Name: OXYMORRONS
Members: Demi "Deee", Kami “KI”, Matty Mayz, Jafe Paulino

Nationality: American
Current release: OXYMORRONS' new single "Enemy" is out now via Mascot. They are also currently on tour. Visit their website for more tour information. Here are the remaining dates for their European concerts:
23 Feb 2023 - Engine Rooms, Southampton - UK
24 Feb 2023 - Exchange Bristol - UK
25 Feb 2023 - Leeds Beckett Students Union, Leeds - UK
27 Feb 2023 - The Garage, Glasgow - UK
28 Feb 2023 - Manchester Academy, Manchester - UK
01 Mar 2023 - The Mill, Digbeth - UK
02 Mar 2023 - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham - UK
03 Mar 2023 - The Dome, London - UK
04 Mar 2023 - The Dome, London - UK
05 Mar 2023 - The Dome, London - UK
06 Mar 2023 - Exchange, Bristol – UK
Recommendations: Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell is a band favorite book. Jazz by Queen.

If you enjoyed this interview with OXYMORRONS and would like to stay up to date with the band's music, visit their official website. They are also on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter.



When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/or sound that drew you to it?

We all come from musical families and have been playing with sounds since we were kids. There's a wide range of influences throughout our lives that has led to the hybrid sound you hear today from us.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours.  What happens in your body when you're listening and how does it influence your approach to creativity?

Listening to music feels like a gateway into the other dimensions of the universe. As humans we experience life in 3D but there’s clearly so much more out there.

The frequencies in sound and the fact that we can’t even process or hear the entire range of them remind us that there’s more to life than just what we experience with our 5 senses.

How would you describe your development as an artist in terms of interests and challenges, searching for a personal voice, as well as breakthroughs?

Our development as people and the challenges we’ve faced in life coincide directly with our artistry.

Tell me a bit about your sense of identity and how it influences both your preferences as a listener and your creativity as an artist, please.

It is very important for us to always be unapologetically ourselves. That is one of the main ethos of the band and influences everything we do and create as artists.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and art?

Our main rule is that there are no rules. If it sounds good, feels good, it is good. We aspire to never be put in any box, and will always challenge that.

How would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

We’re the Oxymorrons. We’re creating a blueprint for the future of music.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools - and what are the most promising strategies for working with them?

We’ve always been a pro-active band instead of reactive.

For example, during the pandemic instead of waiting for the world to open up again, we met up 2/3 times a week and wrote as many songs as possible, discussed our live shows, and prepared ourselves for success.

Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work, please.

We all wake up and drink 3 egg whites and do 16 jumping jacks in unison before starting a day. Haha nah just kidding - we all have very different daily routines as we’re all 4 unique individuals.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of a piece, live performance or album that's particularly dear to you, please?

Writing and recording “Justice” was a special moment for us.

This was in February 2020, before the murder of George Floyd, and we were discussing our experiences with police brutality and racism. The next day we went into the studio with Zach Jones and completed that song from start to finish in just 4 hours.

It was a cathartic release and we had no idea how important this song was going to be just a few months later.

Listening can be both a solitary and a communal activity. Likewise, creating music can be private or collaborative. Can you talk about your preferences in this regard and how these constellations influence creative results?

We are extremely collaborative in our songwriting process. Whatever is best for the song is the direction we move in.

There are no egos involved when we are creating. No instrument, no lyric, no idea is off limits to just one band member, we all write together.

How do your work and your creativity relate to the world and what is the role of music in society?

Music is the universal language. Music has always brought the world together, through struggle and through celebration.

Art can be a way of dealing with the big topics in life: Life, loss, death, love, pain, and many more. In which way and on which occasions has music – both your own or that of others - contributed to your understanding of these questions?

Art and music has always been a form of therapy for all of us. It has allowed us to understand and process the big themes of life you listed above, and maintain our sanity and positivity.

How do you see the connection between music and science and what can these two fields reveal about each other?

Music is frequencies which means music is science! Certain chords and arrangements can invoke so many different emotions.

As a band, we’re always trying to touch on the entire spectrum of human emotion in our music.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

When it comes to creating a piece of music, there’s a lot more soul in it. Sure, you can put a lot love in a good cup of coffee, but you can’t really put your soul into a cup of coffee.

There’s a piece of all of us in each one of our songs.

Music is vibration in the air, captured by our ear drums. From your perspective as a creator and listener, do you have an explanation how it able to transmit such diverse and potentially deep messages?

Music is subjective! As a creator and listener.

So what is considered diverse or deep is up to the listener/creator based off of their own life experiences.