For fans of the MySpace era including, but not limited to: The Medic Droid, Metro Station, 3!OH3, Blood On The Dancefloor, Cute Is What We Aim For, Hellogoodbye, Kreayshawn, Breathe Carolina, Cobra Starship, Krewella and beyond.
Born from the wild imaginations of best friends Tyler Nichols and Alex Pombar, MOVIESTARZ is what happens when MySpace dreams grow up — but never lose their spark. The California-based duo have been crafting soundscapes together since 2006, including millions of plays on actual MySpace. Pulling inspiration from EDM, hyperpop, and early-2000s pop-rock, Tyler and Alex have created musical time machine with nostalgic flux.
MOVIESTARZ are stepping into a modern era with the release of their debut album, FANTASY > REALITY, out November 7th. The duo’s latest evolution just might be their boldest yet. Together with producer The Fund, Tyler and Alex have crafted 12 tracks that push pop’s limits while building an entire aesthetic universe around their creation. Expect glitter, grunge, and cyber vibes all wrapped up in one — this record will have you running the Y2k nostalgia marathon.
Their debut single “Club Punk” introduced the band’s ethos in full technicolor — break the rules, blur the genres, make some noise, and have fun doing it. It’s an explosion of sound that captures a mashup of punk attitude, electronic polish, and pop euphoria. This song is a reflection of certain SoCal “types” — with lyrical references like “palm trees on fire, beach vampire, take your cameras out ’cause I’m tired, credit card maxed out, foreign car crashed out, seeing stars before I get knocked out” — and yes, it’s the nepo type. A guilty pleasure song without a doubt.
Then there’s “Records on Repeat” — a related-themed track born from guitar pedal chaos with its catchy and loud, satirical edge that cuts deep into the modern obsession with celebrity culture. Beneath the glossy production lies a hard truth millions of people battle every day: your idols don’t care about you, but you’ll still love and support them anyway.
With their latest drop today, MOVIESTARZ dials into pure early-2000s bliss on their new single “1M Frequencies,” featuring Cali Rodi. The track is a neon-tinted fusion of gentle pop-punk, emo soul, and electronic shimmer — like the lovechild of Avril Lavigne, The Medic Droid (fer sure), Hellogoodbye, and Breathe Carolina. Cali’s vocals bring a touch of Avril or Hayley [Williams] energy, effortlessly weaving through an upbeat dance groove that is the ultimate throwback, feeling equally futuristic at the same time. “1M Frequencies” encapsulates MOVIESTARZ at their best — blending sentiment, sparkle, and synths into something that just hits, and steps away [lyrically] from the theme of prior released singles.
I’m so excited to be a part of “1M Frequencies!” I was instantly drawn to the song the moment I heard it, with the way it combines both pop punk and electronic elements to create a synergy that I personally haven’t really heard before. I grew up listening to artists like blink-182, Avril Lavigne, and 3OH!3 so it was fun to channel my teenage self in these vocals,” — Cali Rodi
However, MOVIESTARZ’s debut release isn’t just about the music — naturally, it is set to be a whole experience. Alongside the album comes a limited merch drop from their clothing brand Newport Bleach. The label is fresh off a collaboration with Heidi Montag (yes, that Heidi Montag) that both she and Spencer [Pratt], have been rocking for some time now, along with fans from around the world. A limited vinyl release of ‘FANTASY > REALITY’ will also be available. For anyone who’s ever wanted to blur the line between art, fashion, fantasy and spent countless hours exploring the depths of MySpace, MOVIESTARZ is not one to miss.
We recently spoke with Tyler about all things MOVIESTARZ — here’s what he had to say on the new single, upcoming record and everything in between:
We heard there is a fun story of how you and Alex met many years ago, but would love to hear it from your perspective!
Yes! For anyone reading, you never know who you may meet in line at a show; they could be your best friend and creative partner for the next 20 years. We met in line at a +44 show (Mark and Travis from Blink-182’s 2006 side project). We realized we lived a few blocks from each other and Alex just immediately got adopted into our friend group — we started playing music together and realized how many other things we had in common from fashion, art, design we have similar taste it makes being creative together in any facet so easy.
Listening to your music for the first time, my immediate reaction was: “This is so MySpace.” Is there a particular genre or group of artists who have inspired your music and/or helped fuel your vibe as a band?
Haha I love that, we are Myspace kids so I take that as a huge compliment. The biggest ones that immediately come to mind would be especially in the MySpace vein Cobra Starship for sure we both LOVE them, Sleigh Bells, The 1975, Charli XCX, Bear Hands. Some newer artists; Mallrat, Benee, the BLSSM, UPSAHL. They all bend genres in such a fun way of pop/dance/electronic/alt whatever you want to call it, that was such a goal of ours to show everyone we can live in different worlds and still have it all make sense. I didn’t want this to be pigeon held as a “pop punk” thing or whatever.
Piggybacking off MySpace vibes, I’m loving the Y2K aesthetic you have going on, especially with your albums/single artwork, clothing line and the recent merch you did for Heidi Montag as well as your recent band merch (blinged hat is amazing along with the puff-paint vibe shirt!) Can you tell us about your clothing brand and how that came to be and what you’re currently working on?
Thank you so much, we were so intentional with the art around this project. When we launched our brand Newport Bleach, it was always to make our favorite bands/artists merch…better, but the other piece of it was to collab with artists we love (i.e. Emma Atterbury, Ash Price, Nelson Nokela).
Bill Green (@handsoutofpockets) is a UK based artist Alex and I both love. He is so, so, so talented and has helped immensely bringing the “Moviestarz vibe” to life. He’s created a stop motion video for every song, so the whole record will have visual movie to it. We are approaching this whole thing as a big art project.
I can’t wait for the whole album to be out, it has such a rad flow and we are so proud of it.
What’s something from the Y2K era that you wish you could bring back?
Speaking of MySpace could you imagine the drama if this generation had to pick a Top 8? Would be so fun. Anyways, I think buying CDs in-store is such a pure experience I wish still existed in the way it did back then. Sidekicks, CD players, not having everyones iPhone up filming a show (I’m just as guilty of it).
You’ve got a new single coming out October 10th with Cali Rodi, can we expect your signature Moviestarz sound?
Yes we do! The music of this song (“1.M FREQUENCIES”) was inspired solely by a live performance I saw the 1975 do of “Milk.” I came to the studio and showed Alex the video and we just banged out the music so quick and we both just loved it, felt like we unlocked a new level. We had the demo of the instrumental of this one named MILKY_v1 which I probably relistened to 5,000 times.
Cali is so awesome — she absolutely killed it on this record. It was such a goal of mine to have a couple features with friends/artists we love and I’m so grateful and honored Cali agreed to this one. It’s absolutely one of the strongest points of the album too and cannot wait to finally have it out there.
We’re really looking forward to hearing the upcoming album in full, given that “Records On Repeat” has been on rotation here since listening! Can you give us any sneak peeks into some of the tracks on this record? Do you have any personal favorites that stand out?
I love that you dig “Records on Repeat,” that one is so fun. “On Mute” is the most unique one and is one of my personal favorites. It’s definitely more electronic leaning and the back half of that song goes into this whole dance piece that I just fucking love so much — so proud of that one. “EIAEID” is another I cannot wait to have out there. It’s the other feature on the album with our friend Darrian Gerard. I love her voice, she should be huge any day now and completely honored to have her a part of this.
FANTASY > REALITY is out November 7th.
Follow MOVIESTARZ:
https://www.instagram.com/moviestarzzzz
https://www.tiktok.com/@moviestarzzzz