INTO THE UNKNOWN: INTERVIEW WITH ELECTRONIC MUSIC TRIO, SEXTILE

MOTHER pays a visit to Sextile's downtown L.A. studio to catch up with our favorite musicians of the moment, and the post-punk band behind this season’s campaign soundtrack.

When did you start making music? When did you know you were going to make music your career?

Brady: I started making music as early as 9 or 10. I wouldn't say making it, as much as making noise or just learning to play instruments or having fun with instruments. And by the time I was 17, 17 was the age that I told myself that I was going to make music my career.

Melissa: I technically also started making music around eight or nine, recording Nirvana covers in the closet with my older brother. At the time, I didn't realize that we were venturing into anything or that those would be the earliest recordings for me. But I'm lucky that I had an older brother to encourage me because he saw how much I was obsessed with Nirvana, which motivated me to learn how to play guitar. I never thought about it as a career. I guess I just always wanted to be around it, whether it was working at record stores or making zines at 15, just going to shows or throwing them. I feel like I accidentally ended up in bands. I think it was just due to my love of music that people started asking me to play in their band, but I didn't really think about it as a career. I feel like I just will always be a part of it just because it's in my life and the way that it is.

Cameron: I guess I played instruments probably starting as a kid because my dad had a guitar, but I would say I started playing music when I was 14 because I started a shitty grindcore band with my friends. And that's the first time I can remember actually playing music. As a career, that would be cool. I mean, there's a lot of musicians in line. It seems like making it a career is a huge feat if you can do that. But I would say that I became friends with people if they were just into music when I was an adolescent. It was one of the things that I would look into about becoming friends with someone if they liked music or not.

Melissa: Me too, Cameron. It was literally one of my first questions to people when I met them, "What kind of band do you like? What's your favorite band?" And I remember somebody in eighth grade making fun of me for asking that all the time. And in that respect, I was right though. I just wanted to meet other people that were as excited about music as me.

Cameron: Yeah. And then when you found someone, it was like, "Oh wow, we have this secret club."

Melissa: Absolutely, because you're made fun of honestly for liking things outside the box no matter how you sliced it.

Cameron: Yeah.

What is your most memorable show to date?

Cameron: Oh, shit. Damn, y'all.

Melissa: Obviously, Cruel World was an extremely memorable show because it was us reuniting after four years and getting to play with people who are iconic at this point. And our chat with John Lydon, our ability to hang out with him on the second day of Cruel World was super memorable and wild. But there's also been random ones for me, like Levitation France, when the old men were taking off their shirts and swinging them, throwing them on stage. I'd never seen anything like that before. I also really remember when we played Supersonic in Paris, when Eddie was in the band, and just watching all the chaos unfold, and the PA speakers were coming down, and Eddie saved Brady's head from smashing on the stage after him crowd surfing. That was a super memorable show.

Brady: Yeah, I don't know. I think the two that Melissa mentioned are probably there with mine.


Melissa: I mentioned three.


Brady: Oh, well, the Supersonic one in Paris and Cruel World. I also liked Desert Daze because that was the first time that I saw the, just standing at the edge of a stage and starting to jump and watching a crowd of over a thousand people jumping in synchronicity with me. That was pretty wild to watch.

Cameron:
I would say Cruel World because it just seemed like a whole ‘nother departure from the usual crop. It's rare that you can play. And in the field, there's 30, 40,000 people out there. But it was memorable too because it was hot as fuck.


Brady: Yeah, it was very hot.


Cameron: I would say that's the most memorable, even though there are more memorable shows. That one stands out as a different situation.


Brady: For sure.


Melissa: Yeah. Our foot forward to a new situation.

As performers, what is your approach to fashion & style?

Brady: Well, I don't really like to wear brand labels very much, but I just pretty much wear whatever Melissa gets me now.

Melissa: Should probably note that I resell clothes for a living.

Brady: Oh, whoever is listening to the interview, please note that in the interview that Melissa is a vintage clothes reseller.

Melissa: I know it's the equivalent of being a goddamn DJ these days.

Cameron: Oh, well, you got to get down there on Sundays and get those threads.

Melissa: Yeah, and I've been at it for a minute. I love clothes. I collect them. I'm addicted to the hunt, and not at the mall.

Brady: Listen up, kids. Get down to Fairfax High School on Sundays.

Melissa: We could cut that out, but yeah.

Cameron: Little cross promotion.

Brady: Yeah, a little cross promo.

Has anyone in particular influenced the band’s on-stage look?

Melissa: Well, I think when we started though, there was... Definitely, we were going for classic. And when we say classic, in the way that Mary Chain looked classic.

Brady: Yeah, timeless.

Melissa: Yeah, timeless looks. Leather's always a part of that. But I feel like my fashion and style definitely changes as time goes on naturally because of what I do for a living beyond music. But I just love clothes and I feel there's no rules, but it ultimately comes back to whatever you're comfortable with. So even though I like dressing flamboyant at times, sometimes when I get on stage, I just want to wear something comfortable, like overalls and shit. So it just depends. I mentioned the Jesus and Mary Chain as fashion icons, Public Image Ltd. early on too. All my fashion and style has been influenced by punk. I wouldn't even know who Vivienne Westwood was if it wasn't for punk, or Betsey Johnson if it wasn't for her marriage to John Helm and me reading an uptight Velvet Underground biography. A lot of these people, I discovered who they are through music. And I only wanted to look cool because I only thought about my style literally post-Nirvana because that was the first time I realized that the way that I dress could identify the music that I was into.

Cameron: Yeah, because it's almost like fashion can make the music sound different. If the Ramones wore gym shorts, it would probably sound a little different for some reason.

Melissa: Right. The Dictators looked goofy. So their music always sounded that way to me too.

Cameron: Well, I pretty much wear Stacy Adams because Melissa brought them into the scope.


Brady: Yep. Still have them on.


Melissa: Classic shoe. Hasn't changed since…


Brady: Melissa should be recognized as an inspiration for Sextile fashion.

Do you think there’s a distinction to how California approaches music? How would you define the west-coast sound?

Brady: I honestly don't think so. Honestly, I think pretty much, it seems like all eyes are on LA right now. I think a lot of the world is influenced by the culture that's happening in Los Angeles right now.

Cameron: Yeah. I would say there's a whole spectrum of what music sounds like in LA because there literally is a scene for everything and there's a crowd for everything.

Brady: I agree with that.

Cameron: I mean, there's hard dark music because it's so bright here, but then you have all this folky stuff too. There’s just as many people into that stuff.

Melissa: Yeah, definitely. And it's also like, when I think about how I would define the West Coast sound, it's like in what era of time are we talking? Because I think obviously, the '60s, the dream in that moment and what a lot of bands, whether they were on the West Coast or not, were making sounds that were influenced by California at the time. But if we're talking about right now, the reason that I think there's a lot of dark synth-based music in LA right now or why there's always a scene for it is because through the years historically, darker music and what's "under the goth umbrella" has always been in sunnier places. And when I say that, I mean probably from the '90s on. I say that as someone who lived in Miami and I started going to goth clubs really young. There's a big goth scene in Miami. There seems to always be in LA, Mexico, different places in Latin America, but I don't think there's an approach to it. I don't think there's a distinction of how California approaches music. I just think for some reason, maybe because it's sunny, we romanticize this other vibe. I don't really know.

Cameron: Yep, I agree.

There seems to be a dark undertone to your vision of LA throughout Sextile’s imagery and music videos. Why do you think that’s a theme you keep returning to?

Cameron: Goddamn, because life is dark. What the fuck?


Brady: There's your answer.


Melissa: Yeah, that's true.


Cameron: Some darker than others.


Melissa: Yeah.

Brady: Yeah.

Melissa: So LA is dark. I mean, it's like the sun is out here, but damn, the homelessness is wild. It feels pretty lawless in LA at times. It's definitely a more dangerous place than New York currently is or other various dangerous places that I lived throughout my life. Sometimes people love to tell me Miami's dangerous, but even the last time we were there, I was like, "It's got nothing on LA." LA's huge, spread out, and has tons of people, class issues, and stories old as time.

Brady: Yeah, I'm not sure if the darkness necessarily for me has to do with LA as much as it just, I think it was coming out of insecurities and a lot of traumas.

Cameron: I think we all had traumas prior to LA in a way.

Brady: Yeah, for sure.

Cameron: But LA is a lighter spot. So the darkness is just a byproduct of maybe a past time.

Brady: Yeah, possibly.

Cameron: Yeah, that's true.

Brady: Possibly. And yeah, I don't know. I mean, honestly, if you listen to the records, there's a progression of less dark. It's pretty funny. But yeah, I don't know. It just is a natural thing. I don't know. I also think a lot of pop stuff can be cheesy at times. And I don't like to make cheesy dance music.

What is your favorite cuss word?

Brady: Fuck.

Cameron: Shit.

Brady: Melissa's probably bitch.

Melissa: Yes, that's literally what I was going to say. Mine is bitch. I think bitch is so funny. I also re-watched all of Breaking Bad and it solidified that I think bitch is a great word because Jesse Pinkman is always calling everyone a bitch no matter what and it's so fucking funny to me. But I also really like when I get to call men bitches because when they're acting a bitch, they're always really surprised when you call them a bitch.

Cameron: Yeah. Yeah, that's usually how I go. Yeah. I don't like the idea of calling a woman a bitch, but I'll call them an asshole.

Melissa: Yeah, exactly.

Brady: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Melissa: Right, "You're acting like a dickhead."

Brady: Yeah. All right. I mean, I also like cunt.

Melissa: You also like what?

Brady: Cunt. I don't say it, but I like it when Scottish people say it. "Aye, you fucking cunt."

Cameron: Oh, shit. I just heard an Irish dude say it the other day. It was funny as fuck.

Brady: "Aye." It's hilarious.

Melissa: Scottish people, when they say cunt, it's different than when we say cunt. That's for sure.

Brady: Yeah.

Cameron: Yeah.

What is the best advice your mother gave you?

Cameron: She told me to hold doors open for women at all times.

Brady: Yeah, there you go. What a gentleman, stealing the best one. I can't really think of what that would be.

Melissa: I mean, I was thinking about what this would be. My mother's not really great with words to just give advice, but she definitely taught me how to hustle. Yeah. I don't know. What keeps coming back to me is actually something my dad told me a long time ago, but it's also kind of dark. He told me when I was little that I was going to need to learn how to work and survive because no one was ever going to have my back, just me. And I know that as a kid, it's not really the best thing to say like, "Oh, there's no God," and, "No one's going to have your back," and, "Don't have faith with this and that." But I guess I'm glad in some way because it set me up for trying to figure out how to survive. I don't know. We could cut that part because I feel like none of it's positive.

Brady: I mean, I think there's some takeaways from there. Your parents kept it real. Your dad kept it real.

Melissa: Yep, two people that have been struggling through life so what they do have to give is probably a little rough around the edges.

Brady: I can't really think of any advice my mom has given me. Yeah, I mean, all of that I hear in my head is like, "Do your homework. Did you eat that?" Or like, "One friend comes and one friend goes, one is silver and the other is gold," or something like that. I don't know. Some fucking silly sayings of little life learnings, but none of them I would say they were valuable advice that you just don't fucking get from just living.

What’s next for Sextile?

Brady: We're working on the Ooze record.

Melissa: The Ooze? That's your term. It's also not the name of the record.

Brady: It called the Ooze.

Melissa: Definitely not called the Ooze.

Brady: It's called the Ooze.

Melissa: That's Brady's concept of dark characters that are going to infiltrate this record.

Cameron: I was like, "Dude."

Brady: It's called the Ooze.

Melissa: What's next for Sextile is we're going to release a single called Crassy Mel with two remixes, one from John Tejada and one from our friend JuJu. We hope to put that out in November, but still dealing with the different issues with releasing that because it'll be our first release on our own independently without a label. And I hope that we plan to do a tour next year and other fruitful things, waiting for that call from Nine Inch Nails to take us on tour, stuff like that.

Cameron: Waiting on that phone call.

Melissa: Yeah, waiting for the right opportunity to present itself.

Brady: Come on, Nine Inch Nails.

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