Xom
Ivan Oliva: Synth/Vocals/Samples/Guitar
Dakota Metzger- Vocals/Bass
Gabriel Olea-Macias- Lead Guitar
Anthony Scaglione- Drums
Hey Xom! We love your music and would love to get to know you guys.
For starters, where are you guys from and when did you guys form?
Ivan: When did we form Dakota?
Dakota: Four years ago! Four years ago and.. We’re from Lancaster? Palmdale?
Ivan: We are from Lancaster, we started in Palmdale but half of us now live in Santa Ana.
Dakota: And I'm still technically from Garden Grove *laughs*
Ivan: There you go *laughs*
Do you guys subscribe to a “genre”? Why or why not?
Gabe: Fucking, um-
Dakota: No.
Gabe: A made up one: Indie-strial! *laughs* I always call us like...fucking electronic emo. Right? So if you like to rave, you could cry in the middle of it.
Anthony: Isn’t that a normal rave? *laughs*. cause that's my experience at raves.
Dakota: This is why we can't do interviews.
Gabe: '' I mean genre doesn't really exist. Everyone just sort of blends in now. If you're an Electronic act or if you're a Rock band, who fucking cares. That’s old, mix all of it.
Dakota: I feel we shouldn’t limit ourselves to a genre.We have so many ideas, so many things we’re working on. We’re growing as a band and growing with our sound. And that's really enjoyable and I wouldn't exactly put us in a genre. I agree with Gabe.
Gabe: Half of your stuff sounds like melancholic...emo. And Ivan’s stuff sounds like soft synth pop. Contrasting things that work great.
Anthony: Are you writing all this down, Ivan?
Ivan: I’m recording it.
Antony: Oh shit!
I heard you guys are coming out with some singles! Can you talk a little about what informs/inspires the new songs?
Gabe: Well, Dakota gets really high-
Dakota: Nope!
Ivan: What inspires the new songs? I guess relationships, but not ours, kinda? For “Bruiser Brodie” I kinda just shouted the first things that came to me. It comes from a lonely place in a relationship? Like wanting someone to want you so much that they end up bad for you? But then again, when I sing “Main Street is lonely '', I was literally driving home and reading street signs and that stuck, so I don't know. *laughs*
Dakota: “Chilling at a House Show” is pretty much a mix between nostalgia for old shows, which are coming back now and better than ever, and the existential dread I’d constantly feel in my early 20s. I still have those questions and sometimes they really overwhelm me but at shows I can free my mind with new perspectives. Depression is also an underlying factor for most of the recent songs. There is no big plan and that's okay. It’s okay to be scared and feel pain and it's a part of living. Suffering is inevitable and proof you're alive in a way...also i'm saying don't sweat the small stuff and the things you can't control. Enjoy the moment.
Tell us a little about your process when making music. Is it spontaneous, raw, organized?
Anthony: Depends, the songs...they’re usually 70 to 80 percent there already?
Dakota: Yeah we kind of already have an idea of what the song is before we finish it.
Anthony: And it's just every person’s job to kinda add their texture to it.
Gabe: Someone will come in with a skeleton and the rest of us will add muscle and tendons and stuff.
Dakota: It's a pretty democratic effort.
Anthony: “House Show” was more group effort-y, I think since we didn't exactly know what it was going to be.
Ivan: And you know...it goes back and forth. Some songs take more effort to finish than others. Sometimes they're not even there and we bring them in and we...
Dakota: We fill them out-
Ivan: Put them all together.
Gabe: Sometimes I ask ‘What do you want from me?’ and you say ‘Do what the fuck you want’ and I get scared. *laughs*
Tell us a little about your new work!
Ivan: We ended up changing a lot (for the new stuff), didn't we?
Gabe: Yeah-
Dakota: Yes we did..
Gabe: Alot.
Ivan: Cause we changed lineups and overall sound almost…
Dakota: We’re more aggressive and focusing on the hardcore aspect.
Gabe: I would say that the old lineup was a lot more like psychedelic and softer indie influences...we sound angry now *laughs*
Dakota: We are. We’re agitated and feeling our feelings now.
Ivan: Our first single “Bruiser Brodie'' is a hard and fast song. Our friend Jesse (Alezano, from the band Drive By Cinema) got us into some cool new bands and his influence sorta rubbed off on us. I’m really getting into 12 Rods, Origami Angel-
Dakota: Hot Mulligan, KennyHoopla-
Ivan: Hoopla’s great.
Dakota: and Glocca Morra too.
Ivan: I really wanted something I could shout and get people to sing along to with this song. Bruiser Brody was a real person too by the way *laughs*
What is your favorite live show you’ve guys played?
Ivan: I know we’ve only had a few shows together in this lineup, so a show either in or out of this band *laughs*
Dakota: I got one. When we played in Riverside, what was the date- the second time I think? (September 2019) When everyone started singing ‘Susan (Sarandon)” cause it’s such an easy chorus?
Ivan: Yeah I think it was the Riverside show.
Dakota: Yeah, that one’s my favorite cause everyone was just vibing to us and having fun.
Gabe: I really liked Bridgetown (January 2020) just cause it was an emotional one. There wasn't a ton of people there, honestly. Like really I think it was just our friends at the end and there was a good group in the beginning but then they all left. Whatever, I mean you can't get salty at that, you can't get mad at that-
Dakota: It's just what that shit is.
Gabriel: And even then it wasn't discouraging! We still put on a hell of a show. Our instruments broke but still we put on a great fucking show! *laughs* If people were there, they would’ve been like “Damn, these guys are fucking awesome!”.
Dakota: I feel like our energy is a lot...more intense now.
Gabe: Yeha, that one was my favorite too, for the emotional component. One of our friends was just about to leave the band and we still played our hearts out for him-
Dakota: Oh yeah!
Ivan: Our last show with Chris (former drummer Christopher Cameron).
Gabe: And then my guitar fell apart and then I broke my glasses and everything died. That was a fun one though.
Dakota: I got so drunk that day.
Ivan: How about you Anthony?
Anthony: My favorite show was with Vultures of Vinyl and we released (the single) “Best Suit” and everyone kept asking us to play it over and over again. And people were just hyphy for it ,it was hilarious. It’s so cool when people like your song.
Dakota: I lost my shit when you guys pulled out Joy Division covers. I fucking shit my pants.
Anthony: When you write something and people just start singing along to it, there’s nothing better than that.
Dakota: Right!
Gabe: It’s great.
Thanks you SO much for answering our questions! We are honored to have chatted with you for our 6th issue! Keep being awesome. -The Fit Of Sleep.