#hexmaze

Introducing...

Hexmaze.

Hexmaze are Aneta, Alex, Emma, Mel and Sophie – five women brought together from the UK, Sweden, Poland and Mexico to make music that mashes together punk guitars, fuzzed out jams and harmonic chants.

Hexmaze has been playing shows around London since early 2017, quickly becoming regulars at the Shacklewell Arms, The Victoria and Five Bells. Their debut single 'Hex Hex Hex’ is out now with a video directed by Anna Bo to follow in the new year.

We conducted a quick Q&A with the band to find out a bit more about how they formed, their influences and songwriting process and their plans for next year! Read the interview below.

What brought the five of you together and make you want to start a band? Where did the name Hexmaze come from?

Emma: "I wanted to start a band because I have always been writing music on my own and wanted to be creative with like-minded people. I first met Aneta and she already knew Alex. I knew Mel so asked her if she wanted to play bass and I knew Soph through her boyfriend Chris, who I worked with at the time. I knew Soph had her own band (Hussy) but didn't know she was also an awesome drummer."

Alex:  "What Emma said. I had been playing on my own and had lots of ideas but nowhere to really take them. The name Hexmaze happened because I was a bit obsessed with Ty Segall at the time and thought Hazemaze, which is the name of a song by his band Fuzz, would sound cool. But it was already taken by a Swedish band so we switched Haze to Hex and the rest is herstory."

Who or what are your biggest musical influences?

Emma: "We all have different influences, which I think is what makes our sound quite unique. I love melodic, emotive music but also listen a lot to rock, psych rock as well. I have a background in classical music as well but don't know how much that influences Hexmaze, although I do wanna sneak in a cheeky flute solo at some point."

Aneta: "I wanted to be in a girl band since I've discovered Spice Girls when I was a kid! So they are a main influence obviously. Haha, I think 8 year old me would have been proud that I have managed to achieve this goal. Apart from that I love all sorts of music but feel particularly inspired by Hole, PJ Harvey, Elastica, Blur, Radiohead, Prince and many more artists that I dont remember at the moment. Also, I do hope that Emma brings a flute solo into a song. Some cowbell would be a nice addition too."

Alex: "The reason why I originally started taking guitar more seriously was seeing guitarists like Theresa Wayman and Emily Kokal from Warpaint playing it in a way that felt very relateable – quite intricate and not as aggressive as some other guitar music. Also Kevin Shields, Jason Simon, Cate le Bon, Neil Young and Cory Hanson from Wand for the weird spaciness. Learning violin and knowing about classical music at a young age has been another big influence on my playing too."

Mel: "I don't have musical influences per se, I do listen to a lot of different stuff from techno to commercial pop and then I get inspired by all of that together. It changes depending on what I am into at the time. At the moment I love techno, I am practically a techno bitch, hahaha, but when I play bass in Hexmaze I channel more of a heavy-melodic influence from the 90's and 2000's, and a bit of dub bass style, here and there."

Soph: "For Hexmaze I kind of bring my love of Krautrock to my drumming. I have so many influences but generally I really love Stella Mozgawa, Jackson Pollis, Steve West, Georgia Hubley, Janet Weiss, Dan Kjær Nielsen. I really love when we jam and have some songs which have some sections which are freeform, live that is the most fun thing ever. Grooving with Mel is the most fun and finding an end to the jams. I think just keeping a backbone for the other freakiness everyone else is doing is a big part for me whilst also leading in the freeform sections. Knowing when to keep it simple or when to embelish."

You've just released your debut single and video 'Hex Hex Hex'. What's the story behind the track and it's visuals?

Emma: "Initially 'Hex Hex Hex' sounded very raw and had a pretty demonic and hypnotic vibe, with me barking and screaming like a possessed rabid puppy. It feels like something is building up throughout the song and is released towards the end. I see it in three parts, first is realisation, second is frustration and third is pure rage. Ain’t nothing like a good primal scream."

Alex: "There was definitely something primal going on when we came up with the idea for the song. We were banging around on the drums and not thinking too much about what we were doing. I think we were all quite bored and frustrated at that time and would meet every few weeks just to vent through music and see what happened."

Mel: "It was Satan's fault really, it was an ode to the evil shit inside all of us."

Soph: "I think Emma and Mel said it - Its a satanic orgasm of a song. I really wanted to channel the primal vibes in the build up and reflect the frustration in the lyrics throughout."

What's your songwriting process?

Mel: "We all chip in creatively, we get together and start jamming or bring stuff that we worked on and merge it into a song, then the structure comes in and then some refinement. So far the latest songs that we worked on are rhythm section based and then the beautiful guitar work and vocal comes in to top it off, but as we have such good chemistry it can work different ways, regardless of what's done first."

Aneta: "We chant and perform blood sacrifices every now and then. It helps us with the creative process of songwriting and is also an excellent bonding activity within the band."

Soph:  "The universe of Hex allows us to telepathically connect wherein magic happens. This can only happen once altogether."

Finally, what are Hexmaze's plans for 2019?

Emma: "We're planning on releasing our first EP next year. We also wanna play some shows abroad."

Mel: "There will be a lot of surprises, more songs, and videos, and new stuff coming your way, prepare to be mega-hexed in 2019!!"

Aneta: "We'll be hexing you up all year long!"

Alex: "Keeping it hexy 24/7."

I Too Want To Dance Like I’ve Got Diamonds

With ‘Dance Like I’ve Got Diamonds’, a female-run event with The Franklys headlining and the brilliant Chambers and Hexmaze as support taking place on Thursday 19th October, I caught up with the lovely Isabelle and Lisa who run the event to have a chat and find out why they feel that it is so important to have events such as these in the current music scene.

Sum up of what ‘Dance Like I’ve got…