiction. Check out their full list of upcoming dates below -- and grab your tickets HERE.

Don't miss a preview of what's to come as the band gives us a special performance live from the Helpful Honda Sound Space at KROQ in Los Angeles above --and stay tuned for more conversations with your favorite artists right here on Audacy.

Words by Joe Cingrana Interview by Miles the DJ

Imagine Dragons joined us for a special performance and interview in the Helpful Honda Sound Space to give fans a preview of their brand new album LOOM, upcoming tour dates, and more.

With the arrival of their brand new, sixth studio album LOOM, Imagine Dragons dropped by Audacy's KROQ in Los Angeles to give fans a taste of the new record, as well as what to expect from the band on their impending tour which kicks off at the end of July. LOOM is available now.

Looking back on the band's relationship with KROQ, frontman Dan Reynolds remembers the first time he heard their music played on the radio back in 2012, recalling they were driving from Las Vegas to L.A. to play a show. “We were just getting in range to pick up the station and -- this sounds like such a made-up story, it's so dramatic -- it was fuzzy," he says as their single "It's Time," came through the speakers. "We were just racing as fast as we could to kind of get a better signal to hear it. It was straight out of a movie. We were all just like, ‘This feels too weird.’”

12 years after their debut, the group just released their sixth studio album, LOOM, and are feeling familiar excitement and relief now that it’s finally been delivered.

“You know, when you make a record -- you're working on it for over a year, sometimes two years," Reynolds says. "So, we've been sitting with this music for a long time, and it's really hard for us to sit on that. I hate it, I'm always anxious about it, waiting. So we've been counting down the days for a long time… It's a relief and we also are really proud and excited about this record and we hope everybody likes it as much as we do.”

“You have given me purpose and a place to sing and dance,” Dan stated when announcing the new offering. “You have continually stood by our side now for over a decade. in return we will always be here singing along with you. I always and only hope that it helps you feel less alone. It brings you joy. makes you cry. makes you angry. makes you dance. makes you FEEL something.”

“I've just spent a lot of my life numb,” he tells us. “I had a hard time expressing myself. That's why I turned to music in the first place -- I found that it was something I could always turn to and feel any emotion. I'm kind of one of those people who doesn't cry for a long time and then when you cry, you just cry really hard in a long time. Or, when you get angry you're really angry because you've been holding it in, and that's really unhealthy. I did that for a long time,” he admits.

“Now I'm just angry all the time, I cry all the time,” he laughs. “But only a little bit angry,” bassist Ben McGee adds.

Guitarist Wayne Sermon says of the new record, “The album cover itself, you don't even know if it's necessarily a sunrise or a sunset… The word ‘Loom,’ it can be a positive or negative connotation just depending on what's going on. I think one thing that looms over every single person through their life is, you're guaranteed to have relationships with other humans, with other people. To me, we always do like the sort of diagnosis after an album's out. I don't want to speak for Dan, but I'm not sure even he knows what the album is about until it's done. So for me, this was an album purely based on relationships, whether it's to us personally… or just, you know, writ large. It’s a pure relationship album, to me.”

“To us, that is the most important thing to know. That there are people around the world that we've connected with, we've really grown up with, you know? We've been through sad times, hard times, multiple heartbreaks,” Dan explains, “and to know that people still wanna come out and celebrate that. I think anybody who's been to a Dragons show has hopefully felt that honesty and that sense of community. It's a different experience than other shows and we're really proud of that. It's because it's just honest, for better or for worse, it's always honest. So to know that 16 years in the band is bigger than it's ever been and people are wanting to come out means everything to us.”

Catch the full performance and Megan Holiday's interview with Imagine Dragons above -- plus stay tuned for more conversations with your favorite artists right here on Audacy.

Imagine Dragons 2024 tour dates:
July 30 | Freedom Mortgage Pavilion | Camden, NJ
Aug. 2 | Jones Beach Theater | Wantagh, NY
Aug. 4 | PNC Bank Arts Center | Holmdel, NJ
Aug. 6 | Xfinity Center | Mansfield, MA
Aug. 8 | Budweiser Stage | Toronto, ON, CA
Aug. 12 | Pine Knob Music Theatre | Clarkston, MI
Aug. 14 | Pavilion at Star Lake | Burgettstown, PA
Aug. 16 | Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre | St. Louis, MO
Aug. 18 | Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre | Tinley Park, IL
Aug. 20 | Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center | Noblesville, IN
Aug. 22 at Jiffy Lube Live | Bristow, VA
Aug. 23 at Merriweather Post Pavilion | Columbia, MD
Aug. 26 | Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater | Virginia Beach, VA
Aug. 28 | PNC Music Pavilion | Charlotte, NC
Aug. 30 | iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre | West Palm Beach, FL
Sept. 1 | MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre | Tampa, FL
Sept. 4 | Dos Equis Pavilion | Dallas, TX
Sept. 6 | Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion | The Woodlands, TX
Sept. 8 | Thunder Ridge Natures Arena | Ridgedale, MO
Sept. 28 | Gorge Amphitheatre | George, WA
Sept. 29 | RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater | Ridgefield, WA
Oct. 2 | Toyota Amphitheatre | Wheatland, CA
Oct. 5 | North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre | Chula Vista, CA
Oct. 6 | Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre | Phoenix, AZ
Oct. 9 | Isleta Amphitheater | Albuquerque, NM
Oct. 11 | Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre | Salt Lake City, UT
Oct. 17 | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | Morrison, CO
Oct. 20 | Shoreline Amphitheatre | Mountain View, CA
Oct. 22 | Hollywood Bowl | Los Angeles, CA

Words by Joe Cingrana Interview by Megan Holiday

311 joined host Nicole Alvarez for a special interview and performance recorded live at the Helpful Honda Sound Space at KROQ in Los Angeles giving fans a preview of what the band has in store on their upcoming Unity Tour.

“You can't spell community without unity… So we keep a spirit of love and we have to be ready to communicate openly,” frontman Nick Hexum says of the group's longevity. “We're very grateful to get to do this,” he adds now approaching 34 years as a band. “We know we're very lucky. We keep an attitude of gratitude and just appreciate these wonderful fans.”

Getting into the band’s brand new single “You're Gonna Get It,” Hexum explains, “For my portion of the lyrics, putting myself in the mindset that we had back in like 1990… just when you're young and dumb, and feeling indestructible. For example, when we would play trashcan bowling with Chad's Buick Monte Carlo and crash into trash cans. Just stuff like that.”

311 will be touring this summer beginning on July 20 in Cincinnati, OH with AWOLNATION and Neon Trees as opening support. Tickets and VIP Meet & Greet packages are available now. Take a look at the full list of scheduled dates below.

311 2024 Tour Dates:

July 20 l Cincinnati, OH
July 21 l Chicago, IL
July 23 l Indianapolis, IN
July 24 l Huber Heights, OH
July 26 l Interlochen, MI
July 27 l Sterling Heights, MI
July 28 l Cleveland, OH
July 31 l Niagara Falls, ON
August 2 l Scranton, PA
August 3 l Bridgeport, CT
August 4 l Columbia, MD
August 6 l Gilford, NH
August 7 l Boston, MA
August 9 l Outer Banks, NC
August 10 l Raleigh, NC
August 11 l Charlotte, NC
August 13 l North Charleston, SC
August 14 l Atlanta, GA
August 15 l Albertville, AL
August 17 l St. Augustine, FL
August 18 l Tampa, FL
August 20 l Houston, TX
August 21 l Austin, TX
August 22 l Grand Prairie, TX
August 24 l Phoenix, AZ
August 25 l San Diego, CA
August 27 l Costa Mesa, CA
August 29 l Bend, OR
August 30 l Troutdale, OR
August 31 l Redmond, WA

Listen to Nicole's full interview with 311 above and stay tuned for more conversations with your favorite artists right here on Audacy.

Words by Joe Cingrana Interview by Nicole Alvarez

Check out a special interview with Cage The Elephant, recorded live at the Helpful Honda Sound Space at KROQ in Los Angeles.

Before taking to the stage for a blistering set, Cage The Elephant sat down for an interview with hosts Klein and Ally to discuss the release of their brand-new offering, Neon Pill -- the band’s sixth studio album and first collection of original songs since 2019’s Social Cues.

Talking about the album’s lead title single which arrived earlier this year, Matt and Brad opened up about including the very personal track on the project. “I mean, it was undeniably part of my life and part of the story of this past five years,” Matt expressed. “I was prescribed a medication and unknowingly slipped into psychosis and it was terrifying and terrible.”

He continued, “And I think while we were writing some of the songs before I was even ready to deal with that stuff to confront it full on, I was already kind of working it out internally and that was one of the first songs that was written. And so it felt like the right move to make that the title track, you know, I mean, it's a miracle that I got through all of that stuff. And here today, very, very thankful.”

Answering Klein’s curiosity on whether they think Neon Pill “is the best album to date,” the duo agreed that they don’t look at it that way, but rather, “it’s a record that kind of embodies all of the different kind of phases that we've gone through.”

“There's a great Paul McCartney quote and he said, ‘you can't beat your previous work, you can just move in a different direction.’" Matt added.

Catch Cage The Elephant on tour with Young the Giant and Bakar this summer as they make stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, NYC, and more -- including a few festivals thrown in for good measure, such as Bonnaroo and Oceans Calling. Tickets are on sale now -- take a look at their full itinerary below.

Cage The Elephant 2024 Neon Pill tour dates:
June 20 – West Valley City, UT at Utah First Credit Union Amph.^
June 22 – Seattle, WA at Climate Pledge Arena^
June 23 – Ridgefield, WA at RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater^
June 24 – Bend, OR at Hayden Homes Amphitheater^
June 26 – Vancouver, BC at Rogers Arena^
June 28 – Edmonton, AB at Rogers Place^
June 30 – Spokane, WA at BECU Live at Northern Quest^
July 2 – San Francisco, CA at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium*
July 3 – Santa Barbara, CA at Santa Barbara Bowl^~
July 5 – Phoenix, AZ at Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre^
July 6 – San Diego, CA at Viejas Arena^
July 7 – Los Angeles, CA at Kia Forum^
July 9 – Albuquerque, NM at Isleta Amphitheater^
July 11 – Austin, TX at Moody Center^
July 12 – Houston, TX at The CWM Pavilion presented by Huntsman^
July 13 – Fort Worth, TX at Dickies Arena^
July 15 – Rogers, AR at Walmart AMP^
Aug 2 – Alpharetta, GA at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre*
Aug 3 – Raleigh, NC at Coastal CU Music Park at Walnut Creek^
Aug 4 – Charlotte, NC at PNC Music Pavilion*
Aug 7 – Noblesville, IN at Ruoff Music Center^
Aug 8 – Madison, WI at Breese Stevens Field^
Aug 10 – Winnipeg, MB at Canada Life Centre^
Aug 12 – Minneapolis, MN at Target Center^
Aug 14 – Chicago, IL at Credit Union 1 Arena at UIC^
Aug 16 – Grand Rapids, MI at Van Andel Arena^
Aug 18 – Saratoga Springs, NY at Broadview Stage at SPAC^
Aug 19 – Bridgeport, CT at Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater^
Aug 21 – Gilford, NH at BankNH Pavilion^
Aug 22 – Mansfield, MA at Xfinity Center*
Aug 24 – Holmdel, NJ at PNC Bank Arts Center^
Aug 26 – Montreal, QC at Centre Bell^
Aug 27 – Toronto, ON at Budweiser Stage^
Aug 29 – Burgettstown, PA at The Pavilion at Star Lake^
Aug 30 – Cincinnati, OH at Riverbend Music Center^
Sept 5 – New York, NY at Madison Square Garden^
Sept 6 – Philadelphia, PA at TD Pavilion at the Mann^
Sept 7 – Lewiston, NY at Artpark Mainstage Theater^
Sept 9 – Cleveland, OH at Blossom Music Center^
Sept 10 – Detroit, MI at Pine Knob Music Theatre^
Sept 12 – St. Louis, MO at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre^
Sept 13 – Des Moines, IA at Wells Fargo Arena^
Sept 14 – Kansas City, MO at Starlight Theatre^
Sept 16 – Omaha, NE at CHI Health Center Omaha^
Sept 18 – Denver, CO at Red Rocks Amphitheatre*
^ with Young The Giant and Bakar
* with Bakar
~ Non-Live Nation Date

Words by Joe Cingrana and Maia Kedem Interview by Klein and Ally

Joining host Kevan Kenney at KROQ in Los Angeles -- what could be considered their second home at this point -- Ryan Clapham, Michelle Joy, and Paul Davis of Cannons took over the Helpful Honda Sound Space for an intimate performance and interview just as their 2019 single “Fire For Fou” reached Platinum status.

“It's really exciting,” Michelle says of the news. “It was kind of a funny story, right?” adds Ryan, “because we didn't really know at first.” Michelle explains, “We didn't know for a little while, but it was really exciting. I mean, ‘Fire For You’ changed our lives and just makes us really happy to know that the fire keeps on burning.”

Keeping true to the sonic and aesthetic universe the band has created, they recently dropped their moody music video for their new single, “Sweeter.” 

“We like to make mood boards for everything,” Michelle says, “and I feel like, for every music video we'll discuss what kind of visuals we're into at the moment, what movies we're watching, what kind of colors, what kind of things we feel represent Cannons and tie those into the music, the visuals and just try and create a world that does feel cohesive and that makes us feel like it's a nice escape that's beautiful and fun to enter.”

Cannons are currently on tour with U.S. dates scheduled for this summer and fall. Don't miss Kevan Kenney's full interview with Cannons above, and stay tuned for even more action from the Sound Space right here on Audacy.

Words by Joe Cingrana Interview by Kevan Kenney

The Black Keys joined host Nicole Alvarez live from the Helpful Honda Sound Space at KROQ in Los Angeles for a special interview and performance, talking about their brand new album, Ohio Players, and giving a taste of what's to come on their International Players Tour kicking off in September.

The Black Keys just dropped their 12th studio album, Ohio Players -- featuring the previously revealed single "Beautiful People (Stay High)" and more -- on April 5 via Nonesuch Records. Just before the release, Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach gave some lucky fans at KROQ an exclusive preview of the record and spoke candidly about their early days together, making the new album with a who's-who list of collaborators, and more.

Since Dan and Patrick have known each other for most of their lives, Nicole started off the conversation by showing off a few photos of the duo when they were younger. “The first time I met Dan, it was like, right when I moved to the neighborhood,” Patrick remembers. “It was dusk and all the kids were riding bikes. I had grown up in a neighborhood where it was just like, really old people who just yell at us all the time. So, it felt like I had moved into the Goonies’ neighborhood. They kind of had all the characters; I'm not sure which one I was, but there's definitely a Chunk and all that.”

“I mostly remember his older brother Will, because he was a train enthusiast,” says Dan about his first impressions of Pat. “He was the local eccentric kid,” Patrick says of his brother. “You would focus on Will,” Dan adds. “You wouldn't see Pat or his brother, Michael.”

Diving into their new album, Ohio Players, which features collaborations with Beck, Oasis’ Noel Gallagher, Juicy J from Three-Six Mafia, and more, “on the last album we started to dip our toes into collaborating with people, which we really hadn't done much of… like when we worked with Danger Mouse on a record, it was just him and the two of us. So, it was only in the last couple of years that we actually felt comfortable, I guess being in the studio with other people creating stuff from scratch. Once we broke through that barrier, and we needed to start this new record, we thought we’d dig into the Rolodex a little deeper.”

“The first person we thought of was Beck because he was someone who helped us out very early on, took us on tour very early,” he continues. “He always talked about making some music with us and it, we'd never gotten around to doing it. So we reached out to him and that kind of got the ball rolling -- and it was that spirit of collaboration that we carried on making the record.”

“I think the only thing that you need to know is that we've been doing this for a long time,” Patrick says, “and I think we just really figured out how to really enjoy it seriously. This is a product of us working harder than we ever have, but having more fun than we ever have.”

“We got to this collection of songs, they all work together and it is different than anything we've made," he explains, "and it was really hard to pick the first couple of songs that got shared. So, I feel like people really don't have a concept of what the album sounds like yet. ‘Beautiful People’ is, by far, the most kind of ‘mainstream’ thing on the album… I'm excited for people to hear the whole thing.”

Tickets for The Black Keys' International Players Tour are on sale now. 

Don't miss The Black Keys' full interview and performance above -- and stay tuned for even more action from the Helpful Honda Sound Space at KROQ right here on Audacy.

Words by Joe Cingrana Interview by Nicole Alvarez

Chicano Batman joined host Canyon Cody for a special interview and performance, giving fans details on their 2024 album Notebook Fantasy and upcoming tour, live from the Helpful Honda Sound Space at KROQ in Los Angeles.

Kicking off Alternalido this past Sunday (3/31), Carlos Arévalo, Bardo Martinez, and Eduardo Arenas of Chicano Batman previewed a few songs from their new album Notebook Fantasy and sat down with host Canyon Cody to discuss the release and much more.

After working, as he feels, harder than anyone else over the course of the pandemic and exhausting every socially distant angle they could, Eduardo tells us there's nothing that matches the feeling of “getting live in a room with people… you can't replace it.”

“We record all our music live,” he adds. “’Notebook Fantasy,’ this new record, we did all that live (and we do overdub), but it's what happens in the room. That is the magic that you can't replace.”

Offering some advice for rising artists, Eduardo says, “If you have something compelling to say or play or art or anything or display, go do that and keep doing that, and don't rely on anybody else on the outside to give you that confidence to keep doing that. It's hard when you depend on other people to like you to upgrade your art. You gotta like yourself… put the blinds on, just do it ‘cause you like it. It really pays off.”

“Nobody's gonna feel you unless you feel what you're doing,” adds Bardo. "For me, Chicano Batman was always about doing what I was feeling inside… the words on the paper, this is my experience that I'm writing. I would say, just really dig into yourself. Cheesy but hey, f*** it!”

The band will hit the road this year in support of Notebook Fantasy, with U.S. tour dates kicking off on April 19 at Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas, making stops in major cities across the country through the end of June.

Don't miss Chicano Batman's full interview above, and stay tuned for even more action from the Helpful Honda Sound Space at KROQ right here on Audacy.

Words by Joe Cingrana Interview by Canyon Cody

The Beaches recently joined host Megan Holiday for a special interview and performance, giving us a preview from the Helpful Honda Sound Space at KROQ in Los Angeles of what to expect while on the road on their current Blame My Ex Tour.

Canadian Alt faves The Beaches made their U.S. Billboard debut in 2023 with “Blame Brett,” helped along by TikTok which pushed the single to go viral and grab the attention of the likes of Demi Lovato, Mark Hoppus of blink-182, and more. Keeping the momentum going, Leandra Earl, Jordan Miller, Eliza Enman McDaniel, and Kylie Miller are currently on the road with G Flip as well as a number of dates supporting girlinred, making stops in the U.S, Australia, and Canada through September -- with a few festival dates thrown in as well.

Diving right in, the band discussed their most recent milestones; of course getting into their entire sold-out tour, including two shows at the iconic Troubadour in Los Angeles and a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. “They were so cool. Obviously, growing up, we've heard about that venue and we know how infamous and iconic it is,” says Kylie. “So, to be able to sell it out and play it twice was such a crazy feeling --and we had a bunch of friends and family in the house yesterday. It was such a fun experience.”

“Yeah, we made my mom cry,” Jordan adds. “She was like gasping for breath, like so sad.” Adding to the emotional responses, Eliza admits, “Our manager cried when we did, ‘Kimmel,’ there's been a lot of major milestones just in the last like 48 hours, and then to do this here with you guys today is a dream too.”

It's all thanks to the tremendous success the group has seen since the release of their 2023 album Blame My Ex, which has without a doubt resonated on a deeply personal level with fans, highlighted by their single "Blame Brett," which was inspired by a real-life breakup. As host Megan notes, “When there is this good of a story behind a song, we have to tell it for people that may not know.”

Breaking down the track, Jordan explains: “I was in a relationship with this guy who is also in a big Canadian band, Brett [Emmons] from The Glorious Sons, and we broke up, and it was pretty brutal. We broke up during a very tumultuous time for us as a band. We had just been dropped by our label, we had just fired, our two managers, COVID had happened. It was a very difficult period for any musician, and then on top of that, like the person who I thought was gonna be my soul mate, broke up with me.”

After a chorus of boos from the crowd, Leandra clarified, “No guys, it’s OK. She's in love again,” which elicited a round of cheers -- and the rest of her bandmates to out her new flame, Ryan. “We’re not gonna blame Ryan,” Jordan says. “Not yet. Hopefully, this next sucker's happier.”

Jordan continues, “We had started writing what was gonna be ‘Blame My Ex.’ ‘Shower Beer’ had been written, ‘Kismet’ had been written... But, you know, once I had my heart broken, there was really nothing else I wanted to write about. I sort of used the record as sort of a way to interrogate my feelings, to figure out who I was without my partner.” Adding some clarity, she says “the album really isn't about my breakup with Brett, like the disillusionment of our relationship. It's more about what happens to a person when they have to start over. I think there weren't a lot of records from a female's perspective about that, and I was really interested in writing about that... the highs and lows of going through that kind of inexperience.”

It’s worth mentioning that Jordan did call Brett to find out if he would be OK with there being a song out there with his name on it. “He was very gracious about it," Jordan says. “I don't think he realized the hit it was gonna be! He had slightly different feelings once it started to go viral on TikTok, but he has since come around and he and his band have actually covered it.”

“It's been really nice that people have connected to the message of the song and it's helped them get through their break up,” Kylie says. “A lot of people have also dated, I think, bad dudes named Brett... It's hard to be a Brett in 2024.”

“Let me just reiterate,” Jordan interjects. “My Brett isn't that bad of a guy... he's OK.” However, Leandra was quick to correct her saying, “He's no longer your Brett.”

Fans should keep a look out for more music from The Beaches, who just laid down some new tracks while in Toronto. Although, Kylie admits, “We don't know when exactly it's gonna come out, but we figured we don't have a lot of time because we are touring so much that it seems like we need to take in the moments we have at home to make sure that we have music available for you guys. I think maybe by the end of this year we'll have a new song out at least.”

Don't miss The Beaches' full interview above, and stay tuned for even more action from the Helpful Honda Sound Space at KROQ right here on Audacy.

Words by Joe Cingrana Interview by Megan Holiday

Royel Otis (Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic) join us for a special performance and interview with Kevan Kenney from KROQ's Helpful Honda Sound Space in Los Angeles as the Australian Alt-Pop duo gets set to drop their debut studio album, Pratts & Pain, scheduled for release on February 16.

After forming in Sydney in 2019, Royel Otis have three official EP's under their collective belts (2021’s Campus, 2022’s Bar & Grill, and 2023’s Sofa Kings) as they're steadily ramping up anticipation for the release of their full-length debut, Pratts & Pain, in just a few short weeks.

Already on the minds of music fans following the release of their 2023 single “Sofa King,” it was their recent cover of “Murder on the Dance Floor” that has gone nuclear right at the moment. The fan reaction has been “crazy,” they both admit.  “We rehearsed it one day before we started doing it,” says Pavolic. “Yeah, we had about an hour to get it done and then well, that’s what happens,” adds Maddell. They had a few ideas in mind for the session, including the classic, “Build Me Up Buttercup.”

“We were just running through ideas, pretty stressed out,” Royel admits, “ and then someone was like, ‘just try ‘Murder on the Dance Floor,’ and we were like, ‘give it a crack,’ and then it worked out.”

Flipping the script, if the guys could pick a contemporary artist to cover their single }Sofa King,” Maddell chooses fellow Aussies DMA'S... “I reckon they'll do it, however expanding the pool of artists to those who have already passed, Sinéad O'Connor was first to be mentioned.

Discussing their hit single, they explained how it came about as a demo that Royel had, being good friends with the DMA’S guys who were starting to take off. “I was like, ‘I'm gonna take advantage of my friends, capitalize on it,’ and I was like, ‘Try to write a song that I thought would suit them. And then I was like, ‘no, it's better for me.’ Then Otis and I started doing music, and I was like, ‘it's actually better for Otis.’

Royel Otis is currently on the road in New Zealand and Australia, with plans to hit North American cities beginning in April supported by Girl and Girl. 

Listen to Kevan Kenney's full interview with Royel Otis above -- and stay tuned for more conversations with your favorite artists right here on Audacy. 

Words by Joe Cingrana Interview by Kevan Kenney