The Beaches hit their stride
The band — named after their Toronto neighbourhood — has matured from tween pop punks to alt-rock openers for the Rolling Stones. But their hometown haunts have stayed on their minds — and in their songs
Jordan Miller might now be the frontwoman of the rock’n’roll alt-rock band the Beaches. But Miller has a nerdy past linked with fond memories of growing up in the east Toronto neighbourhood her band is named after.
“I’d go LAR Ping in Pantry Park,” Miller, 25, recalls. “It’s live-action role play. Kids get dressed up as knights and elves and go fight in public. I did this, as a child, in the Beaches.”
Sharing that memory elicits tears of laughter from Miller’s bandmate, drummer Eliza Enman-McDaniel, 25, who is also from the Beaches (or the Beach, depending on who you ask) and shares Miller’s childhood nostalgia for the neighbourhood.
“I used to be really into Pokemon cards,” Enman-McDaniel recalls. “I bought lots of Pokemon cards at Pro League Sports (in the Beaches) with my allowance. I’d ride my bike down to the bottom of Kenilworth at Woodbine Beach, where the hockey arena-slash-ice rink is. I have lots of happy memories growing up there.”
The Beaches started out in 2007 as a tween pop punk band named Done with Dolls, comprised of Miller on lead vocals and bass guitar, her sister Kylie on guitar and their childhood friend, Enman-McDaniel, as drummer. In 2013, keyboardist Leandra Earl joined and they reformed as the Beaches, evolving their sound to 1970s guitar rock. The band signed with Universal Records in 2016 and they’ve since toured with Death from Above and opened for the Rolling Stones.
The Beaches have released four EPs and one full-length album. They’re still based in Toronto. And if you listen carefully to their latest EP, “Future Lovers,” you might recognize a few names and locations in their home neighbourhood and Toronto at large.
“It’s more about our experiences as young adults and Toronto in general, going out to different bars,” says Kylie Miller, 23. “We do name drop a couple places, like the Bovine Sex Club (on Queen Street West). And there is one line in ‘Blow Up’ talking about the Summerville Pool (at Ashbridge’s Bay).”
“Being from this area, we do pick landmarks and tend to reference those more in our songs just because we grew up here and we’re familiar with them,” Kylie Miller explains. “It’s more of a subconscious thing. I didn’t even realize that we did it so much.”
Their fondness for the neighbourhood is what inspired the band’s name, but being so on-the-nose wasn’t their original intention.
“We thought it would be fun to tie in the Beaches into the name,” says Jordan Miller. “But every other beaches-y name was taken — there was Dead Beaches, Skeleton Beaches, Lonely Beaches. The only one that wasn’t was the Beaches.”
While the Beaches, the neighbourhood, has undergone its fair share of changes since the Millers and Enman-McDaniel grew up here as kids, they’re still grateful for a few longstanding local haunts.
“There’s a dive bar called Captain Jack,” Kylie Miller says. “We’ve met some characters there. It’s pirate-themed.”
Jordan Miller recalls her first time going to Captain Jack in her early 20s with Kylie.
“It was fully packed,” she recalls. “There’s this one table that is reserved for a deceased patron, but we didn’t know that. So we sat down (at the table) and the bartender said ‘you guys can either get up and go or you can buy a drink for the ghost that’s currently sitting there.’ So we bought the ghost a drink.”
While keyboardist Earl, 26, grew up in Little Italy, she considers the Beaches her second home. Earl’s neighbourhood go-to is the pub Murphy’s Law.
“I’ve cried to each and every one of you on one of their patios,” she says to her bandmates. “It was me having drama with whatever boy was in my life and crying about it. It’s far enough from my area where I’m like ‘I can go here and cry and nobody will know me.’”
‘‘ Being from this area, we do pick landmarks and tend to reference those more in our songs just because we grew up here and we’re familiar with them.” KYLIE MILLER
The Beaches (the band) recommends their top spots in the Beaches (the neighbourhood)
Favourite restaurant XOLA, 2222 Queen St. E.
“It’s incredible authentic Mexican food. I would recommend the guacamole with crickets on top. It’s my favourite thing to get there,” says Jordan Miller, singer and bass guitarist.
Favourite date spot A stroll along the boardwalk
“I had a really long date, like four hours, where we just walked along the boardwalk. You can get ice cream and pick up some coffee while walking along the beach. It’s really beautiful,” says Leandra Earl, keyboardist.
Favourite coffee shop Bud’s Coffee, 1966 Queen St. E.
“If I’m not going to Timmy’s, that’s my fancy-treat coffee,” says Kylie Miller, guitarist.
Favourite sports shop Pro League Sports, 1957 Queen St. E.
“Tex is the owner. If you need a jersey, if you need a sports ball, he’s your guy,” says Eliza Enman-McDaniel, drummer.
Favourite boutique Mourguet Jewellery, 1918 Queen St. E.
“The guys who work there are the nicest artisans. They’ll make you whatever custom piece you want,” says Kylie Miller, guitarist.