Pom Pom Squad

R5 Productions

Pom Pom Squad w/ Chloe Lilac at PhilaMOCA

PhilaMOCA

Chloe Lilac

<h1><a href="https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/3682749/pom-pom-squadwith-chloe-lilac-philadelphia-philamoca" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">TICKETS NOW ON SALE VIA OUR BRAND NEW ETIX SITE - CLICK HERE TO BUY</a></h1><h1></h1><h1>Pom Pom Squad</h1><p>When Pom Pom Squad’s Mia Berrin was 21 years old, she fell in love. Sure, she’d been in love before, but this time, something was different: “It just felt like a switch had flipped inside my head,” she says. “I realized I had been living a life that was not my own, watching myself from the outside.” As a kid who bounced from town to town growing up, and as a person of color in predominantly white spaces, Berrin had become accustomed to maintaining a constant awareness of how others perceived her—a “split-brain mentality” that she adopted as a necessary means of survival. But now, tumbling through her first queer romance—and her first queer heartbreak—some of that self-separateness began to mend: “Suddenly,” she says, “I was in a body that was mine.”</p><p>Of course, displacement can start to feel like a life sentence when even the pop culture you’re trying to escape into doesn’t feel like home. “As a teenager, I was always looking to see myself represented,” Berrin says, “but I never really saw a path drawn out for someone who looked like me.” So she held tight to the glimpses of herself she could catch—from Death Cab For Cutie to Sade; from the camp and synth-pop of Heathers to the pastels and gloomy mellotron of The Virgin Suicides; from John Waters’s take on suburbia to David Lynch’s. “I absorbed everything I could and tried to make a collage that could incorporate every piece of me,” she says—and in the process, she gained a particular appreciation for the heady mix of music and visuals, how a great song could become even greater when woven into an artist’s overall aesthetic. But it wasn’t until Berrin got into punk and grunge—artists like Courtney Love and Kathleen Hanna, who were both unapologetically outspoken and unapologetically femme—that she knew she had to start a band.</p><p>Enter Pom Pom Squad. Berrin first played under the moniker in 2015 after moving to New York to study acting at NYU—though she soon transferred to the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music—and it was at those early gigs that she linked up with Shelby Keller (drums), Mari Alé Figeman (bass), and Alex Mercuri (guitar). The group cut their teeth playing packed Brooklyn apartments, but they quickly graduated to packed Brooklyn venues alongside artists like Soccer Mommy, Adult Mom, and Pronoun. Following the release of their sophomore EP Ow, Pom Pom Squad was looking at a packed 2020, with shows at SXSW and opening for The Front Bottoms—but of course, plans changed. </p><p>Lost in the free-fall of isolation, Berrin found herself returning to classic, familiar sounds: jazz vocalists like Billie Holiday, the warm tones of MoTown. “It was comforting, listening to music that’s so evocative and cinematic,” she says. “It takes you out of the world for a minute.” At the same time, though, she was confronted daily with the world’s stark reality as protests erupted against police brutality and anti-black racism following the murder of George Floyd. “[The protests] brought to the surface these feelings I’d been stewing on for a long time,” she says, “thinking about the history of American popular music, the way that black artists are constantly erased from the music they pioneered. How rock was invented by a black queer woman—Sister Rosetta Tharpe—but I grew up feeling like I was odd for loving guitar-based music.” </p><p>The result of this stymying, galvanizing period—of escaping to come back—is Death of a Cheerleader. Produced Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties and co-produced by Berrin, the album moves through moods like a camera panning across an expertly collaged bedroom wall: a Ronettes drum beat here (“Head Cheerleader”), a Doris Day nod there (“This Couldn’t Happen”), the impossible romance of swelling strings (“Crying”) collapsing into guitar thrash (“Drunk Voicemail”). Here, too, are all the overlapping, contradictory tenets of 21st-century young womanhood—the carnality and the vulnerability, the sugar and the defiance. On “Head Cheerleader,” antsy and anthemic, Berrin promises us that “my worst decisions are the ones I like the best” before she heads under the bleachers, even as she acknowledges moments later that “my feelings always make a fucking fool of me”; on the breathless, punky “Lux” (named for the ​Virgin Suicides heroine, of course), she boasts feeling “naked without taking off any of my clothes,” and it’s as much a come-on as it is an admission of terrifying exposure, couched in Berrin’s dare-laden drawl. </p><p>This tension—between baring oneself and crafting delicious, tongue-in-cheek art—is what drives so much of the foundational queer media to which Death of a Cheerleader pays homage (not in the least its film namesake, But I’m a Cheerleader). On “Second That,” a tumbling acoustic waltz built around a Smokey Robinson quote, Berrin steps out for a moment from behind the elaborate curtain of references she’s constructed with an admission—“I’m sad, I’m just fucking sad,” her voice on the edge of breaking—but then, moments later, she’s back in the anti-bourgeoisie upswing of “Cake,” playfully demanding her fair share. It’s a reminder of the self-affirming power of artifice, of glam, lipstick drawn on in blood. With Death of a Cheerleader, Pom Pom Squad offer a fresh and decidedly queer take on picking up the pieces—from heartbreak, from injustice—and creating yourself anew.</p><h1>Chloe Lilac</h1><p>Brooklyn-based artist Chloe Lilac’s sophomore EP, DOUCHEBAG is the culmination of a period of unprecedented growth for the rising artist. It is the result of her hard look inward and is a fearless, anthemic collection of tracks intended to inspire raw strength.</p><p>The EP features string of standout singles that have solidified Chloe's place as a veritable force among rising alt/pop artists. She kicked off 2020 with "HERE'S YOUR SONG," which saw critical love from outlets such as The FADER and UPROXX, who noted the track "shows another side of Lilac — one that’s more introspective." "OBVIOUS" followed, which was praised by MTV News for its "explosive confidence" and sparked Refinery29 to proclaim, "Lilac is so talented that I can barely stand it." Punk-inspired "MODERATION" touched on Chloe's struggle with mental health, a track which PAPER called "instantly anthemic." Last fall, singles "High School" and "Special" both were given Spotify 'New Music Friday' placement and saw critical love from outlets such as Billboard, who called "High School" "an undeniably exuberant affair."</p><p>Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, the now 18-year-old Chloe's humble roots of sneaking out to perform on the streets of NYC by age 13 continue to inspire her artistry. Building her skills as a self-produced songwriter, Chloe began releasing songs in 2017 with her first-ever release, “Reckless," breaking the Top 5 on the U.S. Spotify Viral Chart. Her early songs and live shows saw critical nods from outlets like DIY Magazine, who note Lilac's "knack for an emotional gut-punch." Chloe toured extensively in 2019 including direct support runs with mxmtoon and Tessa Violet as well as headline dates in NYC and L.A. for Neon Gold Records' 'Popshop' showcases. Chloe also performed at SXSW 2019 and has toured with other rising artists including Charlotte Lawrence, Sasha Sloan, and Rejjie Snow. Chloe documented her fall 2019 L.A. headline trip in an exclusive with Flaunt.</p><p>Early 2019 debut EP, Manic Pixie Dream, kickstarted a slew of critical acclaim that has secured Chloe Lilac a well-deserved spot as a top rising artist. PAPER declared, "she's shattering perceptions of damsels in distress simply by being vulnerable. But there's strength in her vulnerability," while Refinery29 included Chloe among their 2019 “Artists To Watch.” Chloe has already enjoyed 20 million+ Spotify streams, a feat first kicked off by the 2018 release of "Stolen Liquor" which hit #1 on Hype Machine and sparked NYLON to claim the track "will have you reminiscing about those summer nights in high school." Single "Summer" has attained 11 million+ Spotify streams alone and saw critical support from Ladygunn.</p><p>Amidst the lingering uncertainty that has shadowed much of 2020, Chloe Lilac has turned obstacle into opportunity, tapping into her DIY roots to self-direct and self-shoot two official videos in her Brooklyn home while in quarantine and connecting consistently with her fans on IG Live. Chloe has also asserted herself a bold activist for social causes. From taking a stand for LGBTQ rights during Pride Month (see partnerships with Pride.com and The Trevor Project) to joining the fight for racial justice ( check out here &amp; here), Chloe has become a beacon of strength and a model for young women and artists as they navigate the struggle of a living through a global pandemic and a precarious future.</p>

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Pom Pom Squad

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