It’s the wee hours of the morning and you’re lost in the haze of a crowd. Perhaps you’re slap-bang in middle of a vibrant house party, or jostling your way to the dancefloor in a packed nightclub – wherever you are, bodies are moving, drinks are flowing and it feels like the night will never end. But what music is playing? Well, Beauty School Dropout are here to offer their services.

Armed with an arsenal of feverish pop-rock anthems, the Los Angeles quartet are injecting the party back into the rock ‘n’ roll –  but don’t just take our word for it. Initially plucked out of obscurity by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz and Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus, the gang have since earned the approval of Turnstile, Jason Aalon Butler, and Machine Gun Kelly to name a few.

‘WHERE DID ALL THE BUTTERFLIES GO?’ comes as the group’s latest soundtrack to a good time. From ‘XXX’s sprinkling of pop-punk riffs and woozy alt-pop, to ‘Fever’s gargantuan sing-along of a chorus, it’s a smorgasbord of lust, loss and debauchery; even more gentle, downcast cuts like ‘Madonna’ hit hard, guaranteed to get you grooving.

While Beauty School Dropout have already ticked off tours with Blink-182, Turnstile, Jxdn and Maggie Lindemann, they’re currently in the thick of a support slot with Letlive. Next year, mgk will also be taking them along for a stint of arena shows… so it is fair to say the party isn’t slowing down any time soon. We caught the lads for a breather in the midst of their non-stop whirlwind of touring.

RS: How has tour been treating you? You’ve been on the road with Blink-182 – anything to report?

Brent: “It’s been a lot of very big shows…”

Colie: “Honestly, we’ve had to play to so many ridiculously big crowds right from the beginning. Mark [Hoppus] took us out on the road so early into the band, that we’ve had to just learn how to handle them. We felt a bit out of our depth, at first – we weren’t ready for it. We formed in 2020, then, as soon as we got out of COVID, we were playing stadiums…”

RS: Sounds like you were really thrown in at the deep end, touring stadiums so early!

Bardo: “Yeah, but we’ve learnt so much. We can entertain huge crowds pretty well now.”

Brent: “Now, we really love when we get to play a small show. Any opportunity to get up-close and sweaty, and we love it.”

RS: Well, you’re a party band – a smaller room is perfect for those sweaty party vibes!

Colie: “Exactly! We want to be a party band, really bring back the party to rock music. And the crowd gets that; even in an arena, our shows are always crazy. But the energy for a smaller show is definitely special. Lots of mosh pits…”

Bardo: “We love mosh pits, let’s have that officially on the record!”

Colie: “With love, respectfully, open up the pit! Always. The best show is one where the pit is going wild and we can get carried around on top of the crowd!”

RS: Do you think your new record, ‘WHERE DID ALL THE BUTTERFLIES GO?’, is going to help bring the party to your fans?

Colie: “Oh, of course!”

Bardo: “It’s a party, but it’s also such a mature record for us. Mark said that this album feels like the album we always spoke about wanting to make when he first met us.”

Brent: “This album feels like our legacy. It really feels like us.”

RS: You say it ‘feels like you’ – tell us a bit about yourselves. How did the project form in the first place?

Colie: “Well, me and Brent knew each other because we were in a band together called Strange Faces. Then we ended up meting Bardo backstage at a concert, and he could not only play guitar but he also knew how to produce – it was like destiny. Colton joined most recently on drums, and he’s the perfect final piece of the puzzle…”

RS: Are any of you actual dropouts?

Colie: “Well, I went to college for eight weeks then dropped out to focus on music… but Colton is a GENUINE dropout from beauty school.”

Colton Flurry [drummer]: “Yeah, you could say that. I used to do barbering – no real reason why I was drawn to it. I guess I wanted to make money? But I left school and I didn’t know what I wanted to do.”

RS: Let’s think more about the DNA of Beauty School Dropout…

Brent: “I grew up on bands like Green Day, Blink, Fall Out Boy… which is just so crazy, thinking that Blink and Fall Out Boy were drawn to us. The label sent Mark Hoppus and Pete Wentz a huge list of about 30 bands, and they both only responded to our band!”

Colie: “We went out for dinner with them after they responded, and they just got what we were about! I’d also say I was super inspired by Letlive… I think Jason Aalon Butler has inspired me most, as a frontman. He’s crazy onstage.”

Bardo: “That dude has the most insane on/off switch.”

Colie: “I first met Jason Aalon Butler when I was about 14, and would keep seeing him after shows and talking about music. He was such an inspiring figure to look up to…”

RS: It’s so brilliant that all the bands you loved growing up have then nurtured you into even better musicians…

Brent: “That’s Beauty School Dropout – ‘breastfed by their rock dads…’ It’s like we manifested it, honestly. We might as well have all huddled in a little circle, lit candles and held hands.”

RS: What’s the meaning behind ‘WHERE DID ALL THE FLOWERS GO?’

Colie: “It’s about love, in every sense. There’s unrequited love, loss of love… both in terms of personal connections, but we also had a period of falling out of love with music.”

Bardo: “This album made us fall in love with music again, definitely.”

RS: What are the stand-out party tracks?

Colie: “Well, if you’re looking for a party song, ‘Fever’, ‘XXX’ and ‘City Never Sleeps’ are perfect. But I think the record has different flavours.”

RS: What other ‘flavours’ are on the record?

Colie: “It’s like a whole night out, with the start being the time you’re getting ready, then tracks perfect for dancing the night away, and then a finale that feels like driving back home. ‘On Your Lips’ is like this euphoric burst of mania, but then ‘Sex Appeal’ is kind of addressing insecurities, reminding you that you should go out and just enjoy life without being weighed down. ‘How Could I Forget’ is probably a track we could only have made now we’re more mature; it’s definitely the most earnest and vulnerable I’ve been while writing lyrics.”

RS: Looking forward, how are you feeling about all the tours you’ve got coming up? Mgk next year should be pretty wild…

Colie: “Colson [Baker, aka mgk] is such a great guy. I was there the day his best friend [Luke ‘The Dingo’ Trembath] died – I was just in the studio, I didn’t realise he would be there on a writing session. He was so open with his emotions, and we instantly connected. And that feeling has stuck.”

Brent: “Sometimes, if labels are making the connections and arranging things, it doesn’t feel natural. But, just like with Mark and Jason, we’ve been lucky enough to make these connections organically. We meet people we admire, and we have a real bond with them.”

RS: Sounds like you’re every rock icons’ favourite band right now…

Colie: “Maybe… but we’ll have to see if we can win over the fans too. With mgk, some of those fans are diehard – if we can win any of them over, we’d be very lucky boys.”