Millington’s story starts with a return trip: while interning in California for Goldfinger frontman and Blink-182 producer John Feldmann, singer-bassist Cody Okonski became homesick for upstate New York, came back with new studio skills and began recording the project in his basement in 2018 before it grew into a six-piece band. Their blend of horn-led ska, pop-punk and emo, which they call “Brass Emo,” sets trumpet, trombone and saxophone against songs about isolation and getting out of your own head, creating music that lets fans sing and move through heavier feelings together. After appearances at Governors Ball in 2022 and Furnace Fest in 2025, the six-track 2025 EP Better Safe and Sorry brought a brighter, summer-minded turn, and that momentum carried into 2026 when Millington’s first Japanese headline tour sold out all four dates.
Travel then became part of the creative process itself: after returning from Japan, the band made the July 2026 single “I Won’t Surrender,” drawing on the energy of the crowds and the fast-moving sound of the Japanese bands they had shared stages with. Now Millington are carrying that exchange into fall North American shows, including Vans Warped Tour Orlando, Skanksgiving with Goldfinger and a December hometown date in Albany. For Marriott Bonvoy, Millington offer a story about travel as creative exchange, showing how the people, sounds and ideas found in another city can follow you home and shape what you make next.
