Wallows: Who Are They?

Wallows is made up of Dylan Minnette, Braeden Lemasters, and Cole Preston. They are a Los Angeles based alternative rock band. The group started creating and releasing songs in 2017 but has slowly started to become popular over the past few years.

Braeden Lemasters and Dylan Minnette have very successful acting careers. Braeden had roles in shows such as Men of a Certain Age, Betrayal, and T@gged. Dylan’s most significant role was in Netflix’s original series 13 Reasons Why, where he played Clay Jensen, one of the main characters. Dylan has starred in many other shows as well. 

The band’s most popular member, Dylan Minnette, is an American actor, singer, and musician. He was born December 29, 1996, in Evansville, Indiana. At the age of seven, Dylan began to work on commercial modeling and acting. He moved to Champaign, Illinois for five years before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. Dylan made his professional acting debut in 2005 when he appeared in an episode of Nickelodeon’s sitcom, ‘Drake & Josh.’

Braeden Lemasters is an American actor, musician, and voice actor. He was born on January 27, 1996, in Warren, Ohio. Braeden and his family then moved to Santa Clarita, California, in 2005 where they still live today. He started acting at the age of nine, where he first starred in the HBO drama series Six Feet Under. Since then, he has appeared in many other films and television shows. His dad, Dave LeMasters, was a musician and played for several bands, so Braeden grew up around music. 

Cole Preston is an American drummer, guitarist, composer, and singer. He was born on October 9th, 1996, in Venice, California. After quitting competitive swimming at an early age, Cole started playing drums, because it was a part of a video game called Rock Band. Cole was a student at the GigMasterz program at Keyboard Galleria Music Center in Southern California. 

Dylan was only 9 when he met his future bandmate Braeden LeMasters and by age 11, they were already writing songs. Cole met Dylan and Braeden while at a music convention. Dylan and Braeden were impressed with his drum skills.

In 2011, they decided to form a group called Join the Band, which also included Zack Mendenhall. Braeden Lemasters on guitar and vocals, Cole Preston on drums, and Dylan Minnette on guitar and vocals. They changed their band name several times before finally deciding on Wallows after Zack departed from the group in 2017. In April 2017, the band released the song, “Pleaser” but it was not until 2018 when they gained popularity with their song “Pictures of Girls” off their 2018 EP, Spring.

The Wallows have been very successful over the years; they have been nominated for, MTV Europe Music Award for Best Push Artist in 2020, the MTV Video Music Award for Push Performance of the Year in 2021, and the iHeartRadio Music Award for Best New Rock/Alternative Rock Artist in 2021. 

The band’s music is often classified as indie rock, bedroom pop, and surf punk, but overall alternative rock. Leah Fuoco states, “Their songs have an interesting beat, impressive vocals, and a unique spunk to them that is hard to explain… They give off ‘angsty teenage rocker’ vibes.”

Today, the Wallows continue writing music. Their latest release was in 2021 with the song I Don’t Want To Talk. They are releasing an album and touring North America this year.