Interview with... MMX

MMX are a band that has burst onto the scene with a flourish, since their first single they've released two EPs and have supported The 1975 on tour as well as playing Reading Festival - they opened it this year too! I catch up with Ben and Ashlie from the band.

Hey guys, how was Reading festival? I saw you open up the festival and you were easily one of the best acts over the whole weekend. What was it like to open up the festival?

Ashlie - It was something you can't really explain, it was humbling  - that would be the word to describe it, we've been going for years and before we were going on it dawn on us that we were the first band that people were going to see over the entire weekend, and everyone was itching to see a band.
Ben - We got there early on, chilling backstage for a while. And it was pretty leisurely, festivals are a bit hard sometimes as in we have 30 minutes to load in and soundcheck, so it was nice for everyone. We got on site at 8.30am, so we were drinking beer from then, so it's not all bad.

So what would your favourite track to play live?

Ashlie - For me it probably is "Only".
Ben - It is probably is "Be" and "Only".
Ashlie - It's one of those songs that describes us, those two songs have a different sort in the set. 

So, I notice you're from Oxford - you're going to hate me now - but are you fans of Radiohead?

Ashlie - We're massive Radiohead fans
Ben - I'm not sure being from Oxford is the reason, but glad we fit the sterotype. I love Radiohead and Foals. 

Influence, what music influences you?

Ben - Radiohead, Coldplay, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd. But then the newer stuff is more electronic, so James Blake, and a lot of electronic tracks.

When you were creating the tracks, did you plan anything out or just  or were you aiming for something a bit more electronic?

Ashlie -I wasn't a conscious decision, we did not plan it out to sound like we did, it just kinda clicked. It's just now we have a better understanding of how things work.

Can you talk about the shift from your days in Francesqa to MMX?

Ashlie - We wrote most of the songs when we were 17 years old, and when you've been playing the same songs live about three years later. It took us a while to grow for some reason from our first EP, but it took about a year or so for us to take off, and by that time we were stuck with playing these songs that we weren't really into. And our music taste completely changed, we were at that age (around 19/20) when your complete mindset has changed and if you devote yourself as an artist then there's nothing worse than depriving yourself of something that you want to create, brecause then you're going to resent your fans, yourself and each other. If you're not doing what you love then you might as well not carry on. 

So what's your creative process like? Do you start out with a track in mind and create it, or do you start with lyrics, a click beat or even a guitar structure?

Ashlie - It's a hard thing to pinpoint, because it's always one member that starts it off, with like the slightest hint of something, and we come up with hundreds of unrecognisable bits of music - and every now and then someone comes up with a little loop that clicks in someone's head and we all play along to it in the room.
Ben - We don't sit down in a room with a guitar and go, it's like on "Ritual" we had the start of the song on loop and we created the track around that.
Ashlie - I think if you set-out with an idea in mind all you're going to do is control yourself. It's the same way if you sit down and draw a house, you draw a house. But if you sit down with an open mind you're going to do end up with something a little bit more interesting.

So how's the tour going for you?

Ashlie - We're nearing the end of it now.
Ben - It's been great so far!
Ashlie - We weren't too sure of if it's the case of fans waiting for The 1975 or just milling around. But the fans have been really receptive to us. They just seem to want new music fed to them, so it's nice to see them enjoy us when we're up on stage.
Ben - It's been really positive so far, and met some really nice people!

Any plans for touring?

Ben - There's some being talked about, with some headline dates. But its weird with touring because it comes in late with support offers - like this one - so we're working on it.

So what does the future hold for MMX?

Ashlie - Well we're not 100% sure yet, we're not aimless but we are just not sure of what to do. But putting a full length out is such a big pressure on you, it's your first statement of what you're going to be. But if you release an EP people take them for what they are.
Ben - We are writing towards an album, but we all treasure the first album thing, so we want it to be perfect in our eyes.
Ashlie - For the people that followed us from when we first started, those people. I want it for it to be perfect for them in their eyes as well as our own. So it's just a case of biding our time, but when we land on it, we know to go with it.
Ben - There will be new music soon!

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