garbagebarbie

BIOGRAPHY

Raucous live performances in overcrowded dive bars and warehouses. Stacks of old tube televisions, trash bags, AI David Letterman. garbagebarbie has carved a space for themselves in Los Angeles’ DIY scene, gaining a reputation for hosting rowdy, and oftentimes free, themed shows.

Combining elements of Britpop, glam, punk, French disco, and garage rock, garbagebarbie’s confrontational racket refuses to be confined by genre. Over the past two years, they have cultivated an immersive and theatrical live show, consistently drawing crowds of over 400 people at LA venues like The Paramount, The Echo, and Non Plus Ultra.

Fletcher Milloy (vocals/guitar), Braedon Huff (guitar/synth), and Anson Knopp (bass) met in Phoenix, where they spent years cutting their teeth playing house shows and local venues in their respective DIY bands. After relocating to Los Angeles, they met drummer Daniel Karasev and bonded over shared influences from Blur and the Rolling Stones to LCD Soundsystem, The 1975, and The Garden. They instantly had a vision of what they wanted their own band to sound like; they wrote and recorded their first EP in two weeks.

“We wanted our music to feel nostalgic; like songs you think you’ve heard before but you’re not quite sure where,” said Huff. Lyrics explore themes of surrealism, a yearning to both change the past and control the future, and reflections on the characters they meet in Los Angeles. Their shared desire to manufacture nostalgia in a world drenched in technology also permeates their visual aesthetic, from hand-drawing androids for their single artwork to AI-rendering garbagebarbie-themed ’90s TV commercials for their shows. They use their love-hate relationship with modern technology to build their visual universe both online and onstage, creating unique visual narratives for every show that complements their performance.

From the start, the band prioritized throwing free shows and “garbageparties” to bring people together, shouldering all costs themselves in an effort to establish community. “Seeing people make friends with each other at our shows and then hang out outside of our shows is just the most rewarding feeling,” said Milloy. “That’s what this music and this band is all about. Play it loud. Use it in your Tinder profile. Don’t be trashy, be a garbagebarbie.”