Make Room for Destroy Boys
Playing 924 Gilman, the infamous venue where rockers such as Green Day, The Offspring, and Rancid got their start, Bay Area-based band Destroy Boys feel right at home. Interacting with friends before the show and confidently navigating their way through the excited crowd, it’s easy to envision their rise to fame. Vocalist/guitarist Alexia Roditis, lead guitarist Violet Mayugaba, bassist Falyn Walsh, and drummer Narsai Malik have rapidly been creating their place within the punk scene, catching the attention of a large range of fans, including Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong. Huddled outside the venue while Gymshorts prepared for an energetic set, we linked arms and discussed their recent tour with SWMRS, inspirations for their latest album, and life in the Bay Area.
To start off, you recently went on tour in the United Kingdom with SWMRS. What was the experience of playing a show overseas like? How did the shows stand against your expectations?
Alexia Roditis: It was pretty crazy! They like to jump.
Falyn Walsh: Yeah, they pogo stick!
Violet Mayugba: That was awesome, and I’m pretty sure we all agree.
AR: They definitely exceeded our expectations. I feel like we were really well-received, which I did not expect.
VM: Everyone was very kind to us.
Narsai Malik: I don’t think there’s a single mean person in the entire country.
VM: There was a lot of people telling us ‘cheers.’ There was a lot of chanting because they’d be chanting the name of a town we weren’t even in!
Do you have any memorable stories from your time there?
VM: The food was so bad! That’s the only thing I remember.
FW: Well, we have one story…
VM: Oh, I threw up in an Uber! I threw up like three liters of puke, and I was completely sober. I had just eaten airplane food and just barfed everywhere.
FW: At least three times, Alexia was like, ‘Hey, my friend’s about to get sick in your car! Can you pull over?’ He didn’t, so he deserved it!
AR: We were already halfway there, so I wasn’t going to tell him that she was going to throw up because he wasn’t going to listen and we weren’t going to make our train! This was also day two of being in the UK, so it was a bonding experience.
VM: Narsai immediately just went, ‘Oh,’ and looked away. I was like, ‘Narsai, I’m sorry,’ and he just goes, ‘Stop. Stop.’
FW: I feel like after it happened, Narsai was just in a bad mood for hours. People would say something, and he’d just be like, ‘I don’t know.’
VM: It was fucking horrible and smelt bad! That was a lie; I felt a lot better.
You currently have only been playing a handful of local shows, so are there any plans for a headlining tour sometime soon?
AR: Hopefully!
FW: Probably.
NM: It will happen.
Your latest album, Make Room, was released towards the end of 2018. What was the process like in putting it together?
AR: It was interesting because we had to write the music, which we did in about a month. We had been collecting the songs for a long time, and we kinda just threw them up on this one album. We waited for around a year to release it, so it was a lot of waiting. We were like, ‘Fuck, I want to play this new stuff live, but we can’t!’
VM: But we did, and it was great.
AR: It was really exciting, and it sounds really good.
How did you come up with the album name and art?
AR: We wrote this song, “Piedmont,” and it says, ‘Make room, please.’
VM: The name came to me in a dream… just kidding. The name also comes from our need to emphasize our position and place in the music scene over the constant onslaught of male bands.
AR: Make space, make room.
VM: A lot of the concepts for Destroy Boys are really ambiguous and hard to explain. I feel like the album art is like having all eyes on us, but we want all eyes on us and we can’t escape it. We also mean how people are judging us and watching us and everything’s strange. Eyes look cool.
AR: Also, as a non-man, you have eyes on you all the time, whether it be judgment or looking you up and down in a perverted way.
FW: The objectifying eyes of man!
VM: Narsai knows.
FW: He’s a snack!
VM: I mean that people look at him, not that he does that.
Were there any unexpected challenges that you experienced during the album’s creation?
AR: Finding band members.
VM: It was impossible… next question.
Were there any key influences that impacted the overall album or a certain song?
VM: Growth. Any musician strives to make what they’re making now ten or even a hundred times better than the previous thing.
AR: SWMRS helped with a bunch of fun things here and there, like dynamics. Other than that, I don’t know… it’s just people being weird and shitty and wanting to talk about it and process it.
The Bay Area is notorious for its innovative and creative spirit. Do you feel like living here has in any way influenced your work?
FW: I think the history and community inspire not just us, but other people to get involved and come be part of something. Also, being around other musicians and other artists make me want to follow them, not in a competitive way but an inspiring way. It’s like, ‘Damn, these shows are really good. I want to play shows like that. I want to play shows with these bands!’
Are you currently working on any new music?
All: Yes!
VM: I love that people are just skipping right now, like I just want to put it on the record that a group of six young youths just skipped into the venue.
Do you have any advice for any young musicians hoping to break into the punk scene?
AR: Just do it!
FW: Just do it and play shows! Go to shows! Meet friends!
AR: Show friends songs that you have, and if they play an instrument, you can start a band! I feel like the hardest part of starting a band is making the music, and getting started and through that without knowing if it will be good or not is okay because you know what? You’re going to make shit, and that’s okay because you have to start writing shit so you can get better at it. Practice! Just do it. Also, the punk scene, at least here and in most other places, is pretty welcoming.
Now onto some fun questions! Has there been any particular song that has played a large role in your music career?
FW: “Steamer Trunk” by Alkaline Trio.
VM: “Rebecca” by Against Me!.
AR: I really want to say “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
NM: Screaming Females’ “Ripe.”
AR: Oh, “Kiss” by Mannequin Pussy!
Last year, we received a variety of new releases, each with its own unique tracks and themes. Did you have a favorite album or discovery?
NM: Jack White had a really good album.
FW: I don’t really want to say mine.
VM: Is it Alkaline Trio again?
FW: Yep!
AR: I started listening to Trash Talk, so I’d say I listened to their Awake EP a lot.
VM: I heard Berkeley’s on Fire in 2018, so I’d count that.
The dynamic created by a stage setup can change the overall feel of a show and add thematic elements that may develop a concert’s concept. What has been your favorite stage setup that you’ve seen at a show?
NM: Uncool Halloween was really sick.
AR: I really liked Manchester.
VM: Manchester’s stage setup was my favorite! That shit was dope.
FW: I don’t really pay attention, but at the Teragram Ballroom, Narsai had a drum riser, so I pick that!
Album covers are unique pieces of art in themselves, as they add a visual element to an album that can further explore an album’s theme or catch a listener’s attention. If you had the chance to switch album covers with an album of your choosing, which album would you choose?
AR: System of a Down’s album with the Hollywood sign. I wish we could do that.
FW: I’d say any record that has a dog on it.
NM: Royal Blood has a lot of cool album covers.
AR: Oh, like How Did We Get So Dark?!
Do you have any final words for your fans?
AR: Go start a band! Make art. If you don’t want to start a band, paint something or do whatever you want.
NM: Go see bands!
AR: Make poems.
NM: Listen to music.
VM: Anything to do with music.
FW: Go get a dog.
With their evident passion for their work and enthusiasm to keep growing, it’s not difficult to foresee Destroy Boys’ future as the next big punk band. Outside of the band, they also continue to work hard in their everyday lives, whether it be Violet working with guitars at her job or Alexia tackling essays at school. In the several times I’ve seen them, the band never fails to bring a certain contagious energy that drives their fans to start pits or even join them on stage. Destroy Boys are currently on tour with SWMRS across North America, so be sure to catch them at a nearby date!
Written by: Mary Perez
Edited by: Gianna Cicchetti
Graphic by: Katie Christensen