Photo Credit: Instagram
Words by Sam Walker-Smart
Launching a band in 2024 comes with many challenges. Some are as old as time, while others stem from our chaotically interconnected world. In a music industry characterized by perpetual change, one factor reigns supreme: the power of a great tune. When CONE first heard “True Colors,” the debut single from New Jersey five-piece Blush Boy, we were instantly captivated with the group’s youthful edge and understated musical maturity. Eager to learn more, we sat down with four of the band members to discuss their first single releases, the importance of band identity, and their excitement about future musical evolution.
The band formed less than a year ago, with origins that are both typical and rooted in a very unique shared experience. “We were both in a production of School of Rock on Broadway,” Gavin tells CONE, gesturing towards producer and guitarist Luke Bonenfant. “It wasn’t until about a year and some change ago that we reconnected through a mutual friend we had known from that show. Since that production, Luke has produced a bunch of other things.”
Meanwhile, Gavin had been busy pursuing his musical ambitions, initially forming a band with his old high school friend Jake Radano (drums). More recently, Gavin joined forces with fellow MGSA students— Sid Suppiah (bass) and Kenna Heim (vocals)—to establish Blush Boy. The band’s journey has been a slow burn, but deliberate, which has helped them approach their sound more diplomatically.
As music students, their influences span a wide range, but there are shared cornerstones that charge their sound with propulsive energy. Jake does his best to break down their tastes, saying, “We have a love for that pop punk stuff that came out in the early 2000s. So that’s kind of where we all meet up.” He continues, “But I look at it like we all have a Venn diagram of our own, a little bubble of what we listen to. We all have our own unique tastes, then we meet at this new indie scene. Like Sid, he’s a big jazz cat. Then Luke likes everything. I feel like I can name any artist, and Luke will know them. Gavin, he loves his Broadway music, math rock, and all that.”
Just a few months since their debut shows in New Jersey, Blush Boy is making significant strides. They’ve already released two singles—the anthemic “True Colors”and its moody counterpart “The Ships”—and have launched their first line of t-shirt designs. An extended EP is also set to drop in a matter of weeks. Their focused effort not only reflects Gavin and Jake’s longstanding ambition to build a group worthy for their songs but also showcases a young band that understands the struggles of breaking through in today’s digital landscape.
“In the beginning, I felt like Blush Boy was this hodgepodge of different ideas and influences. Now we’re really starting to streamline it into something that is recognizable,” Gavin tells CONE. He highlights the band’s adoption of a new color scheme—pink and blue—as a prime example of their transformation towards establishing a cohesive brand identity. This new color scheme has been prominently featured on their last two single covers as well as on their t-shirts and merch. “I remember specifically saying to the guys, we have to think about what our brand is,” Gavin continues. “I’m kind of an over-analytical thinker. I sat down with everybody and had this conversation. We just concluded what we wanted to be as a band. We wanted to be a band that people connected to, not just like another one of those TikTok trend people.”
With just two songs released, it’s clear that Blush Boy is prioritizing emotional songwriting over performative content. Anchored by Sid’s agile basslines and complemented by Kenna’s soaring vocals, the band’s pop-punk heart is woven with nuanced textures, creating a sound that deepens each listen. Similar to how Paramore evokes teenage nostalgia, there’s also complexity ready to be unpacked and appreciated with Blush Boy. Even the song titles carry significance as Gavin explains how “The Ships” is a metaphor for the band’s journey.
“Being a musician is not a steady job. If you work for a label maybe it could be, but the ‘gigging musician’ is not an easy life. So, we wanted to make a song about our decision to pursue something we were passionate about rather than something about being another cog in the system,” Gavin explains of the symbolism behind “The Ships.” “So the main lyric, ‘Burn the ships,’ is in reference to something that our friends, sisters, fiancee told us once. He said, ‘You got to burn your ships, man.’ We’re like, ‘What does that mean?’ It was in reference to the Spanish Conquerors. When they landed on the shores of what they thought was the West Indies, the leader told all his men to burn the ships so they couldn’t turn back. We thought that was really poetic. So we were like, ‘We just got to burn our ships.”
With about seven songs in the vault, the band aims to complete an album by summer 2025. A subsequent tour supporting a larger group is also on their wishlist. When asked to relate their current sound to a movie genre, their response is immediate, acknowledging their music’s cinematic quality. “Coming of age,” replies Luke instantly. Sid goes deeper: “Coming into your own skin, finding who you are, realizing that the people you’re surrounded by aren’t who you thought they were, and knowing who you want to be. There are so many facets to our music, and hopefully, the movie’s going to continue to progress, and there’ll be sequels.”
“Maybe we get to three trilogies, Star Wars-level stuff,” laughs Gavin. Here’s hoping…well, without the Jar Jar Binks element.