HOAX

HOAX are a band out of New York whose self-described “empathy pop” illustrates that they are not interested in following the same generic indie pop outline that might be expected of them. Their lyricism is raw, the rhythms influenced by a wide range of genres that leaves the music a collage of vintage sounds. They are admiringly positive, and they are firm believers in giving yourself to others unabashedly and seeing where that action takes you. We chatted with Mike Raj (vocals) and Frantz Cesar (bass) about their influences, New York, and texting fans pictures of their dogs.

Who’s in charge of the puppy pics? What struck me is that you guys have some really great lines in your bios: the “click for a virus” redirect to the “Moon Moon Baby” music video, the “text us for puppy pics” one.

Mike: I’ve inadvertently taken to this responsibility. It really stemmed from my hatred of bios. Some artists have REALLY great bios (and kudos to them) but I guess ‘cause Frantz and I can dissociate from the music and the brand, every bio we’ve ever heard about us sounded cheesy and inauthentic, as if we were being put on a pedestal or something. So one day, I just had enough. I deleted our bio and put my phone number up and just started texting people pictures of my dog Luna and Frantz’s dog Xolo, who are absolute icons.

With the virus thing, it was kind of the same idea. I could write a deep paragraph

about why you should listen to our music, but really, at the end of the day, we want the music to do most of the talking for us. I like to leave a lot of things I want to talk about in the music itself—it’s just the way Frantz and I are as people. Kind of introversive.

I haven’t yet texted the number. Is it an automated thing, or what can we expect to get when we do?

Mike: It’s my actual phone number, which is probably a terrible idea. But no, yeah, I’ll usually snap pics of my dog on the spot when people ask. And usually the people who text us end up having a conversation with me, which is really cool ‘cause it’s like talking directly to people. I’ve even gotten into 8-Ball matches with certain people. I think most people think it’s a hoax, but they end up actually reaching me—a real person—and it’s just always cool to have real conversations.

I feel like it’s a really cool way to connect with listeners as so many of my favorite bands use a phone number. Where did you get the idea from and why?

Frantz: I think it’s just a byproduct of our generation. Unless it’s for work or something, no one is really communicating through email. We communicate primarily through our phones, and I think if someone wants to get in touch with us, they shouldn’t have to jump through hoops just to do it.

Still on the phone point, I was super excited to see the 516 number [Nassau county, LI] because it’s where I’m from, too. Everyone I know who grew up here has such a massively different taste in music. Can you talk a little bit about the way your physical location has impacted your sound? I think your music is difficult to define (genre doesn’t exist) and it’s probably reflected in your personal interests. What music did you each grow up with?

Mike: My parents developed a love for disco music, so we grew up listening to artists like the Bee Gees. My mom is a huge MJ fan and said she named me after Michael Jackson himself. I grew up listening to a lot of Motown, disco, and just pop from my parents’ time or even a little before (like the Beach Boys). But one of the first people in

my life to show me rock music was my uncle. My parents were pretty conservative and didn’t really want me to listen to music with distorted electric guitars, so my uncle would make these rock mixtapes on actual cassettes with bands like The Doors, Zeppelin, Hendrix, etc. So I grew up listening to a lot of everything and developed an ear that kind of favors lyrically and melodically strong music but [that] also has groove and a little bit of edge.

Frantz: I would say Motown and the music it has spawned would have to be one of the biggest musical influences for me. I grew up on Motown, and it’s so funny because when I was a kid, I would always think about how all I wanted to do was listen to music other kids my age were listening to, but my mom would always be playing Smokey Robinson records or Stevie Wonder records. And now, looking back, it really had a profound effect on me and what I look for in music I like.

Mike: Yeah, I think because sometimes the 516 is kind of dead. We grew up listening to a lot of our parents’ music and music of our own time, and it kind of grew into this desire to make music that has a modern vintage vibe.

New York very much has its own music scene. How did it affect you on a personal and musical level?

Frantz: New York is just so great in the sense that it really allows you to be experimental. Some other places have unaccepting scenes where if you don’t have a certain sound or style, you are going to have a hard time growing an audience. But New York is great because it’s so big and diverse, and you can still be experimental and innovative and not worry about being judged.

Mike: [NY] is the one place where the hustle really never dies, and every time you think you’re working hard, you’ll see that there is someone working ten times harder—and that is so inspiring. It’s like being surrounded by an endless form of inspiration. But I guess the opposite side of that is it’s really easy to burn out working on music in New York.

Let’s talk about the Valentine’s Day cards on your Instagram. In you making these sorts of feminist statements, you’re actively contributing to positive social discourse. How important is it to you that you use your platform to make these statements? Do you think that it is an artist’s duty to be political?

Mike: We are always going to act in a way that we perceive as morally right, but when it comes to an artist’s duties… I honestly think that is a conversation every artist should have with themselves, and then stick to whatever

decision they come to and live it out. I think to say that it’s every artist’s duty to be political is a bit of a stretch, especially if an artist is naturally not a very political person. But what I will say is that every artist that I have ever found deep inspiration from naturally has spoken their mind freely and used their platform to keep the conversation alive: Cash, Dylan, Gaye (I could name a hundred more) all used their mediums to bring further discourse on issues that they were passionate about. I think that’s the key: music and art is a two-way conversation between the artist and the listener, and those conversations are most colorful when the subject matter is built from something real.

Frantz: We believe that especially in times where the political landscape and social environment is so hostile and unapologetic, we have got to keep the conversation alive. We need to have people from opposite sides of thoughts conversing, and talking, because the minute we lose conversation, we lose empathy and humanity. So if we can keep conversations going, from an emotional or even philosophical standpoint, with our music, well then I think we’ve accomplished something I can be proud of.

Lyrically, I wouldn’t say that your music is just you singing about some basic emotion. (For context, I once went to a gig and this artist introduced one of his songs by saying, “I have two moods: a sad mood and a happy mood. I wrote this when I was in a sad mood,” and the whole song was him basically just repeating one line about his sadboi problems.) From where do you draw inspiration?

Mike: It’s actually funny—I was just talking about this with Frantz. It’s hard to say, but I know one thing we try to capture is actually how it feels to think something through. I’m a huge William Faulkner fan, and he employs a stream of consciousness in his writing a lot. And I always thought it was the most beautiful device ever. To me, there is something so honest about that and how it is embedded in

the human condition. Emotions are very rarely one-at-a-time experiences. Most of the time, emotions are really a blend of many different feelings all felt at once. And we try to get that to come across lyrically in our music. From time to time, I actually send some lyrics out to some close friends and get their feedback on them. And recently, for one song in particular, one of my friends told me it was all over the place, and I kind of jokingly replied, “Welcome to the world.”

I just think our minds are these overworked translators for these indescribable feelings and emotions, so inevitably, our minds think all over the place. I started doing this exercise where I would try to not think for a timed minute and would write all the things I thought about in that period of time and it would usually be about ten different things. But yeah, emotions are a

blend of multiple feelings at once, and that’s something we try to capture with our music.

Lastly, what can we expect next from you guys?

Mike: Right now, we’re working on finishing our debut album that will be released in 2019 called b? The album is a concept album where we explore this dichotomy between “doing” vs. “being.” I could go into the whole idea of it now, but I’d rather you all get the first impression from the music alone. You know, let the music do the talking. But yeah, mostly we will be MIA working on b? and touring. This is our first album that will be one of the truest and most accurate representations of us as artists, musicians, and people.

Frantz: Also, look out for the visuals we release alongside the project!