A Chat with AnotherMay (22.08.20)
Founded in 2018 by Brett and Eduardo, AnotherMay is a Mexican dream-pop band with an exciting sound. After releasing two albums in English and Spanish, AnotherMay has another album on their hands. We speak with AnotherMay about their new EP, learning languages and childhood memories.
OSR: How did AnotherMay form?
Eduardo: Back in early 2018, I was having some issues with a friend’s group that I was in. The issues ended up turning into a fallout between all of us, so I came to Brett asking for help on writing a song. I figured an apology through a song would be a good way to apologise and Brett belonged to many other musical projects, so I knew he was the guy. Despite this, we ended up developing this small favour into a musical project that would consist of other songs in different styles. Finally, after Brett showed Brad, our drummer, an early demo of ‘Ojos Desgastados’, he joined our project and we decided to call it a band! Our next task was to find a name for it, and while AnotherJune had some potential, AnotherMay took the cake since it had multiple meanings that related to both of our feelings at the time.
OSR: You release songs in Spanish and English, but which language do you find easier to compose and sing?
Eduardo: In regards to singing, I prefer Spanish since I feel much more comfortable with it. Singing in English is phonetically easier, but Spanish just allows you to express yourself in a much more fluid manner in my opinion.
In regards to composition, Brett produced all of the tracks on the self-titled EP, while the rest of us helped with lyrics and our individual parts. I just mention this since we usually decide whether the track should be in English or in Spanish depending on how the demo sounds, which is honestly really great considering our sporadic ideas for modifications of songs. As for lyric composition, I would say that it’s easier to write in Spanish.
Fun fact: Brett and I always get our Spanish lyrics checked by Brett’s girlfriend and, once again, by my mother. Hi mom! ❤️
OSR: Have you ever thought of learning other languages?
Brett: Over the past years, I have been learning French and, more recently, Spanish so I can understand our lyrics and not just take Eduardo’s word for it. *laughs*
Eduardo: This is going to make it difficult for me to try to pass things off like: “Número 15: Lechuga de pata de Burger King. Lo último que querrías en tu hamburguesa de Burger King es el hongo del pie de alguien. Pero resulta que eso podría ser lo que obtienes”
Also, I think other languages are cool, but I think I should probably work on English and Spanish since I am at a weird point where I’m not horrible at both, but I’m also not as good as I should be with them.
OSR: Describe your sound in one word.
AnotherMay: Melodic.
OSR: What can you tell us about the new EP AnotherMay?
Eduardo: I think it highlights some of the best work that we’ve ever made. Although the base of each track was produced at the same time, each individual song just turned into its own entity. Each track reflects on a personal experience that we have experienced either as a band or as a person. To list some off, ‘5150’ reflects on the emotions felt when your partner is emotionally and mentally unstable concluding with a feeling of understanding that you can only do so much. ‘Para Los Hombres’ reflects on an experience where our friends got sexually abused by a Latin individual that we once knew. We recognised the lack of accountability or acknowledgement of toxic masculinity in LatinX households, so we wrote a song that proposes a set of rules that every young man should consider as they grow up and mature.
We invite everyone to listen to the tracks and see what they get away from each of them. We write our songs with a message behind them, so our hope is that one person gets something out of them.
OSR: Do you feel your sound has differed since your debut EP?
Brett: Oh for sure. With our previous EP, we were definitely restricted by what we could do with two members. When we started adding more members we were able to write songs with more complex parts to them.
Eduardo: I have to agree with Brett here. We had the privilege of working with two new members, Billy and Elias. Both came from a different musical background, but their contributions to the album just show nothing but their pure talent.
Billy came from a more jazz-oriented background, something you can definitely hear through his various solos and leads throughout the EP. Elias comes from an indie/math-rock background, in addition to being incredibly experienced on the keyboard and on the guitar. His work with the keys can be heard on every track truly taking the spotlight during ‘You Can Tell Me ft. corduroy’. On that note, we had the privilege of working with Nima from corduroy! Her vocals were one of the key features of our EP, making ‘You Can Tell Me’ one of our most listened tracks to date.
OSR: What do you hope people take from your music?
Brett: We want people to use our music to help cope with issues that they struggle with. The things we sing about happen on a daily basis and we don’t want the people that deal with it to feel along.
OSR: Can you recommend any other unsigned bands for us to check out?
Brett: For sure, everyone in the Paperhouse gang: Conserve, Swing Away, Sadgasm and Peachi, even though they are quite different from us. Oh, and also corduroy!
Eduardo: Finally, we would recommend Twin Peaks Sessions based out of San Francisco since they always have new local acts! They were the first ones that actually gave us a shot!
OSR: If you had to live with one celebrity for the rest of your life who would that be?
Eduardo: Bobby Shmurda.
Brett: Bobby Shmurda.
Brad: Shia LeBeouf.
Elias: Willem Defoe.
Billy: Some jazz god.
OSR: What is your most treasured childhood memory?
Brett: Going to SF with my dad and sister on the week of Christmas. I get nostalgic when a car’s interior smells of cigarettes.
Eduardo: For me, it’s definitely the combination of stepping into a warm house after being outside during a cold fall evening and smelling food. I feel like these are pretty common, but they don’t fail to remind me of the days leading up to Christmas Eve where our families would all get together to pray and eat. These moments just meant a lot since my family didn’t always have opportunities to sit down and eat together due to our different schedules. They were called posadas and I’m upset that they won’t be happening this year; but, there’s always next year!
OSR: What does the future hold for AnotherMay?
Brett: We just dropped a music video for our song ‘You Can Tell Me ft. corduroy’. On to of that, we have music videos planned for ‘Para Los Hombres’ and ‘Marigolds’. We are also planning a puppet show and begin working on new music in the near future.
Eduardo: In addition to this, we are opening up a website so that we can start selling merchandise that isn’t just a limited edition merch box! We are also working on new singles to release.
Thanks to AnotherMay for chatting with us! You can find more about AnotherMay on their Twitter, Instagram, Bandcamp and Spotify.
