Bleachers

By Rachel H

Jack Antonoff is arguably one of the most infamous producers in today's music industry, producing hits for numerous artists like Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, and Lana Del Ray. Although he is an incredibly talented producer, what many people do not know is that he has his own band.

Formed in 2013, Antonoff was the only permanent member of the group until ten years later in 2023 when musicians Mikey Freedom Hart, Sean Hutchinson, Evan Smith, Michael Riddleberger, and Zem Audu became permanent members of the successful band. Debuting in February 2014 with their hit single, "I Wanna Get Better," Bleachers took the music industry by storm. Their 80s/90s inspired sound lingers on all five of their current studio albums, including a re-recording of their debut album, "Strange Desire."

Early in his career, Antonoff was a third of the band, Fun. While on tour with his band, Antonoff was secretly working on Bleachers until the new band was publicly announced in February 2014. Antonoff mentioned that working on the debut of Bleachers felt like having a, "psychotic alter-ego situation, where it was second nature to have this part of me that no one knew about…no one was aware that this music, or this album even existed...even though it existed so deeply to me."

When Bleachers first album, "Strange Desire," was released in the summer of 2014, it was so successful it prompted an early 2015 debut tour, and following that a world tour the same year. Somehow, the band balanced touring on their own along with a duo-tour with Charli XCX. Also in 2015, Bleachers released their sequel to their first album, "Terrible Thrills, Vol.2," which consisted of some covers of previous Bleachers songs that were covered by female artists, which Antonoff commented on, "The whole heart of this idea is for people to hear the album the way I hear it in my head, reinterpreted by the artists who sort of inspired it to be written in the first place."

Along with the band's early success, Antonoff began making an individual name for himself when he worked alongside Taylor Swift for the first time when they produced her album, "1989," together, which later won Album of the Year, among other prestigious awards, at the 2016 Grammys.

Bleachers released their second album, "Gone Now," in June 2017, which was described as an, "Epic uplifting pop-rock anthem." The album was a massive hit that led to yet another tour the same summer. In celebration of the album's release, Antonoff brought his dismantled childhood bedroom on tour with him, and in a press release mentioned that, "I wished I could play the album for people who care about Bleachers in this space that it is coming from and leaving." Antonoff later produced the soundtrack to the iconic film, "Love Simon," which was released in March 2018.

When 2020 rolled around, so did Bleachers third album, "Take the Sadness out of Saturday Night." (The best album, in my opinion.) In November 2020, the first two singles for the album were released, "45," and, "Chinatown," the latter holding a feature from Bruce Springsteen. On that same day, it was announced the official third album would be released in 2021. The third single on the album, "Stop Making This Hurt," was released in May 2021, along with a North America tour announcement from the band. The official third album was released in July 2021. Later on, in early 2022, they announced, "The 2022 Tour." At the end of 2022, the band was featured on Taylor Swift's hit song. "Anti-Hero."

Released in March 2023, Bleachers was featured on Lana Del Ray's massive hit song,
"Margaret," written for Antonoff's now wife, Margaret Qualley. In August of that same year, the band signed a record deal with Dirty Hit and released the live album, "Live at Radio City Music Hall." In September of 2023, Bleachers released their first single, "Modern Girl," from their fourth album, which was referred to as B4. A music video followed the single's release. "Alma Matter," the second single, was released in November 2023, and a music video came shortly after. Two more singles came in early 2024, "Tiny Moves," and, "Me Before You," before the self-titled album was officially released in March of 2024, with a 22-track deluxe edition being released in May of that same year. The album was mostly influenced by Antonoff's internal thoughts and experiences.

The band's next tour came in 2024, with sold out legs across Europe and North America. Arguably, Bleachers most famous hit, "Merry Christmas, Please Don't Call," was released in November 2024, and quickly after became a massive and trending hit on social media platforms.

All in all, despite Antonoff's individual success with music producing, his talented band remains incredibly underrated in the music industry. Their old-fashioned sound and emotionally captivating lyrics focus on themes like love, loss, maturity, and emotions, and I can't wait to hear more from them.