When TikTok makes a band go viral, it’s extremely easy to focus on the success within a social media vacuum, not giving a second thought to the talent and endeavour that went into making the hit go viral in the first place. This happened to Chicago indie rock outfit Beach Bunny: after their 2018 song ‘Prom Queen’ exploded in popularity on TikTok, most music publications, including Tone Deaf, connected the band’s subsequent success to the platform.
It’s something that, as Beach Bunny’s lead Lili Trifilio thoughtfully explains, ultimately doesn’t add up. “It seems like people want to write me into a box that I don’t feel I fit in. I’m very grateful for the success the app gave me but it was completely dumb luck that it took off on there,” she told Tone Deaf.
“I was already making music for several years and doing quite well and signed to a label so I don’t really view TikTok as be all end all. It was nice to have a viral moment but I feel confident in my writing, and I just write songs for myself and hope people relate. I think forcing anything musically feels a bit ingenuine, especially industry stunts.”
Listening to her new album, Emotional Creature, released last month, it’s clear that Beach Bunny was always destined for the top anyway. “Lili Trifilio’s deep empathy is a hallmark of the Chicago band’s sophomore effort,” Rolling Stone‘s review noted, and an immediate relatability runs through everything that the songwriter pens; Trifilio’s songwriting is incisive, self-aware, and forthright.
Read the rest of Tone Deaf‘s chat with Trifilio below. Beach Bunny’s Emotional Creature is out now on all digital platforms.
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People in music always talk about the difficulty of the sophomore album – did you feel this way coming into Emotional Creature?
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There is a bit of pressure with every release so I wouldn’t say this album felt particularly more stressful to make. However, with the ongoing pandemic and records getting pushed back time and time again there was a building anticipation for sure. This album was deeply personal as well so the difficulty mostly lied in the degree of vulnerability.
Were the majority of these songs written during the pandemic? Was songwriting a necessary outlet for the overwhelming emotions of that time?
I would say most were written during the pandemic. The songs kind of wrote themselves during moments of intense boredom or high emotions. I think we were all looking for some kind of outlet: for me it was songwriting, other times it was walking, skating, gaming, or cooking. It just depended on the day.
What artists were you listening to during recording that influenced the sound of Emotional Creature?
At the beginning of the lockdown I was listening to a lot of Grimes who definitely had a big influence on me for many months. I also think Declan Mkenna’s Zeros album is spectacular. I was also listening to lots of Poppy and hyperpop in general.
How was it working with Sean O’Keefe, the man that co-produced ‘Hey There Delilah’? For a millennial, that’s like a badge of honour.
He’s the biggest sweetheart, an amazing person, extremely talented, and I’m very lucky to call him my friend. He deserves all the praise!
A lot of the songs on Emotional Creature are excellent indie pop, but overall it’s hard to pin the album down into one genre. Is this the way you prefer it?
Yeah, I guess you could say that. Like I said I just write songs for myself and hope people relate so there wasn’t that much intention as to squeezing into this that or the other, but I think overall the tracks have pop elements and rock elements which is classically what I enjoy writing and people can label that however they like.
I know you’re the main songwriter but I was curious about the rest of the band – do they like to be included in the songwriting process, or are they content to let you handle the lyrics?
Beach Bunny is my baby so I think they fully understand that and let me do my thing haha, but yes I write all the songs.
The album name for example – was that a personal phrase or a band decision?
I came up with the name back in the day as a stage name since Lili Trifilio was kind of hard to spell when I was doing open mics and such. It still represents me as an individual artist and the band as a whole depending on the situation or opportunity.
‘Cloud 9’ was a very popular song over here in Australia. Is this somewhere the band would love to tour soon?
That would be cool!! We’d love to make it out there one day.
Even though you’ve not toured here yet, do you know much about Australia’s music scene? Any favourite artists come to mind?
I’m not super familiar but would love to check some out if you have any recommendations! I mostly know about the wildlife out there haha.
You’ve got such a supportive and vocal following now. Does that come with greater awareness of your position as a role model for these young female fans? How have you coped with the responsibility?
Sure totally! I do think there’s a degree of that, I’m lucky that my fan base is actually pretty broad, there of course is some young girls but also a large percent of people are my own age and a bit older, and the demographic is pretty split down the middle for guys, girls, and non-binary folk.
Lots of punk kids as well! I love it. In general, I want to put out good messages into the world and just try to be a good person in general, in my public and personal life.
Obviously you first found success online, so was it initially a bit of a culture shock to come out the other side of the pandemic to playing sold-out shows to fans singing your lyrics back at you?
Although there was that viral moment, I was already playing sold out shows before the pandemic because of previous bodies of work that had done well. It was amazing playing shows again though, and finally getting to play the songs off Honeymoon, which I really hadn’t been able to play besides on livestreams.
How has your touring experience been recently? Was it daunting to make your Coachella debut?
Coachella was amazing!! It was great getting to properly tour the U.S. after so much time away and overall I had a super positive experience. I would definitely love to play Coachella again.
Bob Odenkirk has become quite a fan of yours. Is that one of those ‘pinch me’ moments in your career?
Bob Odenkirk is such a legend! It was absolutely a wow moment when he came out to the show. I still can’t believe he took the time to play the role of Star Captain for the music video for ‘Karaoke’. My family and I love watching Better Call Saul, he’s a very kind and talented guy. I hope to meet him again sometime! Seriously an icon.
I know you’re from Chicago but are the band still based there? I think for a lot of Australians, Chicago often gets ignored in favour of New York City etc, but there seems to be some great music coming out of the city right now. Your own band, Beach Bunny . How has the city’s music scene coped with the pandemic?
Yes we’re still all in Chicago! I love it here, there’s totally a lot of great local stuff and it’s beautiful to see bands grow and change overtime. I would love to get out to some more local shows soon! Some venues have shut down and reopened and some are still struggling and need help, so I hope that through donations and attendance they can recover. But if you ever get a chance to visit, Chicago is a great place to be for music.
