girlfriends, the pop-punk duo made up of Travis Mills (musical artist, Beats 1 Host, actor) and Nick Gross (Big Noise, Gross Labs, Find Your Grind), have released their new single “Eyes Wide Shut” today.
“Eyes Wide Shut” is the follow up single to the duo’s debut “California.” The music video was previewed with MTV’s Friday Livestream and has since amassed nearly 100K views and over 1 Million streams across digital platforms. The single showcases honest lyrics and is a tribute to where the duo grew up while pulling inspiration from influential artists like blink-182, 5 Seconds Of Summer, The 1975, Phoenix and All Time Low. Fans can check out the new music video at https://youtu.be/XQ3IKnB47SU.
In recent years, Travis experienced the loss of his close friend Lil Peep and the very public dissolution of a romantic relationship. He knew he needed a new creative vehicle to exorcise his demons. After seeing Nick drumming in an Instagram story, he called him up. It was a serendipitous conversation, as Nick (a multimedia CEO) also felt the urge to give a new pop-punk band his focus.
“I just had so much to write about,” Mills says of the sessions that turned into the girlfriends debut. “It came from a genuine place. I’d be stressed out, or bawling my eyes out, and the songs would come very organically. If we ever spent more than an hour trying to figure out a hook or a verse, we scrapped it and just kept moving. This project is different from anything else I’ve ever done.”
Like the punk rock music that first inspired him as a teenager, Mills sees girlfriends as an outlet for soulful expression and emotional catharsis, a means to process his feelings of grief, uncertainty, and renewed vigor for life, in a way that’s likely to connect with others who struggle. Nick is equally enthusiastic to have another crack at pop-punk, the genre that first set him on his career path.
Fans can expect more music from girlfriends very soon.