Q&A: Max Becker of SWMRS
Photos by Phoebe Fox
FULLY EMBRACING CHANGE AND A “COMBINATION OF SCENES” - SWMRS continues to redefine who they are over time, both as individuals and as a band. Having been in SWMRS since he was 10, Max Becker chatted with us to touch on what the band has done to nail down their sound—originally a self-described newness within the rock genre—and the work they’re doing to deliver their music to fans across the traditional boundary of label-defined genres. Additionally, he talks about the band members’ creative side projects and the importance of raising awareness about issues out of sincerity rather than for chasing clout. Read below for the full discussion.
LUNA: As a band, you’ve been able to go through a lot of chapters, changes & transitions since you’ve been around for a while. How have all of these transitions from names changes to bigger picture things impacted the development of you guys collectively as a group?
BECKER: It’s a really good question because just going back to even high school I look back and I kinda cringe at what I was like. Our band has gone through so many changes because we have gone through so many changes. I think that’s a good thing only because if we were the same people from high school we’d sound like a rip off and not very modern. We’ve been educated since then on a lot of different issues that I think everyone should.
It’s impacted the character of the band in that we know we’re never going to be not editing ourselves. I think that’s how everyone should go through life - there’s no finish line, you can always get better and you can always evolve. You’re always gonna be the same person. We’re always gonna be the same band that started when we were 10 and all the kinda shit. I think if you can evolve, that just shows strength. I think that’s what people who tend to stick around do.
A lot of people started listening to us when they were 13, 14, 15 and now they’re 19, 20, 21 and I feel like they’re kinda growing up with us. We still have a lot to do. To be honest I think the next decade, the 2020s, is gonna be that big stretch of growth with us and an existing and new fans. In the next 10 years we will all change so much. To the point where if we can provide the soundtrack to that then that’s literally my only goal in life.
LUNA: You guys were also one of the groups that were able to make it out of the Warped Tour scene, which is such a hard bubble to get out of.
BECKER: We never really wanted to be in it! Think about the merch people were selling at that - there were literally shirts that said like “Fuck me daddy” and stuff like that. We were so uncomfortable it was unreal. Then just watching it and like people having multiple parts of their body get signed by the artist. We were watching this and seeing what not to do.
And I mean look - there were some parts of Warped Tour that were super fun. It was kinda like summer camp. We also didn’t really listen to any of the bands. So it was nice to learn. This is what we’ve done with a lot of scenes - we step in for a second, learn something, and step out. We’re constantly on our own paths.
The same thing honestly happened with Beach Goth. We did Warped Tour one summer and then did Beach Goth which is a different scene. But we walked in, took some fans, and then learned and walked out. We’re still kinda associated with it because it’s slightly more modern of a scene, but the scene kinda dissipated anyway - Beach Goth doesn’t even exist anymore.
I was on Twitter the other day asking our fans who are the most culturally important bands of our lives? And the 2 top bands they said were One Direction and Nirvana. That’s why I love the way we’ve gone about our band - we gone in the heavy worlds and the soft worlds and we’ve played with All Time Low but have also toured with FIDLAR, it makes it so that we’re this combination of scenes. Which is really what people are anyways. No one is really in just one scene anymore.
LUNA: That leads me to my next question regarding genre blending. Labels aren’t as much of a thing anymore - people just like what they like.
BECKER: It’s either good or it’s bad.
LUNA: Before you’ve mentioned you want to make something new within the genre of rock. Where do you think you stand with that now?
BECKER: I think we’re totally on the route to do it. I don’t think we’re ever gonna be done, as a general motto. We’ve kinda found a really cool path for our band and I’m really excited to kinda lean into it a little bit more in the next decade. Because the 2020s are looming, I think it provides a really great framework for our style. I’m happy that we’ve figured it out a little bit before the new decade but I’m really looking forward to growing it on a massive scale in interesting ways. I’d say part of it was finding sound - a modern sound for us. We’ve found that and now it’s about how do we deliver it to people in a new way.
Maybe shouldn’t just be walking into a radio station and trying to get them to play our song and just rely on that. Maybe there’s better ways - there are and we know there are because people are releasing music in so many different ways. I’m excited to find different avenues and utilizing modern release ways.
LUNA: Now it’s a lot more popular to release singles and smaller projects more often. Is that of any interest?
BECKER: It’s a pendulum to think of too. People in five years might get sick of the single release schedule and want fuller things. I think that’s gonna be it for a while, but then people are gonna want an album. I don’t know, but I do know that we will be releasing music in some form this year to kinda see how it works for us personally.
I don't think there’s any framework that works for any two musicians. Every has their own individual way...There is no real way to explain the way our band has gotten to where it’s at currently. There are plenty of bands our size that have higher streaming numbers and everyone asks “Why are you playing these bigger shows when you’re streaming is down here?” It’s magic! It just is what it is.
LUNA: The last album was rooted in that fun dance energy and you wanted to give people something to imagine their lives to. With new music, is it centering around any common theme or narrative?
BECKER: There’s definitely a narrative. We have two to three routes we could go. We have heavier punk music, we have dance music and we have soft love songs. I think the first thing I’d like to focus on is combining heavy and dance. A central theme lyrically is gonna be a step back from politics. I think people have enough of that in their face at this point and I’d say maybe at some point it’d be good to go back to but I’d rather be more positive. I’d rather we make it about things like “what have I done for myself today?” and make it more personal. Bring it to a microlevel because that’s where people connect. It’s all about vague specitivity.
LUNA: You’ve all grown up a bit as well so it sounds like you’re trying to translate those changes into the music as well.
BECKER: Yes and we’re really excited with where the music is going. I think when we were making Berkeley there was a lot of pressure to sound a little more refined. It was our first major label release and we’re really proud of what we did with it but I think I want to loosen it up a bit and make it more about just having fun and more about the live show. All of the songs we’re writing now are meant to be live and just a good time live and jumpy.
Everything always needs to change - we’re changing and our fans have changed. We just want to always be better and focus on more positive things.
LUNA: Stepping back from the sonic side, all of the members of the band have some other visual interests like drawing and what not. Are you able to translate those personal interests into the aesthetic of the band?
BECKER: We definitely are going to do that more than we have been. We’re planning on hiring my sister as our creative director because not only is she super talented but she knows us extremely well. So the visual side can become more of a reflection of our personality and our creativity than I think ever before. Even just with merch - we’re bringing in more details. It’s all about reflecting our personalities, the fans’ personalities and how the music makes people feel.
My brother does zines on the side and we’ve had him do a zine for the band. My side thing is food, it doesn’t translate as well. Seb is really into gaming so he’s been using his streaming to interact with people more. I’d say in terms of just the visuals as a whole, we haven’t tapped into it as much as we could be and we’d love to work more on that.
LUNA: How do you think you guys can play a role in the shift in the industry we’re starting to see in terms of creating a more inclusive environment?
BECKER: When we started the band we were like 13 and we didn’t really know. It hadn’t shifted as much as it should’ve then, but it’s interesting now because what I see with a lot of other bands that are white males is a lot of people trying to latch onto all of the current social issues as if it’s them latching onto a trend rather than latching onto an actual belief system. It’s funny because before when we would try to talk about feminisim all of the other dude bands would be like “What the fuck?” and now they’re all like “Girl only mosh pits!” and stuff like that where it’s as if that’s a strength they’re trying to use it.
LUNA: Some people use it more so for clout and because it’s good for their brand rather than actually supporting the cause.
BECKER: Yeah and that’s just how a lot of things go - people hopping on things for clout. For us, the only thing we can really do is try not to be too preachy about things that don’t apply to white men really and just try to respect other people’s personal situations. Also, try to use our platform to add to the current shift. We were doing a thing called the “SWMRS Fund” where we use part of our ticket sales to raise money for certain issues, from women’s rights to environmental causes. That’s kinda the extent of what we can do aside from just listening and trying to promote the right voices.
LUNA: Shifting to the more business side of the industry, how do you think the internet has played a role in accessibility and creative freedom for artists like yourself?
BECKER: I think it’s great. Before all of this you had to rely on outside sources to succeed. The only thing you need now is yourself - which is actually the most punk form of artistic delivery. There are downsides financially but no one needs to be making 100 million dollars playing music - or doing anything really. It’s definitely harder to make a living as a musician now, mostly as a rock band. With streaming, you barely get compensated for streaming let’s be real. However, I find it to be great because it feels like a frontier and it feels like people can have the freedom to not only release music whenever they want to but also get inspired by any form of music whenever you want. You can dive into so many genres that would’ve been hard for people to find in the 80s unless you went to a record store and found a guru. I think that’s better for music as a whole and that’s definitely what is leading to genre blending.
We’re on a major label and we really like them, but I’d say it’s not something that everyone needs to be on. You can kinda do it all by yourself. We met our label and we really loved them and we still do but I’d say it’s not the only way to go about it, and that’s what is so great.
