I’m still reeling from all the bands I was not only able to see perform last year at the California Kicks Fest but also had the privilege of covering. (See our reviews of Quiet Fear and Sonagi and our WFA with Drought who helped organize the event.) Continuing in that tradition I’m pleased to be writing today about yet another band that made quite an impact on me over a very special weekend last year.
Fighting through some technical difficulties with humor and grace, máu absolutely blew me away with their performance. (The festival which took place in a warehouse in Oakland suffered a handful of generator power related issues.) DIY spirit is often most alive in its resourcefulness and tenacity. There is a pervasive attitude of ‘we’re going to make this work on our own terms’. máu, a screamo band from Oakland, fully embodies that spirit.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but one of my absolute favorite things about going out to shows is finding bands you’ve never heard of before organically. After their performance I immediately checked out máu. Especially after chatting with their bassist Ry Ellery in the crowd between sets who I recognized from her work as the vocalist of Greyhound, another Oakland screamo band I’d seen a few times.
Seeing máu play was one thing, but sitting down to listen to their debut Anthesis was something else entirely. Clocking in at just around eleven minutes over four tracks, Anthesis is one of the tightest, most varied EP’s I’ve ever heard. As such I was beyond stoked to speak with Ben Truong (guitar and vocals) and Joseph Choe (guitar) about their origins, the writing process for Anthesis, and more.
Ben Truong: ‘The literal definition of máu in Vietnamese is ‘blood’. The proper Vietnamese pronunciation is máu, but ‘mao’ is fine colloquially. We like to leave the meaning open depending on how people interpret the name within the context of our music.
‘Joseph and I started the band in 2022. We both previously played in a screamo band but wanted to start a new project that better reflected ourselves and our personal styles. We’ve been playing music together since we were young, and have always wanted to start a band together. Leon and Joe joined soon after and we were all able to collaborate well and make something beautiful.
‘I started getting into screamo in high school through the internet and eventually became involved in the local DIY scene in the Bay Area. Any band that I watched/played with was always inspiring and helped me continue writing with my own interpretation of the genre. Bands like Leer from San Jose and Loma Prieta were big inspirations.’
“Sunder” opens Anthesis with immediate waves of powerful discordance. There is a fiery intensity to the vocal delivery and a driving forcefulness to the drum and guitar work. But it’s not all unyielding beatdown; towards the end of “Sunder” there’s a cymbal break which shifts into a post-metal outro. Over the course of the EP these kinds of unexpected twists and turns keep things fresh and sets máu apart from the pack. So what was the writing and recording process like for Anthesis?
Joseph: ‘”Sunder” and “Disheartening” started out as a couple of riffs Ben and I were jamming on before máu became a full band. Once we started playing with a full lineup, it became easier to understand how those songs should naturally progress. “Internalized” and “Restrain” were the first songs we all wrote in a room together. Conceptually, they were a little more polarizing in the directions we explored, but they were both written to embody a much larger, full band dynamic.
‘We performed all the music on Anthesis for over a year prior to recording. Waiting to record turned out to be beneficial for us because we got to see how people reacted to our songs before materializing them, and it allowed us to take our time iterating on them.
‘The EP was recorded by Ry Ellery, who’s now the current bassist in máu, at Embryo Studios and mastered by Amar Lal at Macro Sound. The whole recording and mastering process was really seamless and collaborative since they’re both incredibly talented and easygoing people.’
I’ve spoken briefly here about my experience at California Kicks Fest and to a greater extent on our WFA with Drought, but what was the festival like from the performers perspective?
Joseph Choe: ‘It was surreal to be part of a lineup with so many incredible bands and really inspiring to see all the effort our friends put in to make it happen. We had some technical difficulties with drawing enough power for our amps during our set, but I suppose being able to adapt under those circumstances is all part of the DIY experience. Regardless, it was amazing having been a part of it, and overall, it felt like everyone felt excited just to be there. I feel really fortunate and grateful that máu was asked to play the festival’s first year, and I’m excited to see what it grows into.’
Ben: ‘Shoutout to the folks involved – Viggy, Chris, Violet, Corey and everyone else for bringing it all together.’
Ben elaborated further on the importance of keeping the DIY spirit alive on a recent episode of the Everything Remade podcast:
‘It’s awesome to have that capability, you know. Especially being a musician. For me too, I started off as a fan. Going to these shows and being enamored by everything. Being able to participate in it is extremely special too. I don’t know it just seems surreal at times like along with seeing these bands I get to participate as well. I think that’s some of what I hold dearly and has huge value to me. I’m very grateful for these communities.’
“Disheartening” is brief and heavy hitting like a blow from a sledgehammer. But the track doesn’t zip by too fast to allow for moments of intricate guitar lines and little flashes like the squeals of feedback sprinkled throughout. máu has a fierce sense of urgency and a very aggressive feeling to the instrumentation and vocal delivery. What led them in this direction as a band?
Ben: ‘Playing aggressively and using harsher vocals feels extremely cathartic. I find that they’re great tools for me to express bigger emotions and represent a sense of relief or expression of anger.’
Joseph: ‘It helps express feelings that don’t have regular outlets. I think the way our music builds tension and resolves viscerally expresses a cathartic release of the stresses and anxieties that build up in my life.’
As alluded to in this interview and discussed further on the Everything Remade podcast, Ben also played in the screamo band Hawak. Who released the excellent album Nước back in 2021 before ultimately dissolving. Although there are similarities between the projects, máu is not simply a continuation of Hawak. Though they could be seen as a kind of spiritual successor. Some ideas originally intended for Hawak gestated over time and transformed to reappear on Anthesis in a new form. Which helps to lend context to how such a remarkably strong debut came to be. This has all been building for some time. Resulting in a confident well executed opening salvo.
However the bands are not completely divorced either. Tell me you can’t hear some of the post-rock wanderings of “Shattered Mirror” on “Restrain”. Or the chameleon intensity of “Unseen” spiraling into “Internalized” as that track breaks and shifts between movements. “Internalized” is nothing short of a frenetic free for all. Watch for the midtrack switch up and the reverberating afterquake breakdown at around two minutes. Completely unhinged.
Speaking of DIY and working together towards a common goal, Anthesis features stunning artwork that boldly represents máu‘s musical style visually. What was the inspiration for the artwork and how exactly does it tie into the thematic concerns of the EP?
Joseph: ‘The artwork was a collaboration between us and our friends Zayd “headbdead”, who did the illustrations, and Tiffany Law, who did the design and visually tied it all together.
‘The EP title, Anthesis, refers to the period of time when a flower is in full bloom. We took inspiration from flowers, plants, and weeds that are commonly found across California along with Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese ink paintings, seals, and calligraphy. It’s sort of a syncretic take on those forms of art within our local context.’
Just check out this beautifully etched b-side courtesy of Zegema Beach Records for a gorgeous example of the screamo community at work.
These immediately sold out online. However if you’re able to catch máu at a show in the Oakland/Bay Area soon you might just be lucky enough to score a copy directly from the band. The reissue on vinyl triggered renewed interest in the band and even a soundoff on Stereogum. Which is a huge nod for a DIY screamo act at this stage in their development and speaks to the quality of the release overall.
Anthesis is a spiraling staircase. As the songs go through their various movements the energy goes up and down. Weaving in and out of these moods, “Restrain” has a groovy feel to it overall. Guitar lines are backed by drum hits that blend frantic snares with touches of blast beats accents. From here the track goes into an almost unplugged version of itself with the only clean vocals on the entire EP. First spoken word progresses to chanting culminating in more powerful screaming.
The magic of máu is in the balance of assertive force and reserved melancholia. Screamo so often pulls mainly from punk and hardcore, but with máu I’m really feeling the metal influence. Especially on the guitar riffs and drumming with just a touch of posty cinematic soundscapes. All in all it makes for an incredibly interesting and engaging listening experience with a live performance equal in intensity and heart.
So, What’s next for máu?
‘We’re working on a 4-way split scheduled to be released later this year, writing songs for a full length album, and planning some runs of shows outside the Bay Area.’
