Vocalist Cole Hutzler, bassist Brent Burdett, and guitarist Bardo Novotny are about to take on one of the world’s most renowned stages. Walking around the small performance space at Manhattan’s Hard Rock Cafe, however, the pop-punk upstarts seem at ease. In fact, when NME is introduced to the band, Bardo responds by quickly putting the band’s’ name into an impromptu acoustic song, strumming his guitar with a cheeky grin across his face. It doesn’t sound half bad.
He continues to play throughout our chat, emphasising his bandmates’ humour as Beauty School Dropout energetically talk over one another. The Los Angeles trio just finished a short set for a select group of fans – and you can still hear the girls giggling with excitement on the other side of the door. It’s glimpse of the fanfare that will take place the following day as the trio play Madison Square Garden, opening for Turnstile and Blink-182.
Beauty School Dropout are no strangers to rubbing shoulders with rock’s biggest names. It was Blink bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus who signed them to his label Verswire, which he runs with a fellow punk-pop icon, Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz. Beauty School Dropout’s penchant for heavy distorted guitars, catchy self-deprecating lyrics, and tunes that merge pop, alt-rock and even hip-hop delivery, pushed their 2022 debut, ‘We Made Plans And God Laughed’ to 14 million streams and counting. The album also features Hoppus’ signature vocals on ‘Almost Famous’, which comes equipped with a heavy dose of angst, as the trio acknowledge, “I’m almost famous and I already hate it”.
But their creativity, ambition and eagerness to not just replicate songs of a bygone era but create something completley their own is what has got Beauty School Dropout to this stage. According to the trio, their band was “predestined”. The stars aligned when they were introduced to each other by a mutual friend while backstage at the same LA rooftop concert. At the time, Hutzler and Burdett were in a band called Strange Faces, but they knew Novotny was the missing piece.
Their most recent single, ‘Dying To Be You’, proves they’ve landed on the perfect line-up. Opening with sinister guitar riffs and open-hearted lyrics illuminating the band’s collective mental health struggles, it resurrects the age-old pop-punk ritual of writing about what hurts over swelling guitars with enough imaginative arrangements to make it sound fresh. When they play it live during their slot at MSG, it’s hard to believe this is only the band’s third tour. At one point, a group of young women in Beauty School Dropout merch lean against the barricade, singing along to every word of ‘Dying To Be You’ even though it was just released earlier in the day. After their set finishes, you can see the trio come back out to stand near the stage, eagerly watching Turnstile and Blink-182, looking up in awe at what may likely be their future.
NME: Your single ‘Dying To Be You’ drops on the same day you’re opening for Turnstile and Blink-182 in NYC. How are you feeling about it?
Cole: ”It’s my favourite song we’ve ever made. It just does something to my brain. Sonically, it’s the kind of music I love the most. We’re always hyped to put new music out especially when it’s a good rhythm. I feel like we’ve been building up friction. Lately, the timing feels right.”
Brent: “[Turnstile and Blink-182] are some of our favourite bands so that’s one of the most gratifying things ever to be able to play with people we genuinely love.”
When your fans hear the single, what message do you want them to take from it?
Cole: “I hope they feel a sense of comfort knowing that other people share their same emotions. When that song was written I was in a pretty great depression. I think when you write pen to paper even in a depressive episode or an emotional episode it ends up being a very relatable thing by nature because so many people deal with that.”
Bardo: “The thesis is that comparison is the thief of joy. We all feel the same thing, so there’s comfort in relatability.”
How do you hope fans experience it when they hear it played live in an arena?
Bardo: “I hope they see God. After the set, we’ll ask, ‘Show of hands who here saw God?’ and security will know that if they didn’t, they’re gone.”
What does it mean to you to play such a storied venue as MSG?
Brent: “Life goal check.”
Bardo: “Retiring tomorrow. We’re opening, we’re one of three at MSG, and then we’re calling it a day.”
Cole: “May the legacy live on.”
Bardo: “We’ve never been there but every time we come to New York, we have literally said, ‘Next time we’re going to play MSG’ and now it’s happening.”
Cole: “Which is crazy because just eight months ago we played Mercury Lounge and that was the first show we ever had out here. That’s a large leap.”
What can gig-goers expect from a Beauty School Dropout show?
Bardo: “We love mosh pits, on the record.”
Colie: “With love, respectfully, open up the pit. I always want our shows to have mosh pits and us getting carried by the crowd.”
Brent: “Our mosh pits are respectful mosh pits. That’s the reward. If you guys open the pit, we’ll jump in the pit.”
What are you most excited to share with your fans next?
Cole: “We’re touring non-stop, for eternity now. We’re excited to share more music, more experiences, more shows. As far as our intention as a band we’ve always talked about creating a literal circus. We have big dreams and big visions. We’re gonna keep working until those things come to life.”
Brent: ‘Hypothetical circuses are cool, but a literal circus is way better.”
How do you make time to write new music when you’re always on the road?
Bardo: “We don’t really have time. Especially when we’re on a van tour, it’s not exactly the most inspiring place and hotel rooms are a bummer. But when we’re home we write. We were home for 10 days between [our tour with] JXDN and Blink-182 tour, so we got to write then. When we’re home we really go hard and get it done.”
What have you learned on this journey so far?
Cole: “We all had a dream we were chasing as individuals and through time and energy and intention, we all found each other. Less than three years later, we’re here now. I think the big takeaway is whatever that dream is, no matter where you are, if you set your intentions and you set your energy and your heart on that, then you can achieve it for sure.”