"Footballhead, The Rise of a Modern Alt‑Rock Band"
(Artist report)
Written by: Ginny Gaines
Footballhead is a Chicago rock band that has been making a name for itself by bringing back the loud guitars, big melodies, and emotional energy of late 1990s and early-2000s alternative rock. The band officially formed in 2023, but its story really starts with singer, guitarist, and songwriter Ryan Nolen. Footballhead began as Nolen's personal music project, and he originally had no plans to turn it into a real touring band. He was simply writing and recording songs that reflected the music he loved growing up. Nolen had been heavily influenced by the alternative rock, punk, emo, and skate culture of his teenage years, including the music and attitude surrounding Warped Tour, skate videos, MTV, and early 2000s rock. Those influences eventually became the foundation for Footballhead's sound.
What started as a personal project changed when Nolen was asked to headline a show in Chicago. He decided to bring some of his friends together and turn the songs into a live performance. According to Nolen, rehearsing the songs with his friends was so much fun that Footballhead naturally became a full band. That decision changed everything. Instead of being something that existed only in a bedroom or recording studio, Footballhead became a working Chicago rock band. The group eventually included musicians such as Snow Reyes, Liam Burns, Adam Siska, and Andrew Smith. By 2025, Audiotree documented the band performing live with Nolen on guitar and vocals, Reyes and Burns on guitar, Siska on bass, and Smith on drums.
Footballhead's first major release was Overthinking Everything, which officially came out through Tiny Engines on March 1, 2024. The album introduced listeners to the band's basic formula: loud guitars, short and catchy songs, emotional lyrics, and melodies that are easy to remember. The music has the feeling of the alternative rock records that were everywhere during the late 1990s and early 2000s, but it is not simply a copy of that era. Nolen has explained that he wanted to write loud guitar pop songs with strong, simple structures. The songs also deal with everyday feelings such as insecurity, frustration, relationships, mistakes, and the difficulty of trying to figure out where you fit in life.
Footballhead kept the momentum going with Before I Die, a seven-song mini album released on August 2, 2024. Songs such as "My Direction," "Crushing Me," "Stupefied," "Before I Die," "Your Ghost," "All For What?," and "In Motion" continued the band's combination of melody and guitar heavy rock. The record dealt with some heavier ideas, including time, mortality, mistakes, and the question of what a person leaves behind. Rather than making the music depressing, Footballhead used those subjects as fuel for energetic songs. That contrast, serious thoughts wrapped inside loud, catchy rock music has become one of the band's defining characteristics.
In March 2025, Footballhead appeared on Audiotree Live, giving fans a chance to hear the band in a rawer live setting. The session included songs such as "Before I Die," "Stupefied," "Your Ghost," "Tightrope," "Like A Blister," "Sliver," and "Crushing Me." Audiotree described Footballhead as a Chicago band playing full-bodied, fuzzed-out alternative rock influenced by the radio rock that helped shape the members' musical tastes. The session also showed that the band was no longer simply Ryan Nolen's recording project. It had developed into a tight five piece capable of turning those studio songs into a powerful live performance.
The next major chapter arrived with Weight Of The Truth, released March 20, 2026. The album contains 12 songs, including "Peace of Mind," "Used To Be," "Diversion," "Weight of The Truth," "Hesitate," "You're Not Making Sense," "Fall Away," "Comforting," "Death To A Past Life," "Chosen Brother," "What You're Whispering," and "Focus." The record shows the band continuing to develop rather than simply repeating its first album. Footballhead still has the loud guitars and catchy melodies that define its earlier work, but the newer songs demonstrate a growing confidence and a broader musical range. The band's official material describes Footballhead as a group that bridges melody and grit, and Weight Of The Truth is a good example of that approach.
Today, Footballhead represents something interesting in modern rock: a band taking music from an earlier generation and making it their own instead of treating it like a museum piece. Their songs have the familiar sound of early 2000s alternative rock, emo, and pop-punk, but the lyrics and perspective come from musicians living in the present. What began with Ryan Nolen writing songs for himself has grown into a real Chicago band with multiple albums, live recordings, touring experience, and an expanding audience. Footballhead's story is still being written, but the basic idea remains simple: take loud guitars, memorable melodies, honest emotions, and the spirit of the music they grew up loving, and turn all of it into something new.
That will do it for this report about Footballhead. Thank you for reading and in closing, please know, Soundwave Music Media will be here and we will always do our best to bring you the rock music report. Please consider supporting our Soundwave Foundation with a donation! Rock On! Until next time...🤘
Music Video
Share This story.
Written By: Ginny Gaines
(Report)
(Sources)
Website/EPK/Contact,
Spotify,
Youtube,
Meta,
KMGMT,
All Music,
Bandcamp,
Pop Matters,
Tiny Machines,
PLAYBACK 30
Every month we put together a playback playlist with a song from each report and bring it to you. listen to the all the incredible artist we report on and subscribe on Youtube!
If you want to support the team and everything we do here at Soundwave, consider donating to The Soundwave Foundation!
Our donor base keeps us truly independent and free—no paywalls on any of our content, no corporate strings attached. Your support lets us stay focused on what matters: delivering daily coverage of the great music being made today, preserving the history that got us here, and expanding with more shows, interviews, live broadcasts, and deep dives into indie and alternative rock. Every contribution—big or small—helps fuel our growth and ensures this space remains open and accessible for fans and artists alike. Donations are tax-deductible through our nonprofit partnership with Fractured Atlas.