Games We Play
Practically predestined to play pop punk, Games We Play a.k.a. Emmyn Calleiro sings the kinds of hooks you text your ex (and not because you still care or anything!) and rotates between instruments with quiet confidence. The Miami-born and Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer turns up with an upbeat and undeniable sound of his own—like a one-man Warped Tour, but with a propensity for 21st century virality. All the while, he’s not afraid to be honest about his ups and downs, representing the feelings of every kid (and adult) who doesn’t have it all figured out yet.
Allow him to introduce himself on his major label debut, Get A Job EP [Fueled By Ramen/DCD2 Records].
Growing up the oldest of five siblings in Miami, Emmyn fell in love with pop punk after his dad showed him a video of Blink-182 at Big Day Out in Sydney, Australia circa 2000. As much as the music appealed to him, it was Tom DeLonge’s introduction to “Aliens Exist”—which went something like, “Alright, here’s a song when aliens fly into your butt”—that sealed the deal. He couldn’t stop laughing, and they became his favorite band. In between listening to everyone from Turnstile to Knocked Loose to Masked Intruder, he cut his teeth by playing music in church. Once the worship leader left, it was up to Emmyn to learn bass and drums as he simultaneously perfected his guitar and vocal skills. Dropping out in eighth grade, mom and dad even let him fly to New York at 15-years-old for his first recording session.
A year later, he embarked on his first tour, but it didn’t quite go according to plan.
“I crashed the van,” he recalls. “We played one show, but on the second day, I got in an accident. Everybody else was okay, thankfully. I just ended up with a really ugly scar on my back.”
Eventually, the family relocated to Nashville, as Games We Play made waves with the Senior Year EP during 2018. But he put the band on the backburner for a period of time. Getting married and moving in with his wife Dani, she pushed him to go all out.
“I was turned off from playing music, and I didn’t write anything for a little while,” he admits. “Once I left my parents’ place and lived with my wife, she was the one who said, ‘You should really do Games We Play again!’”
In 2021, he unleashed “Deadbeat” and organically attracted an audience on TikTok with a series of highly candid and utterly hilarious posts. A preview for the hyper-charged pop punk banger “I Hope You’re Happy” exploded, amassing millions of views, and labels rushed to sign him.
“The only place I wanted to be was Fueled By Ramen,” he smiles. “They reached out, and I said, ‘Yes!’”
Meanwhile, Pete Wentz caught wind of Games We Play and jumped aboard the team. The DCD2 Records Founder and Fall Out Boy bassist and visionary commented, “In a time where the world seems to get so much serotonin funded by a committee of likes and comments on social media platforms, true authenticity is scarce but invaluable. This is what drew me to Games We Play—it’s all there—cohesive, funny, sad—self-aware and ambitious all folded inside of true punk rock hooks. It feels like a throwback, but from the future.”
“St. Girlfriend” tells an unforgettable first date story. Palm-muted crunch underlines hilarious verses before the track snaps into the chant, “She’s a saint, and I’m a freak. Who could bear me for a week? She says she wants me for a lifetime, don’t know what she sees in me…Maybe she’s insane?”
“In sixth grade, my buddy went on a date to the mall with a girl,” he explains. “He was wearing very light-colored khakis. Midway through the date, he just shit everywhere, and she didn’t notice! I thought it was the funniest thing in the world that we have these real stories about pooping your pants. It’s a love song about not being cool.”
Sunny clean guitar underpins “Get A Job” as he assures, “I don’t want to be like you. I want to sing my songs, keep it going all night long.” Then, there’s “Kristina.” It details how “an older lady slid into my buddie’s DMs” with one clever quip after another.
In the end, Games We Play is a friend you can always turn to now and forever.
“I want to radiate energy,” Emmyn leaves off. “This is fun for me. I’m not into myself. I do stupid things, and I’m in the zone. I’m having fun, and I don’t think I’m cool, but I do want to be your friend.”
