CRASH! RETURNS WITH NEW YEARS EVE BALL

Anitah: To get us started, what has been both of y’all’s musical backgrounds?


May: I played violin in high school because I did string orchestra at school, and then it was super lame, so I stopped. And then when I was 19, I met Trey and started playing bass in order to form the band (Tassel),so I wasn't playing bass before that.  Trey had songs, and someone wanted us on a show, and then we literally formed, like, a really discombobulated band like the week of the show so that we could play. And we played three songs. Later, we met Ash, and kicked out our other members.


~laughs~


Ash: Yeah, I mean I've been doing music on my own, and have kind of been making stuff since I was a kid. I kind of just lived in places where I couldn't do thing like normal kids could. Because of this, and certain experiences, I just like found my entertainment in making art, so I just played music in high school and stuff, especially when COVID happened, I had all this time so I was just is like, making albums.


Anitah: Like, making albums? Plural?


Ash: Yeah! There’s a few out they’re, on YouTube. And then I made one and made CD for it. And then I went to Washington briefly. When I came back I ended up meeting them (May and Trey), and they were like, the only people that I feel like had a mutual understanding about kind of what I wanted to do, and that goes into how I just joined.



Anitah: Yeah, what was like your albums that you were making? Was it, like, pretty synonymous to what you're making with Tassel right now?


Ash: Yeah, it's definitely a lot more similar to the record we have coming out, it's pretty crazy. The stuff I was doing then, I was a lot younger. I was more into, I guess, what people call shoe gaze, or something in the sound.  And like a lot of, like the indie rock stuff, and then punk and all that. And then in high school, I was making some really noisy, danceable music. But, like, not drums, just like drums really fucked up shit or something, I was just going for it. And I think I knew about Trey for a while because of Instagram, so it was like this mysterious person, yeah, I don't know. We just kind of saw each other doing stuff, so I kind of like knew about them for a little bit. Just like, the only reason I want to come back to Phoenix.


Anitah: What has influenced y’alls music tastes?


May: So I have boomer parents, which is rare, I feel like for my age. They were very pretentious about their music taste. And I was lucky enough to be exposed to, a lot of new wave, a lot of 80s, a lot of 70s, kind of all genres of those time periods. And I remember, one of my first musical memories, one of my first memories, in general, being alive, was my mom playing the Frankie Goes to Hollywood “Relax” music video, which is, like, not a video that I would show a three year old, personally,  but that's like, one of my really early memories.

I mean, my mom really likes new wave, my dad really likes new wave, and they would always play it for me. As a teenager, I definitely got into it more in my own way, like I mentioned earlier. Like in the London Olympics years ago, when I was a kid, they had Pet Shop Boys playing “West End Girls” live on this rotating stage. It was crazy to me. I was like, ‘What is this?’ There's no songs that sound like this. Even in 2024, it's futurist. It’s just all super futurist to me still. When I was like 14, I started getting into new wave, like, really hyper fixated. My favorite band was Soft Cell for years, and then through them, I found Vicious Pink. Yeah, those are still, like two of my favorite bands of all time. When I was like 15, I found Duran Duran. Their self titled album was like the teenage experience. If you're weird a teenager, their first album is, like, everything. And then, yeah, I mean, I just really stuck with all of that.


As I got older, I got into a little bit more of the gothic stuff, because that originated in the 80s. I was pretty into it.  And as I got older, I delved more into the experimental stuff, like a lot of just, pioneering kind of synthetics, like really early new wave. I really enjoyed Human League.

Anitah: What was your both of y’alls intros to DJing?


May: I started djing right before we started Tassel. In the summer of 2021, I was like I really wanna DJ! I like music and nothing else. I feel like, whenever I'm at a party, people are always handing me the AUX. To be honest, I just wanted it to do something cool and fun. And I was like, you know what, this is cool and fun! So I started in 2021, my first gig was a house party - that went crazy.


And a little bit later, I was kind of in my own world, doing stuff. And then as I got more connected with communities in Phoenix and through Tassel and other projects, I started djing in the goth scene. Just because it was the only place where I felt like they played the music that I really like. I mean, where else can I play alternative 80s and industrial tech, and also, I don't know, just weird, niche industrial stuff that, like, a lot of people wouldn't even say is necessarily goth, but close enough.  


And I had a residency at Club Palazzo. I kind of still do. And then I was like, I need to start my own thing, because I don't want to play dark music, I wanna play pop music, I wanna play dance music! My favorite thing is 80s, and we're gonna do that. So we started CRASH!.  



Ash: With that too. I think, with us, we've been part of kind of like a goth scene, but our like interests are a lot lot broader. And something that I remember always noticing going to the goth club is it's only one specific kind of music.  I really like a lot of stuff, and I really like when a lot of people can enjoy,  a whole variety of things, rather than just maybe one kind of thing. So I think we were kind of looking around going, like, you know, where is this aspect. So I think that was really important for CRASH!; it definitely has its like own thing, but I feel like it's so much more welcoming.


I started djing for CRASH!. I had to learn, I’m still learning, but I had to  get it down enough to be able to do it, like, two weeks before we did it.


Djing I guess for me has never been like, a super big priority, just because I'm always, always, really focused on, making records, making stuff like that. But I like djing, definitely. We have a really specific shared interest, and anything that’s under this weird new wave umbrella, which is like so much different kinds of stuff, I was like, I would love to curate a space that if I was gonna go somewhere, I would feel welcome to be myself and not limited or anything.



May: That was one of our main goals. We were kind of like, okay, we hate going out. We hate every event. We hate everything. Where would we go if we could decide? Because ultimately, you can decide!


Ash: Just like, finding a place to be comfortable, or there's cool music, and then there's also people are just like being cool, and they're more open minded about different kinds of things.

Anitah: What’s been your favorite thing or most memorable experiences about hosting CRASH! so far?


May: I think our favorite moments would be when we see people going crazy to our favorite songs. Something I'll never forget is you playing “Totally Wired”, and then people were just going crazy for it. We're like, do you guys, like, actually know the song, or you just like it? People bring so much energy, and I don't know, I wouldn't step foot in Phoenix and think people are gonna be jumping around, shouting, going crazy to this music.


Ash: I think something really cool is another thing with CRASH! was, like, I love a lot of really heavy, fucked up electronic shit, but I've always been more drawn to older music and older art, older culture. And that's the place where I feel like we could actually play that. And to just play some shit that I never even talked about with anyone besides me and Trey, and just seeing that other people into it too is really cool. And I think the cool part with that too is I really like how I hope that our night has this thing where you don't have to be like, super acknowledged about it, to go in and just enjoy it and then figure it out. I think it's important too, like, open a space so if people are interested, they can check it out. That’s my favorite aspect.


May: It’s definitely not supposed to be the kind of thing where you have to know what you're getting into. It's not supposed to be pretentious, really. It's supposed to be kind of like, we're playing what we love, but we want you to be glamorous and just have fun.


Anitah: How important is it to you to have spaces to dance?


May: I have always felt like our generation kind of lost out on dancing. It's really not something you see in like popular media, pop culture anymore. I just feel like in the like 60s, 70s, 80s, even 90s, it was like dancing was everything, like, community wise, going out wise. I feel like it's definitely a lost art, and I'd really like to see them make a comeback of full on dancing. I want to see the moves, I want to see the routine! I think in the modern day we're really out of touch with our bodies and just self expression in the body, I think we don't have anymore.  We’ve gone digital and I think that’s part of it, and everyone's also really closed off.


Anitah: What are your holy grails or standouts of your record collection? 


May: They’re all in my room. One of my favorite records is a dance edit record that I got in Houston, which is where I was born. And it's four tracks and four instrumentals, and it's just the best dance record I've ever heard. It is the most solid four track record ever. It means a lot to both of us and I had never heard it before until I picked up the record at the store.I was like, this cover Is kind of cool, I'll just take it with me. And it had some other DJs, like DJ tag stickers on it already, and I was like, that’s hilarious, it must be good.


I just have, I have a lot of DJ subscription records from the 80s that are kind of hard to find, just really unique mixes on tracks.


Ash: I got this, like, Lou Reed record that's actually, like, really terrible, but cover art is, like, really good. I have one of my favorite records is by Suicide, it’s just self titled. We've listened to my one a lot, and I was really into it when I was 17. But also, just like that B52’s record, I've had that for a really long time. And it's been a little bit different now, but for me, like a big, a big thing for me was kind of turning everything off, just like separating myself from technology and just listening to our records, just my mind was so overflown. I just wanted to listen to something from beginning to end and just look at the cover art. Like I used to legitimately, get off work at 3 in the morning, get stoned, look at the cover art, listen to the music. Just because I wanted to feel the whole thing.

Anitah: How’d you get into graphic design/visual art, and what went into crafting the visual aesthetics for CRASH!?


May: I was a visual artist way before I ever really touched music. I would do pencil drawings, like watercolor, I would do, like portraits. And as I got older, I was like, I need to make money - well, first there was a need. It was kind of like we started this band, and I started djing - you need flyers and I kind of just out of necessity, I started making flyers, and then I was like I need money. And it turns out people like my flyers. So a friend in Phoenix commissioned me to make a flyer for him for his show in LA,  him commissioning me for flyer got a lot of eyes on my work, which I didn't even expect.


Then it was just that flyer that got me a lot of traction and business, thank you to him. So yeah, I started doing people's, like, concert flyers, and I became a freelance graphic designer.

I don't know anything about graphics. I don't know what I’m doing, I do what I like. I kind of just tapped into Photoshop because I got it through, like my college account, and I never signed out of it. I just opened Photoshop and I started trying to get into it. It just clicked with me. I really love the layout and stuff, like on the early Photoshop. And I've just been making collages, and I really started to get into my style during that last year. I was kind of making darker kind of stuff for Tassel and my clients. That's kind of all my client work. And then as I started brainstorming for CRASH!. I mean, CRASH! was kind of like six months in the making before anyone ever saw the first one. We both knew what it would look like. I'm, yeah, very inspired by 70s, 80s album art.


Ash: A lot of old wheat pasted flyers. We've always just shown each other weird, saves archived of like, all the stuff we like.

May: A lot of movie posters, tour posters, show flyers from the 70s and 80s. I would definitely say new wave has the biggest influence.  And then, kind of, outside of my music, I'm very inspired by, like, 60s and 70s graphic design.  Something that I've spent a lot of time doing research. It influences me presently. It's kind of like, probably the same influence that people back then had. I mean, we both just kind of had a vision, and I think we have the same vision, I was able to make it come to life. While I made it, it's very much, both of us, like, both of our brains tuned in.

Anitah: How do you guys creatively work together?


May: We just look at each other and it just flows and we don't have to say anything.

~laughs~

May: We definitely curate our own atmospheres in our head. And I personally have a place in my mind that I can tune into, and it's like this atmosphere that we built together. And I'm like, Okay, I have to make this. Let me just go with it in my head, and it comes to life. And I would say, when we were  starting CRASH!, we were like, it has to be pink and green. The two colors  it has to be very energetic, very glamorous, very, I don't know, lively, those are kind of lively colors.


Ash: To be honest. Yeah, I mean I think doing CRASH! for us is really we can just do what we want visually. What we think looks cool is, like big blocky letters, like a vibrant color. Music is a lot actually darker, I feel like the goth  stuff, which is like an AI photo of a woman with like a witch costume on and like, cool. But…



May: Everything super like Halloween store cliche, and we wanted to do something that was just the exact opposite. It’s gonna be fucking pink, and you're gonna wear glitter, you're gonna be sparkly, and you're gonna dance and smile.


Ash: Like I was saying earlier it's why we really want CRASH! to be welcoming. You could come to CRASH! and you can be decked out, if you're into that darker thing, or you can also come and have glitter all over your face, or wear a suit. It’s definitely very inviting.


May: Fashion wise, was always supposed to be just as glamorous and as maximal as possible, if you can. I mean, obviously we want people to just be themselves and feel good dressing up. That was kind of like the goal. We have a huge goth audience that comes, and that's awesome, because I know they're just being themselves. And then we have people who are maybe newer to finding themselves and finding subculture and finding alternative music. Every time I see someone who definitely tried to dress up I’m like yes! Like you looked amazing. I just always wanted it to be a place that would be out of the ordinary. Like if you have, like, like an evening gown that you never get to wear, wear that. If you have a vintage swimsuit, wear that like, if you have a fucking suit, wear your suit! Go overboard, just bring it.

Anitah:What’s next for CRASH?


May: We are going all out for a big New Year's Eve Ball. We're gonna do it at Gracies. It's kind of our home right now. We’re having Trust Nemo dj with us, because he's kind of like a Gracie’s favorite people go crazy for his sets, he first brings, like, the positive energy that like, we love, so that'll be fun.


We’ll do the countdown. I'm gonna try and get some big disco balls. I want everyone to bring their glitteriest Studio 54 outfit. I definitely wanted to be like, you're riding the white horse into the club. That's gonna be the vibe. Anything goes, It'll be crazy.

We have a lot of ideas for what we want to do next year. We want to do a lot of pop ups around Phoenix. We're not going to be doing monthly stuff, because it takes everything out of us, but we definitely, we want to do a lot of daytime stuff, definitely like vintage markets, restaurant pop ups.



Anitah: Any parting thoughts for the girlies?



May: If you’ve ever taken the time to come to CRASH!,  thank you. We just love playing our music, and we love seeing people have fun, and that's all we want. Nothing else, just fun. That's my message to the people.




Ash:  I’m just grateful for anyone coming. I hope that it's like CRASH! is like a space where you can just be yourself.