Sabrina Carpenter has been having fun with her Dunkin’ relationship over the past few months. Towards the end of last year, she launched a new drink with the donut-and-coffee slingers via a funny and suggestive new ad. Now, she’s back with another new beverage and commercial.
The ad sees Carpenter working as a phone operator at the Dunkin’ Daydream Hotline (“Daydream Matchmaker” is her job title), answering a call from somebody who says they’re “hot.” After listening some more, Carpenter suggests that what the caller is “really craving” is a Sabrina’s Strawberry Daydream Refresher, a new Dunkin’ menu item. After taking a sip of her own Refresher and licking the foam off her lips, she listens and gets cut off as she says, “I’m sorry, did you…”
“Crafted with sweet strawberry flavor and creamy oatmilk, then topped with a cloud of velvety cold foam, Sabrina’s Strawberry Daydream Refresher delivers the nostalgic taste of strawberries and cream in a sip that’s rich yet refreshingly light. Dunkin’s creamiest Refresher yet is just the latest example of how Dunkin’ stirs up flavor innovation with fun, seasonal combos that come together in one crave-worthy sip.”
Per the website for the TMZ Celebrity Tour bus, passengers will be able to “spot celebs as you travel through Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and the Sunset Strip!” For at least one recent ride, they weren’t kidding about seeing famous people, as Benson Boone gave one bus-full of customers an experience they aren’t likely to forget.
In a video shared by TMZ (here’s another clip), Boone was in a limo when he spotted the tour bus. He opened the window, said hi to everybody, and gave a box of his new “Moonbeam Ice Cream” Crumbl cookie, which per Crumbl is a “chilled chocolate cookie packed with cookies & cream pieces, crowned with vibrant moonbeam ice cream-inspired lemon, berry, and marshmallow toppings, and finished with a sweet white drizzle and a final sprinkle of cookies & cream.”
Boone then got out of the limo, hopped on the bus, and started shaking hands and saying hi to people. He also talked a bit about his new album and how grateful he is for his success. Then, after finding out a kid on the bus was celebrating their birthday, Boone led everybody in a rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
It was a great moment, so check out the videos here and here.
Rob49‘s hit single “WTHelly” has been nearly inescapable for the past few months, and with a new remix video featuring G Herbo, the New Orleans native looks to extend its legs through the summer. In a wise decision, he keeps the extended outro — which fueled hundreds of viral TikTok videos since the single’s March release — ensuring that cries of “What the helly Berry / What the helly Burton / What the helly ‘Bron James / What the helly Cyrus” will continue to ring out for at least a little while longer.
G Herbo’s remix is one of just four that have been planned, which include versions from Big Sean, Justin Bieber, and Latto. However, after teasing a version with Bieber, Rob49 told Billboard he’s rethinking its release.
“I talked to Justin a couple of days ago, and he was telling me he wanted to do some more songs, so I don’t know,” he said back in May. “It’s funny, when he first did it, he was like, ‘What you think? You think I can go harder?’ I told him like, ‘Man, I love it bro, if you feel comfortable about it, if you like it, then I love it.’ You know? I just told him, ‘If you like it, you like it’.”
You can watch the video for Rob49’s “WTHelly Remix” with G Herbo above.
Modern shoegaze hero Wisp officially has a new album on the way: Today (June 24), Wisp announced If Not Winter. It certainly won’t be winter when the project drops on August 1. Available now is a new single, the both-heavy-and-light “Save Me Now.”
A press release notes the album “represents a complete realization of a boundary-exploding vision for shoegaze,” and that it “finds Wisp synthesizing disparate sonic universes into a singular and evocative aesthetic.” It’s also said to incorporate “the melodic sophistication of pop’s most versatile songwriters, folk’s narrative poetry, and the hierarchy-smashing communal ideals of hardcore.”
In an Alternative Press interview earlier this year, Wisp said of working on the project, “It’s definitely a very hard challenge going from writing singles to making a cohesive album just because the songs have to make sense together, and I want my album to tell a story. […] I’m sticking to the ethereal, fairy tale-esque stuff [that] circulates around Greek mythology, the mermaids and the angels, and I really want to incorporate more mystical creatures into my music, which will be fun to experiment with.”
Watch the “Save Me Now” video above. Wisp also announced a bunch of tour dates, so check out the upcoming shows, including some previously shared, below.
Wisp’s 2025 Tour Dates
08/22 — Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
08/23 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
08/24 — Boston, MA @ Royale Boston
08/27 — East Rutherford, NJ @ MetLife Stadium *^
08/28 — East Rutherford, NJ @ MetLife Stadium *^
08/31 — Chicago, IL @ Soldier Field *#
09/01 — Chicago, IL @ Soldier Field *#
09/03 — Toronto, ON @ Rogers Stadium *%
09/05 — Toronto, ON @ Rogers Stadium *%
09/06 — Toronto, ON @ The Concert Hall
09/07 — Detroit, MI @ El Club
09/08 — Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar
09/10 — Chicago, IL @ Metro
09/11 — Saint Paul, MN @ Amsterdam Bar & Hall
09/13 — Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater
09/14 — Salt Lake City, UT @ TBD
09/16 — Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
09/18 — Vancouver, BC @ The Pearl
09/19 — Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
09/21 — San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
09/23 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre
09/26 — Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
09/27 — El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace
09/29 — Dallas, TX @ The Factory in Deep Ellum
09/30 — Austin, TX @ Mohawk
10/01 — Houston, TX @ Numbers
10/03 — Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
10/04 — Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
10/22 — Glasgow, UK @ The Garage
10/23 — Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute
10/24 — London, UK @ EartH
10/25 — Paris, France @ Maroquinerie
10/27 — Saint-Josse-Ten-Noode, Belgium @ Botanique
10/28 — Cologne, Germany @ Luxor
10/29 — Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Melkweg Old Room
10/31 — Hamburg, Geramny @ headCRASH
11/01 — Berlin, Germany @ Urban Spree
11/02 — Warsaw, Poland @ Klub Hybrydy
* supporting System Of A Down
^ supporting Korn
# supporting Avenged Sevenfold
% supporting Deftones
If Not Winter is out 8/1 via Interscope. Find more information here.
The F1 movie soundtrack is the gift that keeps on giving, and today (June 24), it gives again with the release of Peggy Gou’s kinetic single “D.A.N.C.E.”
Gou says of the song, “This track to me is all about connecting with joy and feeling free. I hope it makes people want to dance all summer long.”
For Gou, the track arrives after her latest album, 2023’s I Hear You. The project spawned her biggest hit to date: “(It Goes Like) Nanana,” which has over 600 million streams on Spotify and reached the top 5 of the US dance chart.
Listen to “D.A.N.C.E.” above. Also check out Gou’s upcoming tour dates below.
Peggy Gou’s 2025 Tour Dates
06/30 — Circoloco, DC10 @ Ibiza
07/06 — Kappa Futur Festival @ Turin, Italy
07/13 — MAD Cool Festival @ Madrid, Spain
07/14 — Indie Beach @ St Tropez, France
07/16 — Montreux Jazz Festival @ Montreux, Switzerland
07/16 — Rimini, Italy
07/27 — Pacha @ Ibiza
08/02 — Parkoram @ Istanbul, Turkey
08/03 — Sunny Hill Festival @ Pristina, Kosovo
08/09 — Les Plages Electroniques @ Cannes, France
08/14 — Phi Beach @ Sardinia, Italy
08/15 — Panorama Festival @ Puglia, Italy
08/16 — Bittersweet Festival @ Poznan, Poland
08/17 — WECANDANCE Festival @ Belgium
09/21 — Portola Festival @ San Francisco, CA
10/17 — III Points Festival @ Miami, FL
F1 The Album is out 6/27 via Atlantic Records. Find more information here.
The 2025 XXL Freshman class has been revealed. This year’s class includes breakout stars such as Gelo, Ray Vaughn, and Samara Cyn, as well as viral stars 1900Rugrat, BabyChiefDoit, EemTriplin, Ian, Lazer Dim 700, Loe Shimmy, Nino Paid, and YTBFatt. See below for more info about each of these rising stars.
1900Rugrat
Hailing from West Palm Beach, Florida, Rugrat is signed to 300 Entertainment and first gained popularity thanks to his freestyles — specifically his song “One Take Freestyle.”
BabyChiefDoit
At 17 years old, BabyChiefDoit is the youngest member of this year’s class. A Chicago native, he’s best known for tracks like “Snooze You Lose” and “The Viper.”
Eem Triplin
After getting his start as a producer for other artists, Eem Triplin switched to rapping and singing his own tunes, leading to the release of his album Melody of a Memory early this year.
Gelo
If you haven’t heard Gelo’s song “Tweaker” by now, you don’t know ball. Triple entendre, don’t even ask me how. The former hooper turned rapper is preparing the release of his debut album, which drops this week.
Ian
He’s not Tyler The Creator’s favorite, but with the support of Lil Yachty (himself a former Freshman), the Dallas suburbanite has generated a passionate fanbase among the Lyrical Lemonade/Rolling Loud set.
Lazer Dim 700
I first heard Lazer Dim as a guest on Denzel Curry’s “Still In The Paint” and the Florida native’s support has been instrumental in helping the Georgian Lazer Dim find an audience for his unique, hyperactive sound.
Loe Shimmy
Another Florida artist, Loe Shimmy’s distinctive voice (a wobbly nasal croak) has led to standout performances on tracks such as “Let It Out” and his verse on Hurricane Wisdom’s “Salute.”
Nino Paid
Columbia Records picked up the PG County, Maryland artist in 2023 after the viral success of his song “Pain & Possibilities,” leading to the release of two full-length projects to date, last year’s Can’t Go Bacc and this February’s Love Me As I Am.
Ray Vaughn
The TDE-signed Long Beach rapper has made lots of noise this year as one of the primary participants in Joey Badass’ one-sided proxy war with Kendrick Lamar, standing in for his former labelmate with fiery diss tracks defending not just his Compton neighbor, but the wider Los Angeles regional scene.
Samara Cyn
Samara Cyn, currently on tour with Smino, just dropped her EP, Backroads, as a follow-up to her critically hailed debut, The Drive Home.
YTB Fatt
Usually, Memphis artists are from Tennessee, but Fatt is putting West Memphis, Arkansas on the map. Ironically, he’s doing so with the help of Memphis native Moneybagg Yo, as a member of the “Said Sum” rapper’s Loaf Boyz Ventures label.
The last time we heard from Mac DeMarco, it was with the release of a 199-song album, One Wayne G, in 2023. More recently, he announced a huge tour, and now there’s an album behind it: Today (June 24), DeMarco announced Guitar.
He also shared the chilled-out single “Home.” DeMarco calls it “a song I wrote at my home in Los Angeles about what home means to me” and says of the album:
I think Guitar is as close to a true representation of where I’m at in my life today as I can manage to put to paper. I’m happy to share this music, and look forward to playing these songs as many places as I’m able.”
Listen to “Home” above. Below, find the Guitar cover art and tracklist, along with DeMarco’s upcoming tour dates.
08/29/2025 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre * +
08/30/2025 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre = +
08/31/2025 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre + =
09/04/2025 — Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall =
09/05/2025 — Baltimore, MD @ The Lyric =
09/07/2025 — New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall = +
09/08/2025 — New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall + =
09/09/2025 — Boston, MA @ Roadrunner +
09/19/2025 — Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre * +
09/20/2025 — Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre = +
09/22/2025 — Forest Grove, OR @ Grand Lodge =
09/23/2025 — Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre =
09/24/2025 — Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre =
09/25/2025 — Olympia, WA @ Capitol Theater: Olympia Film Society =
09/27/2025 — Petaluma, CA @ The Phoenix Theater =
09/28/2025 — Petaluma, CA @ The Phoenix Theater *
09/29/2025 — Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl *
10/21/2025 — Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso =
10/22/2025 — Rotterdam, NL @ Maassilo =
10/25/2025 — Paris, FR @ Salle Pleyel =
10/27/2025 — Prague, CZ @ Lucerna Velky Sal =
10/28/2025 — Hamburg, DE @ Docks =
10/30/2025 — Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA =
10/31/2025 — Stockholm, SE @ Fallan =
11/01/2025 — Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene =
11/03/2025 — Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle =
11/04/2025 — Cologne, DE @ Carlswerk &
11/05/2025 — Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royal &
11/08/2025 — Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy &
11/09/2025 — Brighton, UK @ Brighton Dome &
11/10/2025 — London, UK @ Eventim Apollo = &
11/12/2025 — Cambridge, UK @ Corn Exchange &
11/13/2025 — Bristol, UK @ The Prospect Building &
11/14/2025 — Manchester, UK @ Aviva Studios &
11/15/2025 — Manchester, UK @ Aviva Studios &
11/17/2025 — Dublin, IE @ National Stadium &
11/18/2025 — Dublin, IE @ National Stadium &
12/02/2025 — Halifax, NS @ Light House &
12/03/2025 — Halifax, NS @ Light House &
12/04/2025 — Moncton, NB @ Tide & Boar &
12/06/2025 — Québec City, QC @ Palais Montcalm &
12/07/2025 — Montreal, QC @ MTelus &
12/08/2025 — Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall &
12/09/2025 — Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall &
12/12/2025 — Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre *
12/13/2025 — Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre *
12/15/2025 — Saskatoon, SK @ TCU Place *
12/16/2025 — Edmonton, AB @ Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium *
12/17/2025 — Calgary, AB @ Mac Hall *
12/19/2025 — Victoria, BC @ Royal Theatre *
02/16/2026 — Fukuoka, Japan @ DRUM Be-1
02/17/2026 — Osaka, Japan @ Umeda Club Quattro
02/19/2026 — Kyoto, Japan @ TakuTaku
02/20/2026 — Nagoya, Japan @ Nagoya Club Quattro
02/21/2026 — Tokyo, Japan @ Kanda Square Hall
03/06/2026 — Hong Kong @ Kitty Woo Stadium, Tung Po
05/01/2026 — Las Vegas, NV @ A-LOT at AREA15
05/02/2026 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
05/03/2026 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
05/05/2026 — La Vista, NE @ The Astro
05/06/2026 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
05/07/2026 — Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed (Fairgrounds)
05/08/2026 — Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
05/09/2026 — Cleveland, OH @ The Agora
05/11/2026 — Asheville, NC @ Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
05/12/2026 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
05/13/2026 — Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern
05/16/2026 — Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater
05/18/2026 — Dallas, TX @ Longhorn Ballroom
05/19/2026 — Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion
05/21/2026 — Santa Fe, NM @ The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing
05/22/2026 — Tucson, AZ @ Linda Ronstadt Music Hall
05/23/2026 — San Diego, CA @ Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay
* with Vicky Farewell
+ with Daryl Johns
= with Mock Media
& with Tex Crick
Guitar is out 8/22 via Mac’s Record Label. Find more information here.
Back in December, during an interview with Billboard, Tyler The Creator took issue with the recent proliferation of podcasts, which have seemingly taken over all of our favorite streaming services and social media feeds. At the time, he said, “If I was president, the first thing I would do is take podcast mics away from n****s.”
It’s a little over six months later, and it doesn’t appear his opinion has softened. In a new interview with The Cut about his latest Converse collab, he again vented about the number of podcasts giving platforms to faux experts.
“I think we give a lot of people who aren’t smart and just want attention platforms to be loud and incorrect, and other stupid people follow them,” he opined. “Where are the people with skills? We need electricians, we need more drummers, painters, teachers. Everybody with a mic is crazy. I just think that sh*t is gross.”
However, it doesn’t sound like he’s against every podcast, as he offered a couple of exceptions. “Deante Kyle (Grits & Eggs Podcast) is sick, and The Cutting Room Floor is sick,” he allowed. “Those are two podcasts that are in the right direction.”
Podcasts aren’t the target of Tyler’s curmudgeonly ire. In 2022, he criticized the NFT trend (and turned out to be correct, wouldn’t you know it), while last year, he lit into rappers more concerned with making memes than music, and slated interview shows that rely on gimmicks over insightful questions.
Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.
This week saw a rare Cardi B sighting and Benson Boone having a little fun with his public image. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.
We don’t get new Cardi B all that often: She’s had three solo singles since 2021. The third of those, though, arrived last week, and “Outside” sees her seemingly addressing the demise of her relationship with Offset.
Benson Boone — “Mr Electric Blue”
Yeah, people like to tease Boone sometimes, but he uses it to his advantage in his funny new “Mr Electric Blue” video. It’s a solid self-deprecating skit that sees Boone poking fun at his backflipping ways.
Ed Sheeran — “Drive”
Sheeran often has a guitar in his hand, but he’s not usually using it to make riff-heavy rock music. That’s what he did last week, though, switching lanes for his F1 movie soundtrack contribution “Drive.”
Lorde — “Hammer”
Here’s that “ode to city life and horniness” Lorde promised: On “Hammer,” she sings, “There’s a heat in the pavement, my mercury’s raising / Don’t know if it’s love or if it’s ovulation / When you’re holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” The video’s worth the watch, too (there’s a butt tattoo involved).
Central Cee and Sexyy Red — “Guilt Trippin”
The latest from Central Cee and Sexyy is ready to deliver mellow summer vibes, and the “Guilt Trippin” hook is immediately catchy: “You ain’t a b*tch, but baby, you’re my b*tch / You ain’t a ho, but baby, you’re my ho.”
Teddy Swims and BigXthaPlug — “All Gas No Brakes”
Swims has clearly gotten over his early-career fear of writing original songs. Last week, he linked up with another rising star, BigXthaPlug, on the soulful new collab “All Gas No Brakes.”
Wednesday — “Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)”
After MJ Lenderman had a big solo 2024, the focus is back on Wednesday. The group announced Bleeds, a new album, last week, and good news if you loved Rat Saw God: They’re describing the upcoming LP as a “spiritual successor.”
Fred Again.., Skepta, and PlaqueBoyMax — “Victory Lap”
Fred isn’t afraid of leaning on a lengthy sample, and it tends to work out pretty well for him: On “Victory Lap,” a new link-up with Skepta and PlaqueBoyMax, the chorus uses a Doechii verse from her and Rico Nasty’s “Swamp B*tches.”
Lola Young — “Not Like That Anymore”
Young established herself as one of the UK’s hottest young breakout stars with her 2024 album This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway and its hit single “Messy.” Now she’s readying to follow it up with the recently announced new album I’m Only F**king Myself, as well as “Not Like That Anymore,” the lyrics of which spawned the album title.
PinkPantheress — “Close To You”
PinkPantheress fans have known “Close To You” for years now, as it’s been known as a beloved demo since 2021. Finally, she unleashed it, first by performing it live for the first time and then by giving it a proper streaming release.
On behalf of my friends and neighbors, I’d like to pronounce Greet Death as honorary citizens of San Diego. Like countless childhood friends who came of age in the early 2000s, co-vocalists Logan Gaval and Harper Boyhtari initially bonded over Blink-182 and, to this day, their press materials ask listeners to “think of them as small-town Michigan’s Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus.”
By the time they were writing their first songs together in 2011, the duo were fully “surf-pilled”; Until now, I never once heard a contemporary musician describe Wavves as a life-altering band. Over the past three years, I’ve seen Greet Death twice at San Diego metal venue Brick By Brick, and each time, Gaval did the one thing most likely to win over the crowd, aside from covering “All The Small Things“: not only saying how much he loved playing in San Diego, but also, Los Angeles was a sh*thole full of frauds.
Gaval’s affinity for America’s Finest City wouldn’t be as noteworthy if it wasn’t such a flagrant break of character. He is in a band called Greet Death, signed to a label called Deathwish, Inc., touring projects called New Hell and New Low that might actually undersell the depressive mood therein. From their 2017 debut Dixieland, named for a flea market in their notoriously blighted hometown of Flint, Michigan, Greet Death have been a leading light in the wave of bands that have applied a doomgaze lens to the Rust Belt despair of Red House Painters and Jason Molina. Some of their more upbeat songs have titles like “Do You Feel Nothing?,” “You’re Gonna Hate What You’ve Done,” and “I Hate Everything.”
Greet Death’s third album is every bit as excellent as its predecessors and whether or not it’s the best, it’s undoubtedly the brightest. That’s all relative, of course — it’s still called Die In Love. Yet, the contrast embedded in the title betrays a very different experience than the total despondency of New Hell and New Low. Acoustic ballads are allowed to exist in a state of tender beauty without any piledriving riffs, optimism is portrayed as something that can be earned and owned rather than briefly on loan.
The songs of Die In Love themselves do not shy away from the brutal accounting of that process; Gaval’s grandmother passed away during the making of 2022’s New Low, while his girlfriend lost her grandmother and uncle. “Everybody struggles in a roundabout way,” he sings on the album’s very first lyric, a familiar sentiment of suffering that still feels new in its global application. Meanwhile, on “Emptiness Is Everywhere,” Boyhtari reflects on her father losing his oldest friend and coping with the certainty that the same thing will eventually happen to them.
Greet Death is more of a band than they’ve ever been — Die In Love is the first they’ve recorded as a five-piece, though they stuck to their roots by recording in the basement of Boyhtari’s childhood home in Davisburg, a town of 7,000 about a half hour from Flint. Still, the relationship between Gaval and Boyhtari remains the driving force of the band.
From the beginning, they’ve made for a striking contrast in nearly every way; the significantly taller Gaval sings in a deep drone, writes in a self-described “simpleton” style and functions as both the band’s comic relief and business brain. For unexplained reasons, he uses the Street Fighter boss Sagat as his Zoom background and at various points during our conversation, he dons his Amazon delivery jacket and a Voldemort mask and muses over a Nathan For You-like business venture to make harmonica holders for “people with freakishly long necks” like himself. Boyhtari is more reserved in conversation and more vivid in her lyricism, reaching a peak on lead single “Country Girl,” an odyssey of “small town sh*t” told through horror DVDs and late-night runs to KFC; She came out as trans after completing Die In Love and sees the evolution of “Country Girl” from its origin as a “boring, 3/4 plod” into its current state as a reflection of her own self-discovery.
Neither Gaval nor Boyhtari claim any special insight into the human condition simply because they happen to be in a successful rock band, though that doesn’t stop people from assuming they might. “I did an interview on Thursday and the guy asked me what the meaning of life was,” Gaval claims. “And I was like, ‘Dude, I’m a straight up idiot. I play guitar because it’s the only thing that I’ve ever applied myself to.’”
He soon clarifies that this perspective has allowed him not to overcomplicate things on Die In Love, to express not only the struggle of existence in the most simple terms, but also the struggle to be a good friend and a good partner. “There’s no way to say these things without sounding like a complete cornball, but it is imperative that you open yourself to the power of love and kindness and joy.”
It’s interesting to hear you talk about seeing all of the buzzy surf bands in 2010 as formative experiences. Back then, bands of that type really were blowing up overnight, getting courted by major labels, and playing festivals and late-night shows. There were absolutely downsides to those boom times, but do you ever wish, “Man, it would be nice if this whole thing would go faster?”
Gaval: The growth that we’ve experienced has always been very organic and step-by-step. And I’m grateful for that because it’s kept us really grounded. I remember when we were getting in talks with Deathwish, one of the things that we talked about [as a band] was, “All these people seem really reasonable.” I don’t think we’ve really been looking for some kind of blow-up scheme. But I do wish we could have played like some weird MTV2 YouTube exclusive, though. It’s funny that you brought up the Best Coast/Wavves power couple thing, because even if that were to happen now, there aren’t the media institutions to even write about it.
You were about to mention Hipster Runoff right now, aren’t you?
Gaval: If I was warmed up, I would have. Yeah, there’s no one who gives a f*ck about any of that stuff anymore, which is probably good, you know?
It was good in some ways, in that there were seemingly a lot more opportunities and money to go around, but a lot of the people involved weren’t really prepared to handle such sudden success. Conversely, when I talk to bands like Foxing, who you toured with recently, they have achieved an enviable level of success by most metrics, and yet they always seem on the verge of breaking up because doing music and touring full-time just gets more and more unsustainable. Especially having taken six years between LPs, was there ever that kind of conversation within Greet Death?
Gaval: I don’t really think about the music career on a month off from tour. I don’t think we’ve ever dove in face first, trying for a career in music is just mad busted. When I was very young, that was something that I definitely wanted. I wanted to make all my money from music and I wanted to always be gone and on tour. It’s nice to be able to travel the country for free and make a little bit of money on top of that. But I think to expect more than that is kind of weird and egomaniacal. “Spotify needs to be supporting these musicians, it’s not right.” It’s like, dude, who gives a f*ck about it? Your sh*t sucks. I don’t know who told you you could even make a dollar playing guitar. I think we’ve just done it because we love music and me and Harper are always trying to write the best song, you know? And it hasn’t happened yet, so I guess we gotta keep swinging.
Boyhtari: I mean, we were really hungry when we were young. We were ready to kill ourselves on the road, and we did that for a while. But we don’t put any pressure on ourselves to do this. And that doesn’t mean we’re not working a lot, because songwriting is just what Logan and I do. It’s just like, of course we’re going to do that. And it’s not like we’re on a label that puts pressure on us to make music. If we have to keep working menial jobs for the rest of our lives to make music, like, that’s fine. We’ve been doing that already. And I’m pretty happy.
If you don’t mind me asking, what do those jobs happen to be at the moment?
Boyhtari: I’m a cook in a kitchen. [Before that], I did phone rep stuff at a music retailer, which was pretty miserable.
Gaval: So I deliver packages for Amazon [interrupts conversation to put on his Amazon jacket]. It’s like my favorite job I’ve ever had, before that I worked in a warehouse. But the throughline of all of these is that they’re jobs that don’t mean anything. So I can send emails to the graphic designer or work on lyrical ideas on my phone. Since 2019, I’ve had jobs where I can f*ck off and work on Greet Death stuff on the clock. That doesn’t seem like a failure to me. I think maybe some people would think that it is. Seeing people trying to make the music thing work when it just clearly isn’t, we’ve never been desperate to do that. Even in the early years, our motives were like, “we want to drive really far away and play a sh*t ton of shows.” It wasn’t like we need to play or make this amount, because then our parents will think that we’re not failures. We’re very lucky that our parents never did that to us.
Still, being the front-facing people in a band means that, in some way, you’re bosses of a corporation that other people depend on for their livelihoods. How have you grown into those roles as Greet Death has become more established?
Gaval: I think everyone in the band is on the same page where they would do it for free even if there wasn’t any money, because like… what are we to do? Are we going to work in IT or sell health insurance? It’s been a fairly frictionless process because Greet Death is just a band made up of friends. I just text the business group chat and see what people want to do and then, 90 percent of the time, the answer is yes. If the answer is no, I’m not like, “Well, this is f*cked up.” I probably didn’t want to play that show anyways. But it is strange, because Greet Death, LLC is a thing, and I am filing the taxes late and paying astronomical fees.
Boyhtari: I will say that at the warehouse job Logan worked, he learned a lot of accounting skills and money skills. Logan’s turned into somebody who has really good management skills and you are the boss in a lot of senses. It’s helped us a lot. We would not be making nearly as much money as we are without Logan’s skills. Not that we’re making a lot of money, but I think we’re making a lot of money. Making any money playing music is crazy.
Gaval: We’re about to make a sh*t-ton.
Boyhtari: I don’t know how to make money, but I can be a good soldier and I can try to do what I’m told. And then Logan and I both write the songs. We’re good with the art side, but I think a lot of bands probably don’t have somebody with the skills and qualities that Logan does.
Gaval: Yeah, you need the autistic guy [laughs]. Every band. You need the Johnny Ramone, the Fat Mike, just zoned in. But if we didn’t have songs to sell people, it wouldn’t matter that I knew what a profit margin was or that I tried to negotiate to get t-shirt prices down. All this stuff is secondary and the main thing is that the art is good. I don’t like calling them that, but we do care about creating the songs as products, as things that are interesting to listen to. With that being said, I have read multiple cringeworthy business management books. If I told you the audiobooks I have listened to, nobody would f*ck with me ever again.
I’m not gonna lie, I’ve read several Brene Brown books on leadership just to get a better sense of how my higher-ups think and maybe even imagine myself daring greatly as a leader.
Gaval: There’s a golden nugget in every pile of sh*t that is those self-help, money business, cognitive behavioral therapy books. You just have to be honest about what it is, that you are listening to an audiobook of “The Richest Man In Babylon” or “The Secret Of My Art” or whatever. There’s a lot I don’t know that I want to know, so I pay attention to stuff like that, it just frees up money for us to do cooler sh*t.
Well, since you mentioned cognitive behavioral therapy, are you ready to talk about depression? I’m thinking specifically of Feeling Great, which is this CBT handbook that describes depression and anxiety as “the greatest cons,” that they’re lies we tell ourselves. I’m curious about what you see as the roots of depression, whether it’s environmental, genetic or situational.
Gaval: As a disclaimer, I think I graduated with like a 2.6 and I’m not even smart enough to remember the name of the tests that they take in Michigan. I think it’s the ACT and, well, I got an 18 on that sh*t. So I’m not an intelligent person, but in my own experience, depression has been a constant struggle for as long as I can remember, and there are definitely days where it is influenced by thoughts that I’m acknowledging as truths. And then there are days where it feels like I straight-up have the flu, you know? And when I have the flu, I’m not trying to intellectualize it and think about why I have the flu. You need to edit what I’m saying so that I sound smarter, but in our society… or let’s not even say that… like, if you walk up to any band of four people, half of them are gonna be on SSRIs. And that’s fascinating to me because is that actually some sort of brain chemistry thing happening ,or is it because all media for the past few decades has been glorifying people like Kurt Cobain and it’s actually cool to be sad and nihilist and have a worldview that everything is f*cked and there’s nothing you can do so you might as well rock the f*ck out?
I think the only thing that ever helped me with all of that was to stop thinking about if it was a societal thing or a chemical thing and to let go of my thoughts and not acknowledge those as truths — impostor syndrome, whatever. These days it’s harder and harder to do that because you have groups of people that are constantly commenting that you’re like a fraud or that your sh*t sucks.
I do think a lot of artists struggle with how substance use or depression ties into their art, that they’re worried about what the music will become without it, or that they need to go deeper into it for the sake of the art. Were there ever more upbeat or happy songs that were set aside because they didn’t mesh with the greater Greet Death reputation?
Boyhtari: We’re writing some pretty optimistic stuff these days. If it’s something that resonates with us and sounds like Great Death, we’ll give it a shot. There is no mission statement where Great Death has to be depressing. It’s just that Logan and I have spent a lot of time being very unhappy people. Not to sound too dramatic, but art in general is a way to translate your feelings, you know, and a lot of times those feelings are, “How do you f*cking deal with this?” How is this something that people have to deal with? I don’t think we’re ever gonna stop grappling with the complexity of being a human being, when we have to live the way we do and life is monotonous. But I also think that we’re growing and learning to experience new things and there’s definitely the most joy in both of our lives that there ever has been.
Gaval: While the things that me and Harp write about are uncomfortable, at the end of the day, we are trying to create something that is beautiful. None of our songs are minor-key, swampy, spooky, you know what I mean? At the end of the day, I do want to create something beautiful, but I’d also hope that the message in the lyrics was honest.
I think there’s an optimism coming through even in songs titled “Emptiness Is Everywhere” and “Die In Love,” or at least an intention to appreciate the good things in life while they’re still around. What gives you reason to be optimistic these days?
Gaval: In my own battle with mental health and such, even on your worst days, you still have to be thankful that you’re here having an experience. There are still things that happen that are funny and that are worth celebrating. I don’t think you really have a chance of doing anything in this life if you don’t do that. Love is an interesting thing because if you talk to people that have been married for decades, they will tell you that love is not all good times. There are things that you will have to go through with your partner that are difficult and stressful, so how can you not draw some sort of inspiration from love? And how can you not make weird, ironic titles and juxtapose depressing lyrics with major-key chord progressions? It seems like a fitting topic for the style of music that we make.
I’ve been reading a book called Stream Big about the explosion of Twitch influencers, and the most interesting thing to me wasn’t just how a lot of their audience rely on them for some kind of mental health support, but that the streamers actually provide it, whether it’s just some words of encouragement. You’re almost like a mandated reporter in that position. Given the kind of music you make, are there fans who’ve come to you with similarly heavy stuff?
Gaval: Yeah, of course. When I was in a worse place with everything mentally, whenever people would come up to me and be like, “You know, your music has really helped me through a hard time,” my first thought was always, “Well, what about me?” Like, my music is ruining my life. It’s no wonder that I was so miserable, you know? I didn’t ask to be some weird parasocial therapist, but I am grateful for it and I think nowadays I’m willing to take on that task. If there’s a song I can write that will help someone for one moment, that’s probably the most important thing I could do with my life. Me and Harp constantly get people that come up to us and tell us their story about how, “Oh, I was feeling really bad and I was thinking about doing something crazy, but then I heard this album and I just felt seen.” I’ve had experiences like that. Sometimes you have the worst day ever and then you hear a song that, for a moment, gives you some sort of peace.
Boyhtari: My favorite kind of art, like, the art I care about, is the stuff that makes me feel less alone and seen, for lack of a better word. The music that’s done that for me has meant so much, and that’s the highest honor. And it’s already happened, so I already feel like we’ve won. Because like that’s an amazing position to be in and I’m just so grateful that we have been able to give that to people. I’m not saying it’s a substitute for therapy, but it is special.
Die In Love is out 6/27 via Deathwish. Find more information here.
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