Hxstage and M Gang: Interview

Hxstage is building from the ground up.

Hxstage is an online musician from Utah County, Utah. He’s been buzzing in the underground music scene over the past few years, and is gearing up to release an album sometime in the near future.

The M Gang, Matt, Mac, and Marvin (plus Willy, who wasn’t here for the interview), All signees of MEGA UNIVERSE, Are writers and musicians who became fans of Hxstage a while back and wanted to interview him. He accepted.

Hxstage and The M Gang talked online over all kinds of topics. Here is the interview they had:

Matt: You’ve made different kinds of music, from your earlier metal/screamo music to more electronic/pop that you make now, why did you make that change between styles, and what evolutions can we expect next?

Hxstage: I kind of just realized that I was better at singing than screaming. Or at least I personally think so. I’ve always had an ear for melody and I could always sing. I just never took it seriously until fairly recently. I’ve always been making melodic music too.

I’m not even sure what I expect next as far as how my sound will evolve. I guess it’ll probably just be the same shit but cooler.

(To see his sonic evolution up to now, Comparing his 2020 track “THROW IT AWAY” To his most upcoming track “Did You Get What You Want”, He sent us for early listening for the article, you can tell he’s been growing as a musician from then to now. He produces most of his music (also frequently teaming up with producer daisy nuke band) and writes all of it, So the sonic evolution is all his own. From the ground up. Not a record label following a trend, or a wave. It’s a true arc.)

(Hxstage performing live.)

Matt: So you confirmed you are working on an album as of now right? What artists, sounds, pieces of art, or life experiences or anything really that you can tell us about have inspired your upcoming album?

Hxstage: Yeah an album is in the works. It’s a more eclectic thing and it’s inspired by the older warped tour scene.

Matt: That’s great. Who in the music scene, dead or alive do you look up to creatively generally, and who are some metalcore artists you’ve been listening to in preparation for this album?

Hxstage: My biggest inspiration for the last few years has been Matt Elliot. And recently I’ve been listening to a lot of I set my friends on fire, asking Alexandria, and famous last words. I’ve been listening to some Attila shit too.

(Regardless of the sound of the project, Hxstage hasn’t strayed far from his roots of influence but hasn’t been pigeonholed either.)

Matt: I might have to check them (Matt Elliot and Attila) out. Another thing I’m curious about: Your first song that I can find is from 2019-2020 on SoundCloud, I can’t tell. But do you remember the first track you recorded and released? You said on Instagram you started recording in 2016, what was that like?

Hxstage: my earliest releases that are available right now are from 2017. It was a project called antithesis. Also, I was later corrected by a friend that I started recording in 2014, which is true. I made a diss track in my songwriting class in jr high. I can’t remember what the first (one) I dropped was actually. But one of them was a song I made with my friends. We had A suicide boys rip-off group but we only made a few songs and didn’t drop most of them. When I first started recording I didn’t know shit. I just already had a mic because I was making shitty gaming videos for a little before I became interested in making music.

Marvin: When did you know you wanted to make music, and why?

Hxstage: I knew that I wanted to make music in middle school. all the bands I was listening to at the time made music seem really fun to make so I started writing some shitty metalcore stuff and tried to start some bands, but nobody was on the same shit I was I guess. I never got to record any of it, but it was the jumping-off point for sure.

(In the internet age, it’s easy to say you're going to make something, but to stick to a path and continue to create is harder. M Gang with their various published and in-progress projects (Exosia, 4 albums, and 2 mixtapes, V9L, PUNKS, Various throwaway singles from the whole group, and Italy 2099, an upcoming collaborative comic.) And Hxstage, who has released several EPs and fan acclaimed singles (IE: Salem) His career, He means it. And he’s going nowhere but up from here.)

(The group became to veer off the beaten path, a little bit.)

Mac: Do you have a favorite all-time favorite artist in any medium?

Hxstage: My favorite musical artist is Matt Elliot. He’s been my biggest inspiration and I think his music super unique. I’ve never heard other shit like his. My favorite artists as far as physical art would probably be Ralph Steadman and Nate Hillyer. They’ve influenced my art style more than anybody else. I have a Ralph Steadman art book that I look through when I can’t come up with ideas for music.

Matt: (…) I love Ralph Steadman, for sure.

Matt: Mac, He’s the guy who drew the Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho album cover (…) And he drew a Breaking Bad piece.

Mac: Wild.

Mac: Do you have a favorite movie?

Hxstage: My favorite movie is the crow. Or at least is to right now. Favorites are a little hard for me to pick because they change around a lot. There’s also just a lot of them. But I like the crow because it’s just a fun movie to watch. The whole thing looks like a 90s music video and it’s pretty campy I guess.

Matt: I’ve wanted to watch that movie for a while now. Didn’t Brandon Lee die filming that?

Hxstage: Yeah Brandon died when there were only a couple of days of filming left. They had to bring someone else in to finish the scenes they had left I believe.

Mac: I think I saw a video about that.

Matt: Yeah, we watched a video about it over spring break with the joker makeup and the energy. Marvin like froze in time and stuff.

(The off-topic conversation continued about other various things, Bat-Man makeup, the placebo effect, and things of that nature.)

(Hxstage and M Gang in odd situations, respectively)

Matt: This is a side-tangent but I gotta nerd out, super fast! You’ve said you like comic books before, I love them, I make them, and I’ve seen them on your Instagram story, so I gotta ask you, what is your favorite comic book long-term run or limited series? Mine is Mister Miracle (2017) by Tom King and Mitch Gerads. Read it if you haven’t. It’s only 12 issues. It saved my life, most definitely.

Hxstage: I’ll check that out for sure. I always love being put on to new comics. I liked Under The Red Hood a lot. I think that’s my favorite. I’m a sucker for anything Batman-related. Another comic that I really like is Batman Arkham Asylum. The art is the craziest I’ve ever seen in a comic.

(The topic of influence continued, Art is just inspired by older art after all.)

Marvin: Where do you want to perform the most?

Hxstage: The UK would be a cool place to perform. or just anywhere overseas just for the opportunity to travel.

Marvin: Do you have a favorite place to make music or hang out?

Hxstage: My room is probably my favorite place to be. I have everything I need in here and it’s where all my ideas come to me the most naturally.

Matt: My last question: What do you wanna tell the audience before we end this interview? What do you have coming up? Do you have any advice for the youth out there who make music, or create in general? I’m trying to cook up something good with Playing God, Jericho and Metropolis for sure. You’ve inspired me personally on all those projects. And I know you inspire a lot of the kids out there.

Hxstage: The thing I’m most excited about is some merch that I have coming, which is something I never thought I’d end up doing. It’s designs that I drew so I hope people fuck with it. (And) I feel like I’m not too good at giving advice, but I would say just try to be unique with what you make. Not to like an individuality complex level, but just make your shit your own. It’s probably the most obvious thing ever but it doesn’t seem like that’s something a lot of people keep in mind to me.

(Hxstage wearing his upcoming merch.)

Matt: Thanks so much bro! This has been awesome!

Hxstage: Of course bruh anytime!

(We ended the interview with a new appreciation and insight into the mind and art of Hxstage as a musician, and a person.
You can follow him on Instagram @ _hxtstage and listen to all of his music and the upcoming song “Did You Get What You Want” on all streaming platforms.)