Q&A: The Runarounds Open a New Chapter as They Prepare for an Unforgettable Summer With New Song “Bleachers”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY SULLIVAN JORDAN ☆
Photo by Isaiah Pate
RECKLESS ABANDON, HOT SUMMER NIGHTS, RACING HEARTS, DANCING UNTIL DAWN AND NOSTALGIA—are just a few phrases that come to mind while blasting The Runarounds’ latest single “Bleachers.” It’s built on an energetic mix of racing guitar instrumentals, lively drums and the band’s palpable camaraderie and passion. Soaked in a delicious flirtation and freedom, “Bleachers” is a fun and cheeky nod to the thrill of summer memories we wish could be re-lived.
The Runarounds kick things into high gear on “Bleachers” with an energetic, surf-rock influenced intro that sets the scene for the beginning of what is to become a whirlwind summer: “Headlights, we'll turn them off just like we used to/My heart starts racing like in high school/Tip-toe down the driveway/Deadlines, we'll push them off until we can't no more/Hand out the window moving back and forth/Feel like it's the first time.” With pattering instrumentals and playfully mischievous vocals, the anticipation for a night of emotion-fueled fun quickly builds before bubbling over in the chorus: “So we go, we go, we go/Chasing the feeling we felt before/Never been so alive/Tucked in the backseat we'd get too high.”
“Bleachers” captures The Runarounds’ infectious energy as they embrace a new chapter. While The Runarounds TV show is not returning for a second season, the band is just getting started. The band has been on the road on and off for their Minivan Tour, the fourth leg of which continues in June, including their debut at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee. “Bleachers” blends the band’s high-energy sound that fans know, love, and will sell out venues for, with a strong ambition and excitement for what’s to come.
Luna had the pleasure of sitting down with The Runarounds drummer, Zendé Murdock, to discuss “Bleachers,” the making of the accompanying music video and the band’s tight-knit community.
Photo by Isaiah Pate
LUNA: I love your new song “Bleachers.” I think it's so energetic and fun! Perfect for the summertime. For me, the song evokes a lot of nostalgia, energetic youth and reckless abandon. Can you describe some of the feelings that inspired this track and the creative process of bringing it to life?
MURDOCK: Yeah, you hit it on the head. It's a summery anthem. We always like to say that we were in a high school mindset while writing it. We wrote the song at a time when we weren't sure if there was going to be a second season of our TV show, The Runarounds, or not. So we were writing with season two songs in mind. And we were thinking about, or at least the TV show side of things was, thinking about a song where you would be sneaking out for some reason. Having a fun summer night!
LUNA: Listening to the song made me think back to some of those moments in my life that reflect that same energy and feeling. Can you share any personal moments like that from your life or memories you have with the band that reflect what the song is about?
MURDOCK: We’ve had some fun summers together! Summer has always been special to me. My birthday is in the summer. I’m July 5, so I'm right smack-dab in the middle of the year so it's always a fun time and it's my favorite season! Most of my happy memories in life are associated with summer and warmth. It helps me to wake up and see the sun as opposed to anything else.
LUNA: My birthday is at the end of the summer and there’s this kind of transitional period which is always fun and inspiring. I also love the music video for “Bleachers” because it reflects the high energy in the song. You guys filmed clips with fans in Charleston, which is really awesome. Can you tell us about that experience with your fans? How do you think having such a good relationship with your fans helps your music and the creative process?
MURDOCK: First of all, our fans are the sweetest kids on the planet. They're so engaging. A lot of times on social media, you'll see people with massive followings and then the engagement is really low. We've been able to build up a good following, but the engagement is so unusually high, at least from what I can tell, which is so special. And they're so sweet for that. They really show up for us.
We had just played in Charleston the day before. The music video was as simple as us, the night before, going on Instagram and being like, “Hey, anybody that was at the show, we're gonna be here tomorrow right down the street from where we played if you want to show up.” We squeezed the video in and we were on tour. We squeezed it in between Atlanta and Charleston. I had just finished the hometown gig and got on the bus and woken up in the morning in Charleston and went to the music video set to do the thrift shop portion of it. Then we played a show in Charleston that night, woke up the next day and did the performance portion of the video. So it was all kind of squeezed into what was already on the schedule. But that's always kind of fun for us to kind of have it be like, you know, bouncy, bouncy. We really enjoyed that.
We had some good friends from the TV show come out and help us. Our guy Brad Walker, our guy John Layman. These are all camera people that were helping us film The Runarounds. It was good to see them again. We haven't seen them in quite a while, and because we're not doing another season of our show, it was nice to see our fans and those people and at least kind of get back in the vibe a little bit.
LUNA: That energy comes across in the music video and it's so nice that you got to reconnect with people you met on the show and that you guys have maintained that relationship.
MURDOCK: They’re great dudes. I saw some people on TikTok yesterday that were talking about how the music video kind of felt like the TV show in a way. A lot of people were drawing comparisons there, and I think they had a lot to do with that. They gave us all the credit for it, but I think that has a lot to do with the people behind the camera. It's the same people. And of course, Jonas, our director, was involved as well!
LUNA: Speaking about your fans, what is the coolest fan interaction or fan memory you guys have had?
MURDOCK: It's really tough to choose because like I said, they're such sweet people and they're constantly going above and beyond to do stuff that you would never imagine. I think something that's made us really happy and something that we didn't necessarily expect coming into the touring world was all the fan projects. The first time that happened was in Knoxville. We'll never forget it. It was on the first leg of the tour and during our song “Arrhythmia,” they held up a bunch of hearts that had “we'll stay” written on them. Will teared up and was having trouble singing the song. I'm looking at him from the back, so I can't really tell what's going on. But I just hear his voice cracking. I'm like, “is he up there crying right now?” It was the sweetest thing ever.
LUNA: I bet that relationship with your fans really inspires the music and it shows in the band’s presence because when you guys perform live, you can tell that there's that connection with your fan base. I want to ask more about touring because you guys are playing more shows this summer and you guys are also debuting at Bonnaroo. What’s your favorite part about touring and performing live?
MURDOCK: I have a drummer as a dad, so I grew up going to his shows. It was my favorite thing to do when I was younger. To go to soundcheck and all that stuff and see all the stuff that you don't get to see if you attend the concert. I've kind of always meant to go into the world of touring. That being said, the most recent tour this year in 2026 was my first bus tour, which is definitely a little different than van touring. It's a different structure, as I'm sure you can imagine. With van touring, you wake up in the morning and go to the city as opposed to traveling overnight and so it gives you a whole different look when you get to wake up in the city and kind of go explore as opposed to just pulling up for soundcheck. That can seem like a small thing, but it changes the whole experience. I love seeing different cities.
Drumming is obviously what I like to do. I get to do that in front of people that want to see me do it, which has not always been the case. A lot of times you're playing in front of people who don't want to see you play when you're coming up. And so it's nice that people want to be there. It just makes me really happy. My bandmates are my best friends. It's a dream come true.
LUNA: Yeah, no, it sounds just like a really fun musical road trip.
MURDOCK: Big ol' party. With drums, I mean, what could be better?
LUNA: That sounds like the dream! When you are performing, do you have any fun pre-show rituals that you do personally or that the band does before they perform?
MURDOCK: We all kind of have a separate list of things we like to do. The singers like to, they like to use this vocal nebulizer thing. It's something that they can strap on their heads and look absolutely ridiculous. They tell me it soothes their vocal chords in a way that water can't, whatever that means. So they strap those on and they'll do like a bunch of warm ups.
For me, obviously, it's all physical. And so it's a lot of warming up. I like to drink a little bit of coffee. I like to take this superfood called spirulina. It's like a little pill. It's green. It's supposed to be super healthy. It's something that you can do for a long time. I'm trying to establish a routine that I can keep around for several decades of touring as opposed to energy drinks and whatnot. There's quite a little routine that goes into it, but everybody kind of has their own thing.
LUNA: I bet too, being on a bus tour, the camaraderie is really strong because you guys spend so much time together.
MURDOCK: It’s fun. You can watch TV together and stuff. We started a reality show called, oh god, what is the new… is it Temptation Island? Have you heard of it?
LUNA: Yes, I've heard of that!
MURDOCK: Yeah. It’s very out of character for any of us to watch. Watching that together is a really fun time. We started that on the last tour. We'll need to finish. I don't think we're done.
LUNA: I would love to ask about your creative process while on the road. How do you feel like you guys balance touring with writing music or does touring kind of create the perfect environment for inspiration to strike?
MURDOCK: That’s a good question. There's a lot of bands that like to write on tour; That's not really us. I don't know how people get that done. I mean, there's not that much time. I guess there's people that are just writing all the time and writing never stops. I think for us, we had a little bit of a unique experience with doing the TV show and we needed songs for it. There was a lot of time that was dedicated to squeezing out songs for that. We're going into this new section of our songwriting era where we are writing for ourselves.
LUNA: That's very exciting that you guys are kind of experimenting with that. I know that some of you guys also do projects outside of The Runarounds. How do you feel like that plays into the music you guys are making together as a band?
MURDOCK: I think it helps a ton. From what I understand from bands that have been together with the same lineup for a long time, like a decade plus, they tend to always start to veer into a solo project or another band. I think it's important to have an outlet outside of just one medium. I think it's good that everybody's kind of doing that. I think the idea is that everyone's gonna be doing that throughout the time of the band. I think it helps get perspective. You get to write in different settings. I think it's good to be able to go out and get perspective and come back with fresh ideas.
LUNA: For my final question, I always love to ask this, what do you hope people listening to the band's music take away from it? How do you want listeners to feel when they're listening?
MURDOCK: Just generally happy. We're not a crazy serious group. The first batch of music has been pretty lighthearted and fun and dancey. We like to put on high energy rock shows and it typically goes well if you have a song that's lighthearted and it can kind of be dancey and boppy. From what I can tell, it seems like people are having fun out there and enjoying themselves. I think that's the main goal with our music.
There's a lot of bands out there that are making deep and serious sh*t. Not that we won't ever get around to that, and I would personally love to explore that side. However, I think this is a very cool lane for us and kind of encapsulates the band. That's why I'm stoked about “Bleachers,” because I feel like it's a good encapsulation of where we're at as a group right now. The people that are coming to our shows are literally the sweetest people I've ever met. It kind of feels like they will support whatever we want to do, which makes us really happy. It makes us feel like we can't really go wrong.
