Artist Interview: M/X

By Rosie Burgess | December 18, 2023

Words by Aimee Vines

Photos by Tom Greetham

M/X are a DIY punk-rock trio formed at BIMM Bristol in early 2023. Their heavy style is a reflection of the teenage angst we’ve all felt – they live and breathe punk, whilst defying the stereotypes with their all-queer line-up and their all-female backline. Unlike most straight-up punk bands, M/X delivers snarky lyrics with cheeky meanings and a heavy yet fun backing.

The trio is led by Max Pickering, the powerhouse vocalist and bass player who brought the three together earlier this year. Mimi Edwards is known as one of the most talented drummers at BIMM; she plays heavy and experimental styles for M/X. Finally, Liv Allen, an energetic guitarist has developed a tougher style of playing throughout their nine months of being a band. I got to interview them about the band before the release of their most recent single, Dress To Impress. 

How have the first nine months of M/X been for you guys?

Max: We’re out of the womb!

Liv: In my mind, we’ve just come to the end of our first phase. We’ve put out the single and were moving forward differently. We’ve all developed so much; you can tell we were all nervous for our first gig at The Fleece for BIMM Live. Watching the video back, we’re all playing so fast. Anyone who has seen us play can see how much we’ve grown. 

Max: All the music I had done so far (before M/X) was cover bands and playing the guitar. It was all about ensuring it sounded nice and never about what I put into the world. Now that all the music we’re making is so personal and comes from us. Getting up on stage and giving that to someone else is such a different experience from just playing a few covers.

Mimi: In all the other bands I’m in, I’m at the back, with other people in front of me, but M/X is good because we have this triangle formation that we use on stage. I never feel hidden, I feel more like I’m part of the front line. It’s refreshing as a drummer.

Mimi: We pride ourselves in having a female-backed band, as it’s become a trend to have a female-fronted band, which is also fantastic. But the men in the rhythm section are often keeping the song going. It’s nice to have women taking that role, as it’s not traditional.

How about the struggles you’ve come across?

Max: It’s finding the time to be creative while managing everything that comes with being in a band. However, we’ve gotten extremely lucky with who is around us and everyone else we know. Everyone is doing it for the love of it, which is refreshing compared to what you hear about the industry. People aren’t like how they’re made out to be which is quite nice.

Mimi: Also, trying to find people who like our music is so hard, in the way that we know there will be people out there who will love our music. It’s just about trying to find them. People scroll so fast on everything and don’t consume slowly like they used to. 

Liv: We talk in a couple of our songs about ‘technology being bad.’ But with gig culture, I say this with youthful arrogance, it feels like people only go to see bands they want to see. There’s less taking a punt on local gigs unless you know who they are already because people are so used to on-demand, only watching things they wanna watch, not having just to watch what’s on TV, so it makes it difficult. 

Following on, what is it like being a woman in a band?

Mimi: I think it’s interesting. I’ve been very conscious of it recently. A quote by Meryl Streep talks about how women have learned to work with men rather than work with each other. We’ve had to learn to speak ‘men’ in the workplace; women are a lot more apologetic, and men are a lot more ‘efficient’ and ‘ambitious.’ So being more aware of that in rehearsals has been super important, not playing the fool. Ensuring I have my opinions and being more confident with them, especially with music because it’s so creative. 

Liv: We’ve had some conversations with Max, and he bought a copy of a book by Bell Hooks (a prominent author on feminism). I’m unsure which one, but he’s conscious of his feminism and learning. However, my relationship with womanhood is something I don’t think about from a personal standpoint, I tend to think about it from an outside perspective. I’ve had people tell me how rare it is to see a girl playing lead guitar and being the only guitarist; it makes me go, ‘Oh yeah, I forgot I do that,’ and that it’s nice to have feedback like that. People like to see girls doing stuff, especially in the hardcore scene. 

Liv: And we don’t have to be the spectacles; Max is.

You guys are obvious about being DIY. What does that mean?

Mimi: Many musicians get exploited by the ‘need’ for professionals. How the music industry has evolved has meant you ‘need’ a professional to put out music because of all the standards you must meet. So, being able to do it ourselves proves that you don’t need a professional; we’ve had it only mastered by a professional at our university.

Max: I’ve always been inspired by rebellion. If someone tells me to do something, I won’t do it. These two know that more than anyone.

Mimi: He will not do it. We have to use reverse psychology on him. 

Max: It’s always been about showing that it doesn’t matter what the people up there think or what they tell you to do and how you’re supposed to do it. What matters is you, the people around you and what you can achieve together.

Liv: We’d also be lying if we said it was not a conscious aesthetic choice to be DIY. Luckily for us, the way we’ve branded ourselves as ‘everything being a bit rough around the edges’ and that’s how we want it to be, which means we can record a single and mix it at home so it sounds a bit rough, but it is allowed to because that’s how we’ve designed our brand.

How was Tavistock Pride?

Liv: It’s where I’m from and only the second one ever. It was pioneered by Heg Brignall and July Grace, who moved to Tavi from Bristol and set up Pride. I wanted to be a part of it because I just thought it was so needed down there – It was a very chill family vibe, so we had to choose songs where Max could take out swearing. 

Mimi: There were loads of toddlers dancing at the front of the stage who got taken out as soon as their parents realised what we were playing. 

Max: I had to put my drink in a metal flask, but other than that, I thought it was fun!

I wanted to ask you about your new single, Dress To Impress. What was the process behind it all?

Liv: Right, I’m going to have to give you a bit of lore; we had a tour planned with the events company, We Need Bands that was initially supposed to be booked for November, but due to booking problems behind the scenes, it’s been moved to early next year. However, it happened that our hometown date was already booked at Zed Alley, so they came to us and said do we want to use it, so we took it. We planned to use it as our release party. We hadn’t even recorded the single. We only had drums that we recorded at the studio in BIMM. So, I recorded my guitar part back at home in Devon with the amp on my bed and a couple of mics. I think we had the master a week before, so it was very DIY. 

Mimi: Being DIY meant we weren’t afraid to all have a go at the mixing and could help each other. It wasn’t like we had to do it all in one room as one person, make it perfect, etc. We were all very trial and error. 

What is the meaning behind the song?

Max: Just a preface, all of my lyrics are wishy-washy, but I always develop a theme for songs before I write them. The theme for Dress To Impress was wearing clothes unapologetically without caring what other people think. 

Liv: I think Max spoke to a guy who was a bit of a twat, which inspired him. 

Max: I was talking to a bloke that I met at a club wearing pretty much pyjamas, and I asked him, ‘Why did you choose to come out in that?’ and he r

eplied, ‘It’s just comfy, mate.’ And I respected that, so it gave me the theme. We got a room, and these guys started playing this classic punk three chords and the lyrics came out. I don’t know what the songs mean at the moment, but they find meaning over time. They continuously adapt and turn into something different. 

What’s next for M/X?

Max: Starting next year, we’re going on tour around the southwest, which will coincide with a huge show here in Bristol at the end of February. It will be nuts, and that is when we will release Weatherman (album single?).

Liv: It will be our only show in Bristol in the next six months. 

Max: It’s going to be intense and crazy. A few bands are supporting, which you won’t want to miss.