For twelve years, Oliver Baxxter and Broadside have been grinding it out on the road, questioning whether it’s all worth it. Now, armed with their most ambitious record yet, ‘Nowhere, at last’, the Philadelphia pop-punk veterans are done playing it safe…

Words by Tanita Hingerty | April 13, 2026

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Twelve years is a long time to keep the faith. For Broadside frontman Oliver Baxxter, over a decade of relentless touring, label changes, scrapped albums and the ever-present question of whether it’s all worth it has been both the band’s greatest burden and their most powerful creative fuel. Now, on the eve of their fifth studio album ‘Nowhere, at last’ and their first with Thriller Records, Baxxter is reflective, honest, and quietly hopeful. This is a record born out of a cabin in the woods, a Nintendo Switch, and the radical decision to stop chasing cool and start being afraid again. We sat down with the Philadelphia pop-punk veteran to talk growing up, letting go, and why after all this time, being nowhere might finally feel like enough.

In your words, what can we expect from this album?

“I think just because we’ve had the privilege of being a band for so long, this is our fifth album, I believe that we have managed to translate our sound into an adult version of the band and continue to push forward sonically like adding more production into the album to make us sound like a ‘real cool’ band and a ‘real’ band you know with big elements and then just really trying just to overall beef up the sound of the band. Our logic going in was that if we write bigger songs, maybe we’ll play bigger rooms. I think we’ve managed to do that.

So, with this album, there’s a lot more production, a lot more cohesiveness, and I think just naturally five albums in, you’re just going to get a lot more progression like elemental progression throughout as a band, and then I think as just us as adults with the subject matter also.”

What’s the meaning behind the album’s name?

“So the concept of being ‘Nowhere, at last’, it’s kind of like a metaphor in a way, but basically just to put a blanket statement on the idea of pursuing anything in life. I think the ultimate place, especially nowadays, frantically, it’s like you wake up and feel like you’re not doing enough, not posting enough, not cool enough, sexy enough, tall enough, fast enough… whatever it is that we naturally just wake up to remind one another as humans and I think the idea of being nowhere is like a blissful state. This is our fifth album and we’re really trying to just become and take that next step in our career even though this is a full time, life time touring thing and our lives are tied into it, our wives, our futures, and everything at this point, we’ve been doing this twelve plus years, it still feels as if it’s maybe still out of reach and it’s always dictated by the audience and other elements too… you know… the powers that be. So the idea of actively pursuing this goal and this determined outcome, it beats you over the head over and over again and so I think the idea of waking up and being nowhere and having nothing to do, having no one to talk to, even though that sounds a bit bleak and sad, the ultimate end goal is just to be able to take a breath and be able to observe yourself from the outside of yourself. The band specifically hasn’t been able to do that in about seven years.

We’ve been trying to write the next big single, survive COVID, whatever it is, and I think that just kind of relates to a lot of people. Anybody, at least over the age of twenty-eight, that I’ve talked to definitely has this sense of they’re on this train that they don’t know how to stop, kind of a deal, and things just keep passing; good things and bad. I’m rambling, but to be nowhere is to be everywhere, I think ultimately.”

I fully relate to that explanation. What do you feel was different to the creative process of this album as opposed to the previous ones?

“So, for this album, this is our first album with Thriller, this is our third label, at this point, you know we were like, should we keep doing this, should we keep pursuing this, pushing this? When Thriller came to see us on a show, they mentioned that they were really excited with what we were doing, and it came to a point where we weren’t really progressing in the way we needed to post COVID, and it was just one of those situations where we’re not ready to give it up, so let’s keep going. We really liked what Thriller was doing with our friends in Honey Revenge and The Home Team so we were like, ‘Alright, yeah let’s do this, let’s sign to another label’, they were interested and our one stipulation was that we wanted to take the year to write, that’s just what it was so we wrote a whole album……and then scrapped it. With other writers, we did the whole LA and Nashville typical writing circuit, and that was sick. We met a lot of cool people and had a lot of good opportunities and what it did show us ultimately is what we weren’t trying to do. I think at the time we were trying to be like some sort of darker sexy band because we don’t have an ‘IT factor’ so we were like maybe we can focus in on making this type of music and ultimately we’re strange and weird so the other shit started coming in anyways. So the marketing came after the fact. With this one, we all just kind of put it together after the fact, but consistently, what came was that once we shifted the dynamic, the heaviness and the poppiness, and we started just adding in elements from the bands we actually like that we consume, and I think that really opened up our minds. Even though it’s funny, this is our fifth album. You’d think that you should just go in and be open-minded, but the reality is you don’t just want to put something out there that you’re not afraid of because if you’re not afraid of it then there’s no gamble, there’s no return and it means you also didn’t give a shit about it. In my opinion, I find that if I feel like whatever happens, happens, and if I have that energy towards it, generally I don’t want it to happen.

So this was a lot on intention, took a long time to write, we wrote with a bunch of other people and it just came back to the fact that ultimately it came down to us going into a cabin with one of our other friends who’s a writer, he’s in a band called Mood Ring and then just playing Nintendo Switch for like three weeks and drinking a lot of coffee and being half naked with your boys in a cabin is what will write an album for you if you’re in your mid thirties. It felt like it was treated like a true album, it didn’t feel like I was on fire, it felt as if there was a process there and a method to the madness and it felt really nice that the label was like sure, we’ll put you guys up and let you write and the faith in that alone is the sort of thing that you realise you made the right decision.”

Do you have a favourite song from the album? Is there a song that stands out to you as a predicted fan favourite?

“Yeah, I have a personal favourite, it’s a song called ‘Is This It’, it’s the last song on the album. We always put one moody song on the albums or a weird piano situation, but for this one… it’s a concept album but the concept’s a little not so colouring book style. The album’s not really about my life, this is the first time I wrote from feelings and memories but it’s not about me, it’s the overall human experience is essentially what I tried to pull from because once again, I was like I should try to write for people that maybe deal with things that I can’t quite wrap my head around and not just talk about the very specific niche stuff that all humans go through. So on the last song called ‘Is This It’ it basically just questions the monotony of waking up to being a human being and just asking yourself ‘Is this what’s meant for me, am I meant to be reminded everyday that I’m just a work in progress and some days will rain and some days won’t and you have to just accept all these miserable kind of embarrassing things about being a human being and I think it just asks the question, Is this it? Is this it? Is this my life? Even if it’s a great life, is this it?’ And I think as I get a little bit older and as I become a little bit more of a stoner over the last couple of years it’s really elevated my mind outside of just myself and I really think that that song explores something that I know if I were to stumble upon it at the right time in my life I would be impressed with it and I would feel a sentiment there.

On the fun side I feel like the fans are really going to like the song ‘Nowhere at last’ or ‘Mushroom Cloud’ because it’s a little cutey romantic visual song. There’s a lot of theming within the album, but there’s no finite reason for anything other than the concept of this song ‘Is This It’, and I still feel powerful when I hear it. I feel that it is a fantastic question.”

I listened to the album, and I feel like every song is super different from the next, but also we’re taken on a journey throughout the album, while each song is very unique. What do you feel is a musical experiment that’s really paid off for you?

“So, you know, for a while I was under the impression that I was never going to impress anyone… I come from an army background and I always felt that I needed to impress the tough guys and the cool people in the scene, and I think I realised early on that most people run from spiders and most people will need a hoodie in the freezing rain and wind so I think the reality is once I put a whole human side to these things I was afraid of, we started adding in more elements and showing off the natural desires. I have a bit more of the army style singing that I was raised with and once we started implementing those things it started making a little bit more sense and started feeling a bit more fun.

We wrote every single song on this record as a single so when we were picking singles we were like ‘what the hell?’ and that’s what made this whole year process where we were able to write a record — here’s a record. We never wrote an album of just singles that mingle and weave but it truly does feel like everything is kind of different here and I do feel as if there are going to be people who like the songs on here that aren’t singles. I think once we realised to be an entertainer; that if you’re not Mister Cool, sexy, tall, or have beautiful blue hair or something that’s really appealing, I think that the one thing we’ve been trying to do as a professional opening band at this point, is get people their money’s worth and have a good show. I don’t really care if people don’t like our band, but it is important that they feel ‘Oh wow, these guys really did try to entertain us.’ Once we started adding in those elements, the fun guitar things, the weird vocal chops, and doing the ‘not cool guy stuff’ or things we were afraid to do previously because it didn’t fit or whatever, is when things got more fun for us and also for the crowd.”

You recently released a music video for the song “Control Freak.” Can you talk to us about the making of the music video and the meaning behind it?

“Of course. So it’s pretty funny because we’re working with Sam Link, he’s one of our favourite videographers, he’s done the recent The Home Team stuff and Honey Revenge stuff. The funny thing about it is that we’re all the same age, and we’re like dude, do you remember those music videos that weave together and the audience would be like what the hell is this? We’re going to lose people’s attention, people don’t really care like that, but we should do that so these next few music videos are just one big long story, all Sam’s idea. The next video for the focus song ‘Dead Roses’ kind of finishes this whole ‘What the hell is going on’ in the music video, it’s a pretty big art piece. The concept is me — there’s two people, the Moustache man who’s the voice, then there’s me just the human, the presence, the sentient — and I’m searching throughout the entire three music videos for something that I’ve lost and essentially it’s just the spark, it’s as simple as that. We’re just trying to stick to this black and white God voice, like you’re seeing something happen where you’re like this is kind of interesting, I’ll check this out. It’s kind of just like bird watching and that’s kind of what Twilight Zone, which inspired the overall look of this thing, is about.

I love the idea of how the show starts — they tell you what it’s about, the episode, the cool title, you get the intro, the whole time people are like ‘what the fuck is this about?’ and then at the end they get the summary. So hopefully, maybe we landed somewhere with this album with this concept as well.”

You’re also doing a tour, and you’ve got festivals coming up this Summer, what are you most looking forward to?

“I’m really excited to be getting back to the UK, so we’re doing the Hands Like Houses tour, and then we’re playing Slam Dunk — we’re doing both North and South. We play early, so it gives me plenty of time to get tipsy and watch some of my favourite bands and then recover for the next day. So I’m excited for that, and then after that, we have three headlining shows in the UK, we’re really looking forward to those as well. Surprisingly, those are already doing well, and we just announced them. People are showing love and support, so it feels good to know that, on the back of this album coming out, the UK’s got us.”

What songs are you most looking forward to performing live from the new album?

“Probably ‘Control Freak’, anything that’s kind of like sexy and snappy like that. ‘Warning Signs’ actually goes kind of crazy. There’s a song called ‘Cherry Red Ego Death’ that seems almost impossible for me to perform live, but I think it would be awesome and only impossible in the sense that I’m being a diva about it.”

How are you being a diva about it?

“It’s just kind of like big voice, you know, and I know I’m going to go on tour, and someone’s going to cough, I’m going to get nervous and be like everyone’s sick, oh shit, and then I’m being ‘Crazy Oli’ again. I just know that there are a couple of elements on this album specifically where I just know I did it, where I did my whole thing, and I just want to be able to give that to people live.”

What are your touring essentials?

“Lots of vocal stuff, a lot of steaming, that’s a big one. Obviously a laptop. A big one for me is that I’m a big gamer so I have to have some sort of handheld gaming thing to distract my mind, my Adderall for my crazy brain. Also the past three years I’ve been touring with a digital point and shoot camera, it’s kind of shitty, but I love just taking photos. I have a bunch of photos from behind the scenes of touring and from other countries. We just finished Australia, and with a 2003 digital camera, it’s just really rad, it gives the photos that element of summer campy vibes but all around the world on a piece of twenty-three-year-old tech — that’s kind of cool. Oh, and a big, nice, sort of expensive hoodie. Everything else can be garbage, torn and dirty, but the staple hoodie — it’s a pillow, it’s a blanket, it’s a friend, it’s a girlfriend. And then coming over to the UK, I’m a huge fan of hot sauce, so I’ve got to bring some because I don’t want to pay the premium over there.”

Who are your musical influences?

“I had a cool uncle, so I’d like to say he put me onto music pretty early. A lot of my favourite bands are The Cure, The Smiths, just a lot of cool goth, moody bands from the late 80s and early 90s. But I’m also a huge fan of Jimmy Eat World, Daft Punk, Linkin Park — those are probably my top three inspirations. But really I’m kind of basic, I like everything. I really like Hip Hop and R&B and I like instrumentals which is corny and cringe sometimes but I can get down to a meditation playlist like nobody’s business.”

Who would your dream musical collaboration be?

“Daft Punk, because I feel like they would take the song and make it. Or any kind of DJ or Dance DJ — you know what’s crazy, any sick late 90s or early 2000s UK Jungle or Garage DJ would be specifically crazy for this new album because there’s a lot of sounds like break beats which were inspired by 90s and 2000s early dance and rave culture in the UK and Europe in general so that shit would be pretty cool.”

What do you feel is your biggest achievement as a musician so far?

“I feel that my biggest achievement as a musician is that I’ve made conversation happen between strangers. There are times when I’ve been approached, and people have told me they were able to have this sort of conversation or explore this element of their mind and I think that’s a beautiful thing, especially for young people, especially with one parent or parentless young people — it’s something that I specifically could have used and bonded over when I was young. I’ve heard things like people making coffee with their babies on the weekends to the songs and that always really touches me. I just exist with people and I think that’s probably one of the best achievements. We’ve made people have a good time and opened up doors to conversations and made other people feel good enough to share in their own home and in the privacy of their own space — and even if there was just one song, it’s a sentiment that I like to think about a lot.”

What does the future hold for Broadside?

“I’m hoping that with this new record, we’re really going to impress some of these gatekeeper bands, and I really want the right people to hear it, and I hope when people hold it in their hands, they feel as if they’re holding an album. Like, the first Broadside album there have been records, but this is the album. The future of Broadside is I’m hoping we’re playing huge festivals or making it happen with thousands of people. But also, the future of Broadside could be that people have decided there’s no place for the band, or it could be that they’re like ‘Oh shit this album changed my life.’ I’m not sure what the future of the band would be, but where I would like the band to go is I would like a little bit more certainty.

It feels like sometimes you feel like you’re crazy when everyone around you is telling you how good the record is and how you should keep pushing and keep pursuing, but you start to feel a little insane when those people aren’t around — when they’re asleep or with their families or on tour with a better band. So I hope there’s more certainty with the band and I hope that we feel as if we don’t keep just stepping forward blindly, that there’s a path for us. And it feels as if there is, but who knows really, for anyone, not just for the band, but for anything really.”

Nowhere, At Last is out now via Thriller Records