Last week, Trousdale, the Los Angeles harmonic trio released their sophomore album Growing Pains via Independent Co. It’s a beautiful album, released by the trio made up of Quinn D’Andrea, Georgia Greene, and Lauren Jones, that details the ache of growing through change. A seemingly landmark release in their career, we spoke to the band to find out about their early days, and what got them to this point.
The first song we ever wrote was a song called ‘Do Re Mi’, which was actually recorded and released years later. The three of us met during our freshman year of college in 2014 and were fast friends – we had a songwriting class assignment to co-write a song and we ended up writing ‘Do Re Mi’. We performed it in front of the class a cappella, tapping our legs for rhythm and singing in three-part harmony. Something about our voices and ideas coming together felt so special, like we had tapped into something that was already waiting for us. To this day, “Do Re Mi” holds a really special place in our hearts because it represents the very beginning.
Our first live performance, if memory serves, was at a college festival. We were squeezed onto a tiny side stage, playing between bigger acts, but we treated it like the main event. From day one, we’ve always wanted people – no matter the venue – to feel like they’re experiencing something big. That performance took place in a basement bar/venue on our USC (University of Southern California) campus, and even though the setup was bare bones, the energy was unforgettable. It was one of the first moments we realized we had something that could truly connect with an audience.
First concert:
Quinn: My first concert was Britney Spears in like 2001 or 02.
Georgia: My parents took me to see Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne.
Lauren: Jonas Brothers at DTE in Detroit.
Our first official festival was Sound on Sound in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and it remains one of our favorite shows ever. Not only did we get to share a stage with some of our all-time favorite artists, but it was also our first real taste of what it’s like to perform on a huge stage in a full-scale festival setting. It was absolutely a pinch-me moment, and we’re still so grateful that it was our introduction to the festival world!
Our first headlining show was at Molly Malone’s, an Irish pub in LA, around 2015 or 2016. We were still in college, wide-eyed and saying yes to every opportunity that came our way. We definitely fell into those classic “pay-to-play” situations back then, doing everything we could to get our friends, parents, and neighbors to show up just so we could break even. But it was worth it. We took a picture in front of the marquee that night, with “Trousdale” lit up in big letters, and it felt like the first time we were doing this for real.
After finishing school and spending a little time apart post-grad, we regrouped and started taking things more seriously. Our (second) first headlining show was at The Echo in LA, fresh out of the pandemic, and it was a whole different experience. For the first time, people were singing our lyrics back to us. It was the first time we’d performed live after releasing our music into the world, and it felt like a second beginning… one that confirmed this was exactly what we were meant to be doing.
Growing Pains by Trousdale is out now.
