Age Is Just a Number to The Linda Lindas, Now on Tour With Paramore

In the past year, Los Angeles punk band the Linda Lindas played Coachella, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, and hit the road with Paramore as part of the pop-punk legend’s current North American tour. Oh, and three of the four members haven’t graduated from high school yet, so the band only has time to do all of this fun stuff whenever there aren't homework deadlines and late bells to follow.

“Despite how fast everything’s been going, three of us are still in school, so it’s a sense of normalcy that we get to go back to,” says sixteen-year-old Lucia de la Garza, the group’s guitarist and vocalist. “Even though it’s pretty chaotic a lot of the time, we also make sure that we’re enjoying what’s happening and having fun.”

Her twelve-year-old sister, Mila, agrees.

“Because of school, there are a lot of things that we can’t do related to the music,” the young drummer says before admitting that she actually forgot to turn in one of her school assignments by the end of the year with everything the Linda Lindas have going on.

Bassist Eloise Wong, the sisters' fifteen-year-old cousin, explains that that’s why the four-piece simply “can’t tour full-time,” so playing live is saved for “the weekends and summer or spring break.”

Since forming in 2018, the quartet of young musicians, which also includes eighteen-year-old family friend and guitarist Bela Salazar, has been propelled into the spotlight, thanks to a 2021 performance of the song “Racist, Sexist Boy” at the Los Angeles Public Library that became a viral sensation on social media.

“It happened fast. … It was like, ‘Oh, my gosh,’” Salazar recalls of the library set. “It was during the pandemic, so we were very excited to play something again because it had been so long since we had really done something, so we were like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’”

“It was so weird to see the library so empty,” Mila adds. “We all go to the library all the time, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it like that. No one was there except for us and some of the librarians. They were our audience.”

The lyrics and title were inspired by a classmate who made a racist remark to Mila before the pandemic. But the band’s youthful raw energy in the otherwise vacant library drew praise from Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea, Thurston Moore and Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna. Epitaph Records signed the Linda Lindas shortly after the video hit the interwebs and released the group’s debut album, Growing Up, last summer. The band had officially arrived, even if some of the girls’ teachers had no clue their students were behind such a punk-rock phenomenon.

“Last year I didn’t tell any of my teachers, and they didn’t find out until the last few months of school,” Lucia says.

“The teachers who I have that [Lucia] used to have know, but the ones that didn’t have her don’t know. I don’t really make it a point to tell them, either,” Mila adds.

The unassuming rock stars are still getting used to the lifestyle — including playing packed sports arenas as an opener for Paramore this summer — and learning a lot along the way. The tour, which also includes FOALS, stops at Denver’s Ball Arena on Thursday, July 13.

“Hayley [Williams, Paramore's lead singer] told us, ‘Know the power of saying no,’” Salazar says. “We get a lot of opportunities, and sometimes they’re not the right ones, but you feel obligated, like this might not come around again or whatever. Just being able to say no is really powerful, and making sure you have room to do things and grow.”

The Linda Lindas are “happy with the place that we’re in as of now,” Wong adds, before sharing some more industry advice from another tourmate.

“Adam [Pfahler] from Jawbreaker told us to enjoy the ride,” she says. “He was saying that when his band was going, he was constantly on edge and afraid that it was going to stop or whatever. I guess it’s different for us because we’re all living with our parents, so we don’t have to worry about that aspect of things."

While the Linda Lindas are certainly doing that, the bandmates are also planning for what’s next, particularly new music. “Too Many Things,” a single from an upcoming album, was released in April, and Lucia notes that the current set list includes some more fresh tunes, as well. She also admits that she has trouble sleeping the night before shows when she's thinking about her stage banter.

“Expect Lucia to talk about sports,” Wong says.

“That was one time,” Lucia counters.

“That was like three times,” Wong responds.

“I’ve decided this tour I won’t be talking about sports,” she concedes.

“But we're playing in arenas, which are sports places,” Wong adds.

The group is getting ready for the first night of the tour at the Smoothie King Center, an NBA arena in New Orleans, and loves that the greenroom is set up in the visiting locker room. Plus, getting to watch Paramore and FOALS perform every night, while also connecting with fans their age, makes it all the more exciting.

“I think it’s important for kids to know that you don’t have to be an adult to be in a band, and you don’t have to be an adult to believe in something or be passionate about something,” Lucia says.

“And you don’t have to be perfect to start a band,” Wong adds. “You don’t have to actually know how to play your instrument or be amazing at it. We’re not the best musicians. You just go for it and have fun. As long as you feel good about what you’re doing, then it’s cool.”

The Linda Lindas, 7 p.m. Thursday, July 13, Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Circle. Tickets are $100-$368.