It was midday on a Saturday and I was driving around San Jose completely lost. I was supposed to meet up with The Axidents at Oakridge Mall to do an interview. They had said to meet up at the top of one of the parking garages. I drove to the top of both parking garages and saw no one, after texting them and getting no response after 15 minutes I started to think maybe I was getting punked. A text popped up on my screen a while later and it turned out the band had been “grubbin” and told me to come into the mall. I walked towards the food court and saw the band all sitting together talking. I walked up to them and they seemed confused and so I quickly introduced myself as the one who had been talking to them over text. They all laughed and said they thought I was going to be a guy. They led me to a stairwell and we climbed out to the roof of the mall where it was quiet and began the interview:
How did you guys meet and end up starting the band?
Simon/Guitar:
I met Brandon in guitar class, it was just me and him, and I’m like, “hey you wanna join a band?” and he was like yeah. Then he found Gabe and then Gabe found Kevin, and it’s weird because I met all of them prior except for Brandon, but I never actually talked to any of them. Brandon used to make fun of me before we met. Honestly when I first met him, I didn’t think we were gonna be friends at all, but now like years later we’re like bros for life.
Gabe/Bass:
What I recall of us meeting is.. I took guitar one class and Simon and Brandon we’re in guitar two so I would always jam with them there. That was my sophomore year, no that was my junior year, and my sophomore year I skated after school to Kevin’s school because he was in middle school then. So I skated to try to find him because I knew he was a skater and like nothing ever happened like me and Kevin were gonna jam, but nothing ever happened. One day I walk into the guitar two room with Brandon and Simon and they ask me if I wanted to be in a band and I’m like, “yeah dude I really wanna be in a band.” So they said, “All we need is a drummer now.” And I was like, “Oh perfect! I know of a drummer already.” So that was during fifth period so right when the bell rang at lunch I took them to meet Kevin and we asked, “You tryna be in a band?” and he’s like, “yeah!” and then after school we walked over to his house and jammed.
What bands or artists are your guy’s biggest influencers?
Brandon/Vocals:
I’m just go by what I hear the most alright, whether ya like it or whether ya don’t. I would say some of our biggest influences fosholy would have to be The Strokes, Title Fight for sure! The Balkans fosholy as well, Arctic Monkeys. Interpol as fuck! Where else are we coming from?
Kevin/Drummer:
A lot of the influences that I have or like my style of drumming comes from heavier rock. So I’d say a lot metal forsure, but then a lot of Title Fight like the style of Title Fight, like the offbeats and everything, but I try to add my own style to it, but I feel like we all come from different types of music, we all listen to different types of music and when we all come together it kinda just makes something unique.
Simon/Guitar:
We can’t really pinpoint our influences because we all listen to different ass music and the fact that we like make music together without killing each other is pretty amazing ahaha, but I guess we can pinpoint bands that influence us, but it’s really just everything we’ve all heard coming together more than anything.
Do you think your city or community has had an effect on the kind of music you play?
Brandon/Vocals:
Fuck yeah!
Simon/guitar:
I don’t think so at all.
Brandon/Vocals:
Okay.. lowkey no.
Gabe/Bass:
These guys are saying no, but I think so because okay say we weren’t in San Jose, say we were in Ohio we’d probably have grown up listening to fucking classic rock…
Brandon/Vocals:
Potatoes and shit..
Gabe/Bass:
Yeah stuff like that, but no, San Jose is a very diverse, the Bay Area has so much diversity and it’s the best place to live in the world because you got a lot of every race and it’s cool because as you grow up, like yeah I’m Mexican, I grew up listening to Mariachi and Banda and stuff like that, but San jose is so diverse that I’ll go to the barber shop and be listening to Vietnamese jams ya know. I love it!
Brandon/Vocals:
So I would also say that yeah being in San Jose, like Gabe said, it’s super diverse. It’s allowed us to play different styles of music, not just stick to one thing ya know, there’s so many different crowds who can enjoy what the fuck we play and it’s really different.
Kevin/Drums:
I feel living in San Jose has definitely shaped out music because there’s a lot of local bands that just make different types of music and it’s just gives us the opportunity to hear lots of different types of music.
Simon/Guitar:
Living in San Jose definitely shaped our music because if we didn’t live in San Jose we would have never met each other and there would be no music!
When did you first discover the local music scene in your area and what does that scene mean to you?
Brandon/Vocals:
The first scene we had really jumped into in San Jose was just the kids who only had bands in high school ya know, not a specific type of scene, but everyone had a band ya know and they really opened their arms to us at first and it was bummin’, not gonna get you wrong, the shows were fun as fuck, during the summer, shit was crazy, it was poppin’, but then over time… ya know we got a little distant, they liked one song, they blew the fuck out of it, which we are grateful for, but it got really weird after the few months because we kinda felt secluded ya know. Where we came from was a lot different from where they came from so we weren’t really mixing together well so eventually over time we gotta break free and do our own thing ya know.
Simon/Guitar:
And we did!
Brandon/Vocals:
And we did and we’re doing well by the way so… eat a dick..anyway! I shouldn’t say things like that you can edit it out! Ahaha. But yeah we’ve grown away from that scene, but we’re thankful for everything it’s given and we’re just gonna keep on going, keep on keepin’ on.
Have you guys had like different styles and sounds in the past or have you guys always been consistent? What has the journey been to your current sound and style?
Brandon/Vocals:
I feel like when we first started, we wanted to stick to a familiar sound and just did what worked and then that’s when we kinda learned how to just like ya know structure songs and what not, but no we’re at the point that’s it’s kinda just like wow there’s so many different things we can fucking do and it’s just all over the place. We’re starting to dive into weird shit that doesn’t sound like our regular shit so it’s gonna get fun!
Simon/Guitar:
Alright, when we first started playing, Brandon and Kevin were the only ones who knew how to play their instruments because me and Gabe were lacking pretty hard. So our music sounded way different in the beginning because Brandon was like, not running it, but he was putting together because we didn’t know how to play shit. Our music has definitely changed as we’ve learned how to play our instruments more and now that we’re all like, I wouldn’t say peak potential, but now that we know what we’re doing our music has definitely changed and the music we listen to throughout the two years has definitely affected the way we sound and stuff.
Brandon/Vocal:
You know when you start off in puberty? It’s like you’re going through it, you’re changing, yeah. Right now it’s like we’re reaching the end of our puberty stage and grow into who we are. But yeah we’re starting to grow up a little bit, you can hear it in the way we’re doing it, we’re gonna release some new shit in like 3 years… Aahaa
Simon/Guitar:
We’re not dead!
Brandon/Vocals:
Yeah we’re not dead by the way.
Simon/Guitar:
Just like punk!
Gabe/Bass:
Going back to what Brandon and Simon said about our sound, okay our first EP, “What Took You So Long?”, we’ve seen shit that people write online about us and they’re like “their first EP was good” and some people are like “I don’t know about their second one though.” The comparison from the first EP to the second EP is like fucking crazy. Our style, you can definitely tell that like we’re taking baby steps of being us. The Axidents that your hearing right now, I can promise you, it’s not the same Axidents you’re gonna be hearing in ten years, but who knows!
What artists or bands currently playing do you guys idolize or look up to?
Simon/Guitar:
THE BALKANS!...
The Rest of The Band:
They’re dead! They’re dead as fuck bitch!
Simon/Guitar:
...ARE THE BEST BAND EVER! The Balkans are the best band ever. People will say that it's just an opinion of mine, but it’s a fact, they’re the best band ever. Even though they don’t make music anymore, they’re still gods.
Brandon/Vocals:
Hey hit us up though.
Simon/Guitar:
Yeah, Balkans if you somehow hear this interview then hit us up!
Brandon/Vocals:
Right now, at least when I’m writing shit, I’m on that Arctic Monkeys shit, I’m not gonna lie to you, that’s pretty much all I’ve been using. Arctic Monkeys and Interpol are two strong ones right now.
What are your guys favorite local venues to either play at or to go see shows at?
Kevin/Drums:
We’ve played a llooot of venues soo.
Well what was your favorite?
Brandon/Vocals:
A house show. They’re fun or they’re either a hit or a miss.
Simon/Guitar:
Yeah they’re either a hit or a miss, they gotta be inside, it’s has to be enclosed.
Any venues you guys have really liked?
Brandon/Vocals:
Where have we played that is cool..?
Kevin/Drums:
I mean a lot of the shows I go to are underground or hardcore rock so a lot of those are in warehouses, they’re not really venues, they’re really local shows so they’re kinda like whatever they can get their hands on type of shit. Those are always fucking tight, those are always so much energy, the hardcore scene is tight as fuck.
Simon/Guitar:
We’ve only really played one venue more than like two times. We usually only play one place one time because we’re all over the place. Actually probably the coolest place we’ve played more than once is this place called The Living Room, but honestly the best show we’ve been to is a house show, we’ve just been to too many places to pick one, like there’s no way.
What are your guys’ favorite local bands?
Brandon/Vocals:
Pretty Shanks bitchh. Who else is cool?
Kevin/Drums:
We don’t really know a lot of local bands.
Brandon/Vocals:
Weird Fun! If you can get this out to Weird Fun, tell them this is Brandon Martinez. Come on, link it girl!
Simon/Guitar:
There was this local band, they died for sad reasons, it was honestly really sad, but the Cultbusters were really cool. When Corey was in the band they were good, but now Leo’s in it and honestly I don’t care if Leo hears this, Leo’s pretty rude, but The Cultbusters are cool.
Brandon/Vocals:
Weird Fun, if you hear this, you know we out here. We’re The Axidents, ya know baby, you cute. Your lead singer's cute as shit TBH.
Gabe/Bass:
Like my status if you tryna play a show together.
Brandon/Vocals:
Exactly baby, we’re tryna get some shows together, ya feel me?
Okay that’s all the questions I have! Is there anything else you wanna mention?
Brandon/Vocals:
Yeah I got some heartfelt shit.. We’re coming up man, I don’t know man, you’re gonna see a lot more of us, we’re kinda dead right now, but, honestly I shouldn’t even say that because I know they still love us.
Simon/Guitar:
And check us out if you’re a man! Well not actually a man, but a real one, check us out! It’s Axidents with an X by the way!
Brandon/Vocals:
A-X-I-D-E-N-T-S, look us up, we’re on soundcloud. Our Latest EP, “Red,” is strong as fuck, go listen to it. There’s a song on it called “The Beginning of the End,” nobody fucking likes it, but go check it out. That’s pretty much it.
Simon/Guitar:
I know parents are like you have to do school, but honestly if you have a fucking dream, follow it. Because I’m not saying we’re gonna be big, maybe one day, but like if you wanna do something and everyone's telling you not to do it, do it, unless it’s like drugs or something, fucking do it because you only live once. You’d rather be happy and fucking homeless in a ditch than have some nice ass job and be depressed and be with a wife you don’t even like so yeah, follow your dreams.
Gabe/Bass:
Simon is fucking true, listen to that boy.
Okay are we ending it, what’s the last word?
The Whole Band:
Axidents OUT!
HUGE shoutout and thank you to these boys for letting me hang with them and interveiw them! I seriously had such a blast, they’re a fun group. PLEASE go and check out they're music and support these guys! You won't regret it!
photos and words by mac
