Dani Miller's mom was listening to X while she was born, which might explain a lot about where she pulls her all-encompassing sense of creativity. It simply could not explain everything, though, because Surfbort's third studio album Reality Star is a beautiful aesthetic whirlwind, brimming with theme and color and life.
Speaking to Dani, it was immediately clear that she's a bucket of inspiration, channeling her sense of optimism into the album, a project that she called her "heart and soul".
"I was born and then inspired," she explained to me as we spoke on a semi-impromptu phone call at 10 am on a Saturday, the day after her band's album release. It could be a game show, or a grilled cheese, or any spur-of-the-moment thought that made it into a song or video. Those are the things that built Surfbort's newest evolution, one that continues to encourage self-expression and resistance, with an emphasis on celebrating joy, where it can be found. It's all in true punk fashion.
Dani's energy and ideas on their own could have been enough to make an album, but the truly inspirational part was her excitement about the collaborative aspects from her band and team, mentioning names of people who contributed on each individual thing that resulted in the final record. Because of the multitude of minds that fused on Reality Star, it became a tangible recreation of years of random inspiration, synergy, and fun. We could always use some more of that.
Was Reality Star a chance for you to really lean into the wildness of Surfbort?
Totally. We got to be extra weird in this album. I got a better hold on my mental health, and it left more room for art. For me, the ultimate aesthetic design in life is John Waters, or David Lynch, but then we all bring our unique twist. I bring my dork-rock to the mix too.
If a younger you saw the art you're making now, what would she think?
I would be so freakin' happy. When I was younger, I had a band called The Angels, and a band called The Spikers, where I would wear all spikes and sing Fall Out Boy. That version of me would be so happy that I'm making art and being a freak and being myself. It's so rewarding. I didn't think this would be the kind of art I would make, and I sometimes wish I could sing better or had a more polished vibe, but we all only know how to make the art we know how to make. That's why I'm not a hater of anyone's art. Everyone just shows up as they are, and it rules, you know?
So, just showing up and making art has always been part of your process?
Yeah, it felt really natural making the record, and I didn't do that many takes. It was just: here are the words that I came up with in my head in a couple of minutes…so here you go!
There were a lot of favorites I had off the album, but I want to hear about your process behind "Rebel".
We made "Rebel" with Linda Perry. She sent over a voice memo. It's epic. That's one where I'm like, dude, if you're feeling crazy, or if you're in that state of "I wanna break free, I don't want to follow whatever everyone else is telling me to think or to do." Linda is such a freakin' G, she's so talented. It was great doing a song on the album with her.
Do you have a favorite track?
I love "Notorious Brat" and "Hot Chicks Cold Beer," but I think my favorite is "Jessica's Changed." My parents called me, and they said,"We love your album, we played it multiple times front to back," and I was like, "thanks guys," and my mom said, "I love 'Shannon's Changed'." But I don't know, this is like, my heart and soul from my whole existence and work from the past five years. I just love it all.
There was also "Hot Dog," which was so absurd and sounded totally different from past Surfbort. What inspired this new direction?
I think it's not like a fully new direction, but I was like wait, this record needs a dance song, that's weird. We just love the B-52s and strange things. My friend is this producer I call "the Trashman," and he made it with his friend Chris Mendez, and sent it to me. I thought it was so weird and fun, and it wasn't even for Surfbort but I thought that the band needs more weird stuff. Also, I originally wrote really serious words to it, but they were way too serious. It was kind of a girl power anthem…which rules…but I didn't feel like being so serious. I think the best thing for empowerment is joy and weirdness and having a blast. So I decided to just say random stuff that was coming to my brain and go for it.
Your music videos also have that weird energy. How was it to collaborate with Pooneh Ghana?
Pooneh Ghana is so talented, and she really made the visuals for this album so awesome. She's a part of TODO records, too, so it's such a fun group to work with. For the "Hot Dog" music video, I just called all my friends in LA, and was like, "let's all hang out and have a hot dog party." I let everyone choose the weird stuff they wanted to do. Hattie was a duck, and my friend Bella was like, "I wanna be hot," and I was like, "You are hot. Can you walk a hot dog?"
So a lot of that video was just you being creative in the moment, too.
We went off of Pooneh's ideas and my ideas, same with the video for "Jessica's Changed" and "Lucky." For this video we had initial solid ideas, and we planned it all, but of course the day of we just go with the flow. Pooneh was the main director, holding the lights and the camera…she does it all. But the day of [the "Jessica's Changed" video], we were like, "wait, the duck couldn't make it to the video shoot, do you have a chicken suit? Who wants to be the chicken?" And Hatti Rees, who is also the duck in Hot Dog was also the pickle in "Lucky." She's one of my best friends, and she just kept showing up and being these awesome characters. It really made the album come alive.
Are there any unexpected inspirations from the past that you can hear in this album?
My mom gave birth to me while listening to X and The Knitters. She also blasted No Doubt a bunch. I saw Garbage and No Doubt when I was super little, and Destiny's Child was one of my first shows, and The Go-Go's. I guess my inspiration is just reacting to the world, and things collect. If you're an artist and you're feeling like you're in a rut, or writer's block, or whatever, I don't even believe in that anymore. Even just eating grilled cheese and watching a game show, you're gonna collect stuff for your work. I feel like everything in life is collecting towards songs. The world is so fucked up, I just rhyme about weird shit.
Who do you hope to reach with this record?
It's for everyone, your grandma, your aunt, your uncle, your best friend…whatever. You can send "Jessica's Changed" to your ex. Just kidding. I think because it brought me out of such a funk and blasted me into happiness, I hope it reaches people who are hopeless or just bummed about life, or the world, and I hope that the album will push them through to a better time. That's what I do personally, with my art. We started the album with "Lucky" because I wrote it really depressed. I was like, "Wait, what's the opposite of this vibe?" I hope that that's what it does for other people, too. I just hope it's fun for everyone and makes them party, dance, and have fun.
What food did you eat the most while creating this project?
Now I look at hot dogs differently because I OD'ed on hotdogs. But also so much American cheese. I married a pickle in the "Lucky" video. The pickle ate the pickle. And we ate at Wingstop after the chicken video. We're fucked up.
If you're looking for a chance to get your dork-rock on, Reality Star is available for streaming on all platforms. If you're not looking to get your dork-rock on…why not?
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Photo: Raz Azraai
