Atwood Magazine sat down with alternative pop/rock band Kids That Fly ahead of their Chicago debut and discussed everything from musical influences and New England origins to flight suits and more!
Stream: ‘Dead Beat City’ EP – Kids That Fly
“We were knee-deep in the water an hour ago in Lake Michigan playing catch,” bassist Braden Frandino says with a laugh. “We were like, ‘This is the best thing ever.’”
On the corner of Belmont and Southport, the humidity seems to cluster against the pavement. It’s a far cry from the East Coast summers that Kids That Fly are used to, but there’s an inviting sense of familiarity as they prepare to play Chicago for the first time.
“We’ve been waiting for a while to get here,” lead vocalist/guitarist Nick Smeriglio says. With more than 16,000 local listeners on Spotify, it’s no surprise the show sold out.
“It’s the first real one where we don’t have any friends or family coming to the show, since we’re so far from where we are,” Frandino adds. “It’s just natural, organic fans.”
Shortly after 9 p.m., Kids That Fly took the stage in their signature flight suits to a full house — almost entirely made up of fans seeing them for the first time.
Under the guise of a New England fall, Smeriglio, Frandino, and lead guitarist/synth Blake Henry formed Kids That Fly while at the University of Connecticut (UConn) in 2018.
Henry and Frandino met in UConn’s music program. The two met Smeriglio a year later.
Touring drummer Adam Machado joined Kids That Fly through a mutual friend of his and Smeriglio. Machado currently plays in a band called The Freedom Rockets.
“We were friends first,” Frandino says. “That’s what makes it easier.”
Parked outside the stage door, Smeriglio and Henry are loading amps and cords from the back of their tour bus — a white van they rented for the duration of their Midwest tour — with a sense of excited urgency.
It can be daunting to be in a room full of people who’ve been friends for years, but Kids That Fly have an effortlessly inviting atmosphere. After walking for an hour in 80-degree heat, their green room offers genuine laughter and thoughtful conversation — a welcome respite beyond the simple fact that there’s air conditioning.
“We still like to keep that intimate show level of the old college basements we used to play in,” Frandino says.
The Chicago crowd fostered a sense of community among strangers, from parents who discovered the band through radio play to college students who had been following the band since its early days.
“It’s family-friendly too,” Machado says.
“That’s something we try,” Smeriglio adds. “It’s supposed to be an escape from the rest of the day.”
At the end of 2024, the band released their EP Dead Beat City. In the spring of 2025, the record’s title track went viral, introducing an entirely new fan base to Kids That Fly while building on the current interests of their existing fans.
“I think the fact that it’s [“Dead Beat City”] kicked off has given us a little extra momentum,” Smeriglio says. “It’s opened up some other opportunities.” The band recently signed with United Talent Agency.
While Kids That Fly have reached new heights with “Dead Beat City,” it’s obvious they’ve always loved what they do.
In an age where the digital landscape and trends often drive the fate of the music industry, the band has a clear passion for the art of music itself.
“We had ‘Kiss Her You Fool’ that got big years ago, but that was kind of a slow burn,” Smeriglio says, as the track found success nearly a year after its release. It currently has over 38 million streams on Spotify and counting.
As “Dead Beat City” began to go viral, many were quick to note that Kids That Fly is “the ‘Kiss Her You Fool’ band.”
“There was a fashion trend going for ‘Dead Beat City’ because of the lyric, which is a cool viral part of it,” Frandino says, comparing the two experiences. “The good thing about ‘Dead Beat City’ is that it brought people back to the rest of the catalog.”
Fans have gone beyond their viral hits to other tracks like “Lovesick” and “Hazel,” both of which they played in Chicago.
“It can prove that we’re not a one-hit wonder,” Smeriglio adds with a laugh. “‘Kiss Her You Fool’ is a fun track, but it’s not exactly the smartest, coolest track.”
Frandino is quick to note that it’s only “two chords.” The song came up halfway through their Chicago show on June 2. The midpoint at any live performance is a crucial moment for both the performer and the audience; it earned a strong reaction from the crowd, reeling them in for an energetic second half.
Musical influences are clear across the band’s discography.
Whether it be the unique rasp of Smeriglio’s voice — reminiscent of Van McCann’s in Catfish and the Bottlemen — or the energetic riffs of Henry’s guitar, attentive to the artful pop sound of Adam Hann of The 1975.
The actual production process varies across Kids That Fly’s music. While some tracks begin with a polished instrumental, others begin with a simple bar chord.
“It varies a ton,” Henry explains, “but once we have the idea, then we’ve found the same routine adding it together.”
“We try to do a lot of stuff on our own before we get in the studio,” Smeriglio says. “We work with a producer on all tracks, except for one. Blake [Henry] produced ‘Little Bit of Time.’”
Kids That Fly credit their producer, Greg Giorgio, for the diversity across their catalog.
Giorgio has collaborated with The National, Interpol, Death Cab for Cutie, and other key figures in modern alternative music.
Before their Midwest tour began, the band teased a new track titled “Can You Hold That Tight?” set to release June 20.
Henry and Smeriglio started working on the song in the midst of production for “Little Bit of Time” in Connecticut.
“We had a couple of glasses of my grandfather’s homemade red wine, and we just let it flow,” Smeriglio adds, earning a laugh from the group.
Henry continues, “Nick [Smeriglio] went upstairs and I had a cool riff, and then he came down and started adding bass to it.” From there, the pair made a demo that remained untouched in the band’s arsenal for a year.
Although the first teaser for the song was released days before their Chicago show, fans sang the chorus alongside the band.
Kids That Fly are always one step ahead — not because they’re trying to capitalize on trends, but because they truly love making music.
The group is very hands-on, from Smeriglio driving the van on tour to Frandino engaging with fans on the Kids That Fly social media pages.
“Can You Hold That Tight?” seemed like a natural follow-up to “Dead Beat City,” from its similar ’80s-esque guitar to pop-like hooks.
“There’s a couple of demos that will follow this one that are trying to get that early 2000s sound,” Frandino says.
Fans have resonated with that sound at live shows and online. The band’s TikTok comments are filled with listeners comparing them to The Killers, The Strokes, and 2010s bands like Walk the Moon.
Nostalgia is a large factor in Kids That Fly, from their instrumentals to their digital presence.
In an age where many rising artists promote music online as “the song of the summer” or pretend their song is a famous artist’s to engage audiences, Kids That Fly pay homage to their references without a sense of redundancy or embarrassment.
For instance, the ironic approach to their marketing is derivative of Smeriglio’s love of The Black Keys, and the notes of classic rock are rooted in Henry’s fondness for “Photograph” by Def Leppard.
“When we record these EPs, we kind of listen to a certain style of music during that time period,” Frandino says. “Like ‘Tracks of the High Line’ was The 1975. ‘Dead Beat City’ was ’80s rock.”
The 2000s alternative sound is more prominent in their newer work than in their 2022 EP Tracks of the High Line, which features fan favorites like “Goner” and “Talk of the Town.”
Kids That Fly’s early sets at house shows in Storrs, Connecticut, often consisted of 2000s rock covers. Their first EP, 2019’s Lovesick, hints at the fast, up-tempo rock sound they’ve matured into.
“It was what would be on in mom’s minivan after a soccer game,” Frandino says half-jokingly.
Smeriglio is quick to note the role classic rock plays across the band’s discography, despite some of the more modern aspects of their projects. “At one point in time, rock music was pop music,” he says. “It was its own genre, but it wasn’t really thought of like that.”
One element they still bring to shows is covers. Covers are a profound bonding moment for the audience and the band, from reminding the crowd of songs they once loved and forgot to the band highlighting their musical taste.
“We recently played ‘Learn to Fly’ by Foo Fighters,” Henry shares. “That was fun.”
“And Kings of Leon,” Machado says. “We did Sublime at one point, too.”
“‘Mr. Brightside’ we’ve done a bunch of times,” Smeriglio says, noting it’s a rather difficult cover. Frandino adds that it’s a judgment call, but they “always have it in their back pocket.”
When they’re playing with a horn section at larger shows, Kids That Fly have extended their covers to James Brown and “Sledgehammer” as well.
In Chicago, Kids That Fly covered Cheap Trick’s “Surrender.”
Before playing the song, Smeriglio said to the crowd, “I hope you know the words.” A fan standing at the foot of the stage screamed from excitement, to which Smeriglio pointed and said, “I’m not worried about you,” earning a laugh.
“Nick [Smeriglio] has good banter with the crowd,” Frandino says. He modestly admits that he enjoys the conversational aspects of the show. “I try. Sometimes I rant a little bit.”
The four describe their stage appearance in a simple manner: Sneakers, flight suits, and white T-shirts.
From behind the drum set, Machado dons a pair of aviators, bringing a Top Gun feel. In addition to the flight suits referencing the band’s name, it also lightly calls back to the ’80s references found in their music.
A concert often rides on the artist’s enjoyment. From improvised guitar riffs to conversations on stage, Kids That Fly are a band you don’t want to miss. Their relationship seamlessly translates to their love of music, leaving fans elated for hours — and perhaps days — after the show.
Kids That Fly hope to do a national tour this fall, playing cities on the West Coast for the first time while returning to beloved cities like New York, Boston, and Philadelphia.
“Thankfully, ‘Dead Beat City’ has given us an opportunity to pivot and maybe do this full time,” Smeriglio says.
Their highly anticipated follow-up single, “Can You Hold That Tight?” is out Friday, June 20.
After wrapping up their Midwest tour, Kids That Fly intend to put out “a body of work” in the winter as well as new songs throughout the rest of the year.
“And then we ditch our Hannah Montana lives and go back to work on Monday,” Frandino says.
— —
:: connect with Kids That Fly here ::
:: read more about Kids That Fly here ::
— —
— — — —
Connect to Kids That Fly on
Facebook, 𝕏, TikTok, Instagram
Discover new music on Atwood Magazine
© Annaliese Baker
© Annaliese Baker:: Stream Kids That Fly ::
