Beauty School Dropout started out as three strangers who made their way to Hollywood from different corners of the country and set out to chase their dreams, all the way to the top. What ended up being a serendipitous coming together, eventually formed the outfit of frontman and vocalist Colie Hutzler, bassist Brent Burdett, guitarist Bardo Novotny and drummer Colton Flurry. Soon after they solidified themselves as a band, they were scouted and picked up by Versewire, the label co-founded by Mark Hoppus of Blink-182. This led them to open for Blink’s stadium tour in 2023 and now, Beauty School Dropout are at the top of their game.
This year is ringing in a lot of milestones for BSD, including their newly released singles “On Your Lips” and “Fever,” the announcement of a forthcoming album, performances at Warped Tour, and not one, but TWO tours this Summer. I caught up with Hutzler, Burdett, and Novotny ahead of the Idobi Radio Summer School Tour, kicking off on July 11th, to discuss their new and upcoming music, as well as their road to success thus far. What they are calling their first FULL-length album, Where Did All The Butterflies Go? is set to be released on September 5.
You all just released a new single “Fever” and its music video, which is set at what looks like a Hollywood Hills party; did you all throw a big party to film the video?
Colie Hutzler: I wish that was our weekend every weekend. That was my entire year last year, so that was a lot of the influence. I feel like, even with the friends that were in the group, that was a pretty avid experience of our 2024. In-between writing was a lot of going out and a lot of, me at least, partying with all my friends; whether that was a good thing or not, was the case, and now, we’ve put it in a tangible form. I think that’s what we were trying to portray, too, like a real party.
Brent Burdett: That’s how we got our start. Right out of Covid, before it was even allowed to throw shows, we were throwing underground party shows. It was that (the music video), just not filmed in the same sense. Our first show was gonna be pre-Covid, and it got canceled, obviously. It was going to be SXSW 2020. So, we kind of just had a year and a half to write a bunch of music and then when we came out, the first show we ever did, we were totally not supposed to do but we just did it. It was not at a proper venue, it was just our homie’s thrift shop and it literally was a party, kind of like the Fever video.
Can you give us any sneak peaks of what to expect from your upcoming album, Where Did All The Butterflies Go?
Bardo Novotny: Oh, man, I don’t want to give too much away. I think the biggest thing for us is it’s a really big step in a new direction. Sonically, it’s more electrifying. I think the branding is a lot more intense and cohesive, and …
Burdett: Like, you kept saying raw. I think that’s exactly what we are trying to portray, nothing is sprinkled with anything unnecessary anymore. We’re just trying to express exactly who we are, and nothing but that. This is just us living out our childhood dream.
Novotny: This album was a lot of time in the studio together for the last year and a half, and we actually were on the road a whole lot, so we had a lot of time to just kind of go into the studio with stints of working with other writers and producers, but there’s been other times where we’re doing sessions on the road.
Burdett: We intentionally took the last year and a half kind of off from the road to write this album because we wanted to sink our teeth into our first, like, produce a full 14-song album. This one is, I would say, a full body of work that we had to fully express ourselves in. And we got to work with Neal Avron, he’s one of the biggest influences.
Novotny: We really emphasized what belongs on this album, what doesn’t belong on this album, and we got close to a hundred songs, I want to say, or just ideas of what could have made it. But it was actually a cool process for us to just delete a lot of shit and to be, like, this is what shouldn’t be on there because that’s arguably more important than what should be on there.
Hutzler: This is I think our most mature sound and it just feels so different than all our past stuff. It feels like this is the real meat and potatoes, where everything else has been the appetizer. Of course we’re always going to evolve, that’s what happens with bands, but I think we would all probably say that we’re the most proud of this project than any of our other stuff.
In what ways have you pushed boundaries with this album, beyond what you have done with your previous releases?
Hutzler: In a weird way, I think it was taking a more old school approach to being a band; really being in the room live, twiddling with different amps and pedals and all the knobs and whatever goes in is the last thing you’re going to hear. We’re in a day and age where everything is so simulated and on demand, and I think that you find a lot of acts have very similar tones or very linear sounds all together. We just really wanted to strive to do something that went against that grain, and I think that because of the approach we took through producing this album with Neil Lavron and also just being intentional and taking our time with it, that’s what we got.
Let’s talk about your previous single, out just a month ago, called “On Your Lips,” give us a little behind the scenes into the song and creative direction behind it.
Hutzler: We wanted to create something that felt almost like this euphoric dream state where you couldn’t really tell if it was exactly, a substance-induced mania, or the come down of a panic attack, or everything in between. I think that the lyrical content is about obsessive and unrequited love. That’s the overarching theme of the whole album, and so I think throughout the process of feeling those feelings, you kind of find yourself in these states of, you almost don’t know where you are because you don’t know what’s real.
That one particularly was my idea that I brought to Sam Fine, who, so we essentially built out an entire visual team for this whole rollout. My background in video and event production allowed me to bring in the right producers, co-directors, and all the people that could bring it to life. Through that, we kind of just spitballed our ideas. We were trying to figure out how to be as cohesive as possible for the whole rollout, and then just kind of went for it.
Let’s go back to the beginning for a second, how and when did the three of you first meet and then decide to form the band together?
Hutzler: Just a long thread of soul-searching, and we [Burdett and Hutzler] met through his ex-girlfriend, and then we (Novotny and Hutzler) met through Winston House, which was this event that we used to work at and I used to help produce their events and shows for a long time, we just had creative synergy. That was it. I mean, I think the first five years I was out here was a lot of just trying to figure out who were the people that felt like my creative brethren, my creative soulmates. I will say, it’s true for all three of us, that once we met each other we were like, alright, we’re best friends.
You are signed to Mark Hoppus’ label Versewire, and you all have formed close ties to him and Pete Wentz in recent years. How did those relationships initially start?
Hutzler: Our manager Nick knew that Sherry Saeedi was coming out to a dinner, Sherry’s the founder of Versewire, and they kind of put us together at a table not giving any context other than this is a band, this is a business partner, friend, whatever. We just started talking, chopping it up and we resonated on business and music and all the things that we cared about. Then shortly after, she started scouting us as a potential signee for the label, we ended up being the first act that they signed. At that point, I think Pete and Mark kind of caught wind and Sherry sent a list of a bunch of other bands, but they both just responded BSD, so it was kind of just the right time and the right place. They found us and it just happened naturally.
Burdett: The foundation of this band is community. We believe that everyone can find their community and we’re just really loud about bringing whoever wants to be in our community in, whether they’re our friends, fellow artists, or fans, everyone is welcome to come be a part of what we call the circus. I think in a weird way too, we’re not the most political band but the way we take a stand is by bringing people together and instead of embracing divisiveness, we embrace how we can get people to see each other eye to eye on both sides of the fence.
Besides the music you have released so far this year, a big milestone for you guys is being invited onto the reunion of Warped Tour. You’ve played one leg of it already and have more to come, how do you feel about being invited to play such a defining festival in alt-rock and punk music culture?
Hutzler: It’s an honor, really. We all kind of grew up on it in different ways, and I think to even think for a second that it was going to be gone forever, and then to be blessed with it coming back, let alone at a time where we’re kind of in the peak of our careers is just so cool and such an amazing opportunity for us to be able to live out. I think, in part our childhood dream, but also kind of almost felt like this new leaf was turning for where our entire genre as a whole is, and where it’s heading, and I think the door is being busted wide open for rock music to take over again, and I think that that’s a really important part of our history, for sure. The umbrella of rock is back.
You can find a list of Beauty School Dropout upcoming tour dates below and find tickets here. Look out for the official announcement of their forthcoming album, because they are ready to take the alt-music scene by storm.
Warped Tour
- July 26-27 – Long Beach, CA @ Shoreline Waterfront
- Nov 16-17 – Orlando, FL @ Camping World Stadium Campus
Idobi Radio Summer School Tour
- July 11—Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
- July 12—Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
- July 13—Cleveland, OH @ The Agora
- July 15—Newport, KY @ MegaCorp Pavilion
- July 16—Chesterfield, MO @ The Factory at The District
- July 18—Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater
- July 19—Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
- July 20—Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union
- July 22—Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo
- July 23—Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
- July 25—Sacramento, CA @ Channel 24
- July 26—Long Beach, CA @ Vans Warped Tour*
- July 27—Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
- July 29—Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
- July 30—Houston, TX @ House of Blues
- August 1—Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works
- August 2—Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade Heaven
- August 3—St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Live
- August 5—Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore Silver Spring
- August 6—Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
- August 8—Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom
- August 9—Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
- August 10—Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall
Supporting Blink-182 & Alkaline Trio
- August 28 – Hollywood, FL @ Hard Rock Live
- August 29 – Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
- September 1 – Charleston, SC @ Credit One Stadium
- September – Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park
- September 4 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Veterans United Home Loan Amphitheater
- September 6 – Bethel, NY @Bethel Woods center for the Arts
Photos courtesy of Sophia Gabrielson
