Hailing from Palmdale, California, the versatile and dynamic emo rock band .XOM releases a poignant and punchy single entitled "3AM in the PM."
.XOM's sound is a hard-hitting blend of modern-day emo, alt-rock, with hints of lo-fi synths to bring the mix together seamlessly. .XOM is comprised of Ivan Olivia, Dakota Metzger, Gabriel Olea-Macias, and Anthony Scaglione. The band's irresistible sound has landed on stages alongside acts like The Groans, Sad Park, Archer Oh, and Banned From Japan.
Hitting us in the gut with a deeply relatable message is .XOM's latest single, "3AM in the PM," crashed our speakers like a freight train of emotion. We appreciate the band's ability to defy genre norms and create a sound that's genuine, unique, and genuinely moving. We're excited to introduce our readers to this up-and-coming band, and we encourage them to keep an eye out for the group's next moves.
Listening to "3AM in the PM," the track kicks off with a riveting and powerful instrumental breakdown that leaves us focussing on .XOM's electrifying guitar riffs and melancholy synth arrangements. As lead vocalist Ivan makes his way in, he begins to expand on the certain thoughts that exhaust him and keep him from living a carefree and content life.
We love the emotion and power within his vocals, as they're perfectly baked up by .XOM's dynamic and well-rounded instrumentals, especially with their crunchy guitar riffs, heavy bass licks, piercing drum breaks, and haunting synth melodies. As they lead us to the outro, .XOM leaves us with a need to escape the chaotic world around us.
Experience the cathartic performance by .XOM in their latest emotional and heavy single, "3AM in the PM," now available on all digital streaming platforms.
We feel a sense of rejuvenation after experiencing such a powerful and emotional single like "3 AM in the PM." What inspired your group to write this moving and hard-hitting track?
We wanted to invoke this specific feeling of "how small one feels in the grand scheme of everything." Like how the minor problems and emotions are just as valid as the big ones. The house show aspect was how some of us felt with our depression and still being around friends and people and trying to get that from an outsider's perspective. But also how people try to force you into something and break out of that and enjoy yourself however you want.
Could you expand on how your group shared the creation of your instrumentals for "3 AM in the PM?" What was your band's creative process like?
Dakota (Bass/Vocals) came in with the song's main idea and chord structure on an acoustic guitar, and everything fell into place pretty quickly. We all added our flair to the loneliness the song describes and the dynamic shifts in volume to represent the different personality states. When it all came together, this song gave us a Joyce Manor vibe, so Gabriel (Guitar) wrote a Manor-inspired riff over it to nail that feeling of yearning. As we were recording, we wanted to add several elements to the song that seemed fun and that we hadn't tried before:
Glockenspiel
Unique lo-fi samples
Rich vocals harmonies
Even a shout-out to one of our friends
Who wrote the cathartic and emotional lyrical content for "3 AM in the PM?" What did you want to make the listener feel with your lyricism?
Our bass player Dakota brought the lyrics and the original idea into practice and the song built from there. We wanted people to feel like they're not alone in their emotions, to be able to feel cathartic and grand in the darkest situations. You don't have to drown yourself in your feelings, but it's still necessary to face them eventually to heal.
How did you come across this unique and loveable sound of yours? What inspired your group to explore such different sounds like alt-rock, electronic, and emo?
Our favorite artists have always switched themselves up whenever they wanted to try a different way to express themselves. We dug bands and artists that did that, and we didn't want to box ourselves in with one thing because we all love many different genres. Ivan (Synth/Vocals) used to play more guitar but started using the keyboard and sample pads more often in live shows to add different elements into our material. Gabriel and Anthony (Drums) brought enlightening and energetic emo and punk background, which is always fun to jam to. It's just blending everything we've grown up with and seeing how to combine it into something new and consistent.
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