Strawberry Girls is an American rock band from

Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish for "Salt Marsh or Salt Flats") is a city in California and the county seat of Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area ...

, formed in 2011. The band is currently composed of guitarist Zac Garren, drummer Ben Rosett, and bassist Ian Jennings. All three members are multi-instrumentalists and record producers.

History

2010–13: Formation, ''Italian Ghosts'', and debut album

Strawberry Girls formed shortly after guitarist Zachary Garren departed from post-hardcore band

Dance Gavin Dance Dance Gavin Dance is an American rock band from Sacramento, California, formed in 2005. The band currently consists of vocalists Jon Mess and Tilian Pearson, lead guitarist Will Swan, rhythm guitarist Andrew Wells, and drummer Matthew Mingus. T ...

in February 2010. Garren then became acquainted with drummer Ben Rosett (formerly of The Trees) and subsequently began writing and recording music as Strawberry Girls. Soon after their first show as a duo, bassist Ian Jennings (also from The Trees) was added to complete the lineup. Garren spoke about the meaning behind the name Strawberry Girls in an interview with their label Tragic Hero Records. The name originally derives from a verse in the 1980 song "Christine" by English

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

band

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. Q (maga ...

. The band released their debut EP (extended play) album ''Italian Ghosts'' on October 28, 2011 independently. On June 25, 2012, the group released a cover of

Carly Rae Jepsen Carly Rae Jepsen (born November 21, 1985) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. After studying musical theatre for most of her school life and while in university, Jepsen garnered mainstream attention after placing third on the fifth season of ...

's single "

Call Me Maybe "Call Me Maybe" is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen for her EP ''Curiosity'' (2012) and later appeared on her second studio album and first international album ''Kiss'' (2012). The song was written by Jepsen and T ...

" which was reviewed as "dark and sexy" by The Air Space. The group also released a cover of

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...

's single " Swimming Pools (Drank)" on December 2, 2012. The band recorded their debut studio album, ''French Ghetto'', at Spirit Vision Studios in

Carmel, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its natural scenery and ric ...

and was later released on April 20, 2013 to

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

. The album was later re-released through Tragic Hero Records on September 20, 2013. ''French Ghetto'' features guest appearances from Kurt Travis of

A Lot Like Birds A Lot Like Birds was an American post-hardcore band formed in Sacramento, California. The band released four albums and received considerable media attention from music sites. Since the release of 2011's ''Conversation Piece'', A Lot Like Birds ...

(formerly of Dance Gavin Dance), Shane Smit of

Overtone An overtone is any resonant frequency above the fundamental frequency of a sound. (An overtone may or may not be a harmonic) In other words, overtones are all pitches higher than the lowest pitch within an individual sound; the fundamental i ...

, Nic Newsham of Gatsby's American Dream, Gavin Mulkey, and Kathleen Delano. Garren spoke about the guest vocalists and musicians on ''French Ghetto,'' stating:

2013–15: ''American Graffiti''

In June 2013, the band signed a recording contract with record label Tragic Hero Records. The band toured as a supporting act on the Into Orbit Tour with headliner Stolas from August 14 to September 17, 2013. Garren went into the studio with Kurt Travis and wrote and recorded guitar for Kurt's debut full-length studio album, ''

Everything Is Beautiful "Everything Is Beautiful" is a song written, composed, and performed by Ray Stevens. It has appeared on many of Stevens's albums, including one named after the song, and has become a pop standard and common in religious performances. The childre ...

'', which was released on May 14, 2014. In support of the album, Garren toured with Travis from May 14 to June 7, 2014 with supporting acts Hotel Books and So Much Light in North America. The band released their sophomore studio album, ''American Graffiti'', on November 27, 2015 through Tragic Hero Records. Track 5 from American Graffiti, "Simon Vandetta", is named after the highest donor to their IndieGogo campaign to get a tour van, who is also the artist that did the cover art for Stolas release "Catalyst" Strawberry Girls toured as an opening act on

's 10 Year Anniversary Tour with

, Slaves, and Dayshell from November 14 to December 18, 2015.

2016–present: ''Italian Ghosts'' remake and ''Tasmanian Glow''

The group toured as support on the Super Chon Bros Tour with CHON and Polyphia from March 11 to April 15, 2016. On April 18, 2016, the band released their live studio EP, ''Strawberry Girls on Audiotree Live''. In June 2016, the band revealed that they would be releasing a reimagined album of their debut EP, ''Italian Ghosts''. They completely re-recorded the EP and added new material and guest vocalists including former collaborators Nic Newsham (Gatsbys American Dream) and Joey Lancaster (Belle Noire), turning it into a full length, which released in February 2017, once again self-recorded at Spirit Vision Studios. On May 31, 2017, Kurt Travis released the single "No Apologies", featuring Strawberry Girls, which was recorded and produced by Ben Rosett at Spirit Vision Studios. On June 11, 2017, Houston rapper, Cee-Won X performed with Strawberry Girls during their Houston tour date. This is notable for being the first and only time that the band has performed or collaborated with a rap/hip hop artist in any capacity. The band released ''Tasmanian Glow'', their fourth studio album, in October 2019.

Musical style

Strawberry Girls' music style has been described as

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

, and

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has bee ...

Achievements

The band's second studio album ''American Graffiti'' (2015) was ranked at No. 13 on Fecking Bahamas' list of the Top 50 Math Albums of 2015. The band featured on two episodes of NBC's ''

Last Call with Carson Daly ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with '' ...

,'' in 2016 and 2017.

Members

Current * Zachary Garren - guitar, bass, keyboards, programming, glockenspiel (2011-present) * Ben Rosett - drums, percussion, bass, guitar, keys, recording, mixing, production (2011-present) * Ian Jennings - bass guitar, keyboards (2011–present) Session * Robert Rosett - saxophone, flute, clarinet (2011–present)

Discography

Studio albums * ''French Ghetto'' (

Tragic Hero A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy. In his ''Poetics'', Aristotle records the descriptions of the tragic hero to the playwright and strictly defines the place that the tragic hero must play and the kind of man he must be. Aristotle ba ...

, 2013) * ''American Graffiti'' (Tragic Hero, 2015) * ''Italian Ghosts'' (Tragic Hero, 2017) * ''Tasmanian Glow'' (Tragic Hero, 2019) * ''Prussian Gloom (2022)'' Extended plays * ''Demos 2011'' (2011) * ''Italian Ghosts'' (2011) * ''Acoustic Ghosts'' (2012) * ''Strawberry Girls on Audiotree Live - EP'' (2016)

References

{{Authority control Alternative rock groups from California American instrumental musical groups American mathcore musical groups American post-hardcore musical groups Musical groups established in 2010 American musical trios Progressive rock musical groups from California Tragic Hero Records artists 2010 establishments in California