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music
Flaunt Premiere | California Girls "Small Birds"
Photographed by Tim Hardy ![Photographed by Tim Hardy](https://assets-global.website-files.com/62ee0bbe0c783a903ecc0ddb/6472bb9ec703201a678f3d50_flaunt-californiagirls.jpeg) Photographed by [Tim Hardy](https://instagram.com/tmhdy) [California Girls,](https://instagram.com/california____girls/) the recording project of Gus McGrath, is premiering his second body of work, _Beat Boy_ in March of next year.  The Australian artist first came to attention in 2016 with his debut album _Desire,_ which sewed the intricacies of romance into his synth pop aesthetic.  With his recent signing to [Dero Arcade](https://deroarcade.bandcamp.com), McGrath has transcended his sound to an authentic examination of emotional and theoretical ideas of being. Focusing on identity and sex, McGrath hopes to utilize pop ideals to share his personal experience and implement queer approaches with an intimate narrative.  Photographed by Tim Hardy ![Photographed by Tim Hardy](https://assets-global.website-files.com/62ee0bbe0c783a903ecc0ddb/6472bb9ec703201a678f3d4c_flaunt-california-girls.jpeg) Photographed by [Tim Hardy](https://instagram.com/tmhdy) McGrath teases his release of _Beat Boy_ with his music video for his single off his sophomore release, “Small Birds.”  He says, “Small Birds was a song I made when I was thinking about the stupid or destructive or empty things I would do to feel like a point of focus or love. What I really wanted was just care, and the song is about coming to grips with what that care actually is, and demanding it. It sounds pushy, but for my this played out as an internal thing; facing up to yourself about what you actually need. I made the music as I was getting more and more used to using my laptop rather than physical gear, and I was excited by the idea of just going wild and blowing things out, making the music feel danceable but disorienting.” His post punk and dance floor take on pop, California Girls creates an intense, emotive, and passionate performance to experience.  About the inspiration and vision of his music video he shares, “This was my first music video, made with my dear friend J Reid, and I was thinking about how music videos work; advertising material but also demanding attention and care for the performer, so I felt like there were parallels in the lyrics of the music. Although the song is about love or care on an intimate scale, the video is about projecting that out into a public audience. I like that in music and performance there are levels of intimacy that get kinda skewed through public consumption, and I wanted to try make a normal pop-style video that amplified that, making it feel a bit weird or voyeuristic.”