Our favourite pop-rock trio talked to us about their UK tour with Bowling For Soup.
Teen Texas outfit Not Ur Girlfrenz have been on a whirlwind of a year in 2019, playing Warped Tour, touring with mentors Bowling For Soup (twice) and releasing banger after banger.
Just last month, they released a brand new track, Game Over with a retro-inspired video taking its cues from TV and Gaming history. With their signature sound blending pop, rock and a healthy dose of pop-punk, Game Over provides a brilliant contrast to the video, with a truly new generation sound that is placing the band as a force to be taken seriously.
We had a chat with vocalist Liv Haynes about their recent UK tour with Bowling For Soup and Simple Plan, covering My Chemical Romance and what’s next for Not Ur Girlfrenz.
How was your UK tour with Bowling For Soup and Simple Plan? What were your favourite parts?
Touring with Bowling for Soup and Simple Plan was AMAZING!!! They are such great guys and so talented. I loved learning from them every night watching side-stage. My favorite part was getting to play the O2 Academy Brixton in London on Valentine’s Day were some of my all-time favs have played like – Avril Lavigne, The 1975, Tyler the Creator, Madonna and so many more. Just knowing that we were standing on the same stage as they did was unbelievable. We are so thankful.
Playing O2 Academy Brixton is quite an epic venue in London to play – what was that like?
Once again, incredible. Although we have played in the UK before, that was our first time playing in London and the energy from the audience was insane. We will never forget it and hope to play there again!
Touring with a bunch of dudes, what are your must-haves for that kind of tour?
Touring is the same no matter male or female. We are all in this together and one big happy family. For example, our gear got sent to Boston and we didn’t have it the first day of tour. So, the guys in Bowling for Soup and Simple Plan loaned us gear and guitar straps and whatever we needed. I even got to use Jaret’s Texas guitar!!!! So maybe losing our gear the first day wasn’t so bad after all! (laughs)
What do you like about the UK audiences?
UK fans are amazing. It’s so crazy to me that they are singing my songs back to me in a whole different continent! We are so grateful for y’all!
We loved the MCR and Spice Girls covers! What made you decide to go for those in particular?
Well, we love MCR and just recently released a cover of that song I’m Not Okay (I Promise) so we had to play it! We threw in the Spice Girls cover for the UK audience and also, who doesn’t get hype to that song?! The Spice Girls go HARD!
What were your biggest musical influences growing up?
My musical influences are constantly changing. Growing up my parents would play 90s grunge and r&b along with 80s hair metal and my mom being obsessed with the Grease soundtrack. (laughs) Then growing up I started finding music that I really loved like My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, twenty one pilots, blink-182, Paramore, Waterparks, 5 Seconds of Summer, Avril Lavigne, All Time Low. Some artists I am obsessed with right now are The 1975, Pale Waves, Halsey, BROCKHAMPTON, LANY, Lauv, COIN, The Band Camino, YUNGBLUD, Rex Orange County, and beabadoobee. I’d like to say my music taste is pretty diverse. (laughs)
Let’s talk about your 2018 EP New Kids In America – It’s been a whirlwind year since the release. How’s it all been?
It’s been a dream. We’ve played 7 tours, traveled abroad, met many of our musical heros, and we’ve learned and grown so much as a band. We are so fortunate to have experienced this year together and gained many more fans too!!!
What’s next? Can we expect a Not Ur Girlfrenz album soon? Touring with MCR?
For now, we are gonna stick with singles so that we can try to get music out faster to the fans. I would love to do an album, I am an album kind of girl myself. We may decide to put all of the singles together with some other songs for an album just so we can really capture this moment in time. But for now, singles are the plan. Also, if MCR is down!
High Fives & Stage Dives 