Interview with GIRLI

When girli kicked off her North American tour behind it’s just my opinion, she went back to Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn, the same room where she played her first ever US show. That first time, it was just her and a backing vocalist singing to a track. This time she had a full band behind her, guitarist Casey and drummer Chloe included, and a much louder version of herself to bring to that stage.

it’s just my opinion, her third studio album, came out May 8 via Believe Music. It’s the sound of an artist trading gloss for grit: two of its tracks, “Slap On The Wrist” and “Squirm,” carry live drums for the first time in her catalog, tracked with Chloe in the studio instead of built from samples. The album leans further into the rockier, punkier instincts she grew up on, Paramore and emo and Avril Lavigne, and she’s not shy about saying that’s the direction she’s chasing next.

The songs sit with heavy subjects, mental health, harassment, the kind of stuff people write her letters about, but her shows are joyful and chaotic on purpose. “If this can connect with people and make them feel less alone or validated in their feelings, what an incredible success that is,” she said of what a song landing with a fan actually means to her.

She talked through what changed once fans started singing the album back to her on tour, her touring ambitions for 2027, and what’s actually on aux when she’s in the van.

ASH: You kicked off this tour back at Baby’s All Right, the same room where you made your US debut. What did stepping back onto that stage feel like?

TOOMEY: I really wanted to play this album on that stage. I remember loving that venue the first time, and it was special because it was my first ever US show, full stop. The first time I played there it was just me and a backing vocalist singing to track, a much earlier version of myself as a person and an artist. This time I have a full band, a guitarist and a drummer on stage, and I can bring the music to life in a much more engaging, live way. There was something symbolic about going back to that venue.

ASH: it’s just my opinion has been out since May. Now that fans have lived with it and screamed it back at you on tour, has your relationship with the record changed?

TOOMEY: Playing it live and having people literally scream it back to you gives it a new life. Being able to go out a month after it came out and perform in all these different cities was so special, and it was during Pride Month, so it felt like a pride party every night. It’s always interesting, some songs you think might be sleepers or a skip for people end up hitting way harder live than you expected, and some songs you think are bangers don’t get people going the way you imagined. Playing an album live makes it feel completely different.

ASH: “Slap On The Wrist” and “Squirm” came together with the live show in mind. How did writing for that change how you wrote?

TOOMEY: It made me want a rockier sound, a more live sound. Both of those songs have live drums, which is a first for me. I’ve always used electronic or sample drums, so having my drummer Chloe, who plays live with me, actually track those parts in the studio was really fun and pretty novel, because when you’re making mostly pop music you don’t usually get to do that. Those two tracks are also the ones I connect with most sonically on the album. Rocky, punky energy is my favorite, and those are the songs that hit hardest live off the new record.

ASH: A lot of these songs deal with heavier stuff, mental health, harassment, but your shows are so joyful and chaotic. When a fan tells you what a song means to them, how do you hold that?

TOOMEY: I find it such an honor that people are connecting with my music and my storytelling. People write me letters, send me DMs, tell me in person at shows, and I feel so grateful that they’d share that with me. That’s the goal as an artist, certainly my goal: if this can connect with people and make them feel less alone or validated in their feelings or empowered, what an incredible success that is.

ASH: You’ve traded gloss for grit on this record, leaning into live instrumentation and letting go of some of the perfectionism. Is that the direction for new music?

TOOMEY: Yeah. It’s interesting, because when I first got into music as a teenager, Paramore was on rotation, emo bands, indie bands. I loved Avril Lavigne, and Tegan and Sara’s indie record. I went to see My Chemical Romance play London recently and it totally brought me back. I wasn’t as much of an emo pop-punk girl at the time, but my friends were obsessed with Panic! At the Disco, and my roots are definitely rockier, punkier music. I have such an appreciation for pop music and big pop melodies too, but I think the grittier sound is where I’m heading, and my fans are just like, hell yeah, do whatever, sis.

ASH: What’s next? Are you writing, or just chilling for a minute?

TOOMEY: I’m definitely not done touring this record. The US tour inspired me so much that I was like, let’s bring this opinionated pop music to some other places, so I’m doing the Opinionated Tour across Europe and the UK in October and November. In the winter I’m hoping to take it to Australia, and next year I really have my sights set on playing Asia for the first time. I want to play Latin America too. I feel like South American fans are starved and I need to feed them. Creatively, I’m starting to write more music again, but I also just finished writing my first fiction book, a queer coming-of-age story. I love creating in other mediums and giving myself more work to do.

ASH: How do you keep a live show feeling fresh, especially in cities where people are seeing you for the first time?

TOOMEY: The thing I love is having the same musicians who helped create a lot of the album’s parts also play the shows with me, so we get to build the show together. We’ve got these big intros, breakdowns, shaking-ass moments. I’m always trying to connect with the community in different ways when I’m off tour too, my Discord is growing all the time. Lately I’m really into having the craziest merch. This tour I did girly carabiners and slogan t-shirts, and people loved them, so now I’ve ordered a bead bracelet kit and I’m thinking about making bracelets for fans as merch. I love getting creative in every part of it.

ASH: Do you have any pre-show rituals, serious or completely ridiculous?

TOOMEY: It’s funny, on the most recent tour, me, my drummer Chloe and my guitarist Casey tried to put together a cool pre-show ritual, like a dance or a recital, and every single time it ended up different and bad. We’d be like, so what is it tonight, and someone would just say something random, and then it would be showtime. So that wasn’t the best ritual. But in general, I love to summon some kind of historic energy. I’m obsessed with women’s history and queer history, so I try to think about the site we’re playing, all the amazing queer people and women who made history in that venue or that city, and let’s do them proud, let’s summon their energy.

ASH: When you’re in the van going city to city, what’s actually on aux for you?

TOOMEY: We each take turns, four of us on the US tour, five on the upcoming EU tour. We went down a really amazing rabbit hole of divorced dad rock at one point, Keane, The Script, Coldplay, which is completely different to who I’d usually listen to, but for that moment we were just like, let’s do this. Mostly though, in the van I’m listening to podcasts, I’m a big podcast girl, or I’m reading. I’ve gotten a lot more into reading this year and I just demolish books on the road. Right now I’m reading Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies, a fantasy novel. I love fantasy, historical, queer fiction. I ask fans for recommendations a lot, but I picked this one up on tour in a really cool bookshop in Seattle.

Keep up with girli: Instagram // X // Facebook // TikTok // Website