This Group Went From a College Group Project to Legitimate Indie Trio

Everyone can recall the anxiety and dread of being part of a group project in school.

The loathed communal approach to education seemingly always ends with one person doing the bulk of the work, while the others skate by and receive credit for it. Rarely, if ever, do students get anything other than a grade from teaming up on an assignment.

So it’s surprising, if not historic, to learn that the L.A. trio Trousdale got started after its members — Quinn D’Andrea, Georgia Greene and Lauren Jones — worked on a group project together back in college at USC.

“We were in the popular music program, and there were less than thirty of us in our class, so it was inevitable that we all would be spending time together,” D’Andrea recalls. "Georgia and Lauren were in the same songwriting class, so they were paired up to write a song together, and they asked me to come and sing an extra harmony.”

The immediate feedback was that the three were onto something. “It was such a resounding reaction from the classroom when we sang," Greene adds. "I have never gotten that kind of response ever about anything."

They all felt it, too.

“There was something very special to me about it. Something felt magical, and if we wanted to, we could do this and it can work,” D’Andrea says. “It felt so rare for the music industry. It feels so impossible, especially when you’re going to school for it. But that felt like a sure thing for some reason. Something just clicked.”

“It was just so fun. That’s the key memory I have from it is just it being so much fun and really feeling like, ‘Oh my God, I’m getting to sing with two of my favorite artists right now,’” Jones adds.
That was back in 2014, when Trousdale first formed, but none of them could predict it would eventually lead to a legitimate career, after reconvening more seriously five years later. It started with a string of singles, then the debut album, Out Of My Mind, in 2023. Listeners responded just like those former classmates, latching onto the seamless, effortless harmonies that Trousdale does so well, interweaving country, funk and pop sensibilities.

With their sophomore effort, Growing Pains, out since April, D’Andrea, Jones and Greene are continuing to build more and more mainstream momentum. Trousdale — the name is taken from the parkway that runs through the USC campus — plays the Bluebird Theater on Wednesday, June 11. Nia Ashleigh and buffchick are also on the bill.

It’s the first run that the Powerpuff Girls of Indie-Pop are taking with an actual tour bus and not a Sprinter van. “It’s hard to go back after tour buses, but I have to say, I’m having trouble sleeping,” Greene quips.

Despite the new wheels, the progression feels natural and unrushed. “There’s still very much this sense that three of us have a lot to say as songwriters and artists, so I get that there’s pressure, but we’ve been on such a wonderful, slow growth journey so far,” Jones explains.

“It just feels really organic, and people are on board for the right reasons,” she continues. “It doesn’t feel like anybody’s going to be coming after us with pitchforks and torches if we put out a song that they don’t like very much.”

If anything, audiences will be waving phone flashlights and lighters (does anyone do that anymore at concerts?) after hearing such songs as “Growing Pains” and “Over and Over” from the latest record. Then there’s “Warm Shoulder, Cold Heart,” which deals with an intense break-up Greene had gone through at the time.

“Lauren and Quinn were really feeling into my experience at that phase of the break-up. Where I was at was like, ‘I miss you,’ and they were like really angry for me,” Jones shares. “I feel like I would not have written that song if I was just alone going through that. They were empathetically experiencing anger for me for my pain.”

That’s not necessarily new, but it's something Trousdale has leaned on when coming up with music together.

“The other two might hop on somebody’s personal experience and write or help write something that they wouldn’t,” Greene adds. “It’s remembering some strong feeling, and you can pull upon that feeling at any point in your life.”

So next time you’re tapped to be a part of a group project, don’t fret. Trousdale is evidence that it could lead to much more than just a passing mark.

Trousdale, with Nia Ashleigh and buffchick, 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 11, Bluebird Theater, 3317 East Colfax. Tickets are $35. In partnership with the Ally Coalition on behalf of the California Community Foundation's Wildlife Recovery Fund, $1 from each ticket will support victims of the recent LA wildfires.