Interview
Interview
Destroy Boys: “There’s a lot of power in change”
Alexia Roditis discusses personal growth, Funeral Soundtrack #4, and unapologetic evolution
When Destroy Boys formed back in 2015, vocalist Alexia Roditis and guitarist Violet Mayugba were just 15 years old. Waving goodbye to childhood and adjusting to the often-uncomfortable realities of life as teenagers, since then, each of their albums has documented a distinct chapter of their lives.
From high school, to college, to overcoming a global pandemic; as their sense of selves has evolved, so has their sound. Their 2017 debut Sorry, Mom was a scrappy slab of punk-fuelled teen rebellion, and each sonic shift since has seen the four-piece lean further into their vulnerability, opening up on the process of living, learning, and trying to be better than what came before us.
Each new collection of songs captured a unique moment, and the band’s fourth album, Funeral Soundtrack #4, is a marker of not only of death, but of rebirth. Grounded in their punk rock roots whilst embracing everything from goth and new wave to salsa and bossa nova, it presents a vital sonic reinvention, guided by a Californian collective boldly unafraid of change.
With the band set to make an appearance at this year’s Reading & Leeds Festivals, we spoke to Alexia Roditis about how their personal growth has fuelled Destroy Boys’ drive for reinvention, and why learning to embrace change is perhaps the most important discovery they have made.
It’s been three years since we had a new Destroy Boys record, and the world has been through a hell of a lot since then. When you sat down to work on Funeral Soundtrack #4, how much had you evolved not only as a band, but personally, since 2021’s Open Mouth, Open Heart?
Anyone who’s in their mid to late 20s will know just how crazy it is. We released that album when we were 21, and now I’m almost 25. I feel super different, and it’s such a big jump. I feel a lot calmer, and whilst I still do a lot of unhinged shit, it’s a little more conscious now. I’ve gotten more independent, braver, and a little more empathetic. I understand more about how the world works, but I’m also more stubborn. I don’t feel like taking shit anymore.
What did the vision for album four become then, knowing the sound you’d established previously?
We wanted to tap into different genres or vibes that we hadn’t had the chance to tap into before. The record has a slight goth feel to it, and our producer Carlos [de la Garza] was super encouraging of that vibe. I love artists like Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Smiths, Strawberry Switchblade, and Cocteau Twins. Bands that aren’t necessarily goth, but definitely new wave. That was the vibe we were going for, but there were also certain topics that I hadn’t talked about in our music yet. There’s a song called ‘You Hear Yes’ which is essentially a ‘f*ck the patriarchy’ song. This band is called Destroy Boys, so it was time for us to deliver a very clear piece of music about that topic.
Tell us more about that song, because you teamed up with punk scene heavyweights Mannequin Pussy and Scowl for it…
Honestly, that one felt important for the culture. I think it’s cool when I’m reading something about a musician, and I find out about these crossovers. I recently saw the documentary about ‘We Are The World’ [The Greatest Night In Pop], and it was so crazy to see Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones in a room together. Seeing worlds collide is fun, and for anyone in the scene this song has that feeling. It’s easily one of my favourites on the album.
Something that stands out across this record is the idea of rebirth. From the title alone, there’s this notion of acknowledging the changes we go through in our lives, and how the things that we learn inform the people we become…
That’s influenced these songs a lot, because we’ve been doing this for ten years now. We started when we were super young, and it’s not like we’re Billie Eilish or anything, but we’re still subject to public scrutiny. It’s weird, and we’ve gone through a lot of personal rebirths and personal evolutions. With this album, we wanted to lean into that. We’ve started to get some of our ducks in a row, because when we started this band, we didn’t make as great decisions as we wish we had. Now that we’re older, we know what the f*ck we’re doing. I know how to manage money, I know how to talk to people, and I have a better hold on my mental health. We’re all in a different place in our personal lives, and we’re real adults now.
Every day feels like dying and being born again, and there’s a lot of power in change, especially with the f*cked up state of the world. If we all got our shit together tonight and did something about it tomorrow, we could have workers rights, trans rights, and immigrant rights again in this country.
That sentiment feels especially important when it comes to a song like ‘Boyfeel’. That track and its video are so pertinent to anyone who has an evolving relationship with gender nonconformity…
I wrote that song when I was 17, and I’m 24 now. It stayed the same for a long time, and it’s funny how songs can take so long sometimes. It’s a very important song to me. I consider myself a punk rock version of Dorian Electra, and I want to represent the little freaks out there. I don’t know what’s happening with myself gender-wise, I just want to look one way sometimes and another way at other times.
We filmed the video in one day, and a bunch of my friends are in it. Most of the people in the video are sex workers, which felt important to showcase. I wanted the video to be mostly positive, but it’s not super over-the-top happy. Part of my gender stuff is about being in-between, and I often feel neutral about my body and my gender. It’s not awesome all the time, but it’s also not super fucked up and horrible all the time. I wanted to put something out there for the grey area of gender. It’s not gender euphoric, but also not super dysphoric.
How cathartic is it to have these collections of songs that serve as snapshots of different times in your lives, then?
What’s funny about this record is that it captures my life as it was a year or two ago. It doesn’t really reflect where I am right now, it’s just bringing my past-self back to the forefront. I don’t feel negatively about that, I just find it interesting. We finished the record around six months ago, and there are already things I want to change about it. It feels so recent, but those ideas and lyrical topics are still evolving in my mind. It’s cool having those time capsules of albums though, especially when I’m literally hearing my voice change. On the first two records, it’s a lot higher, and a little more punk. As I get older, that changes. I think of music as spells, and the power of your spoken word is so potent. When I listen to our old songs it’s interesting to see where my mind has changed and where it’s stayed the same.
It’s important for the people hearing that transformation too, because it’s a reminder that it’s okay to change, and it’s okay to allow yourself to evolve and learn. What are you hoping fans are able to take from Funeral Soundtrack #4?
I want people to know that they can change, and that they deserve love. There’s nothing wrong with you, no matter what society tries to tell you. I don’t know if that message is going to get across entirely, but there are several songs which it’s clear on. ‘Amor Divino’ is about love, change, and shedding your skin. ‘Praying’ is about getting better for yourself and cutting ties with f*cked up people. If something in your life isn’t serving you, it’s totally fine to move on. You can change, it’s okay to evolve, and you deserve to love and be loved. Just be who you are, and if other people have a problem with it, that’s their problem.
The album’s set to drop just before you head over to the UK, taking to the stage at the iconic Reading and Leeds festivals. When you think about the future of this project, is it the thought of playing shows like that which drives you, or something else?
I don’t really care about everybody knowing who I am, and the recognition part of being in a band is bullshit. It feels like a small price to pay for the ability to influence people to think critically, but I’m not interested in anyone knowing my name. My goal with this band is to share my music and my voice, and it means so much to me that other people resonate with that. I feel honoured to be in a band that people will scream along to, cry to, and sing with their friends. I love music, and I know what it’s like to have a band that you couldn’t live without. I feel so honoured to be that to some people. People will come up to me and tell me that they feel more comfortable in their gender expression because of me, or that they want to start a band because of us. I love getting to have a positive influence on people, and this is the most fun way to do it. It’s stressful, but what a rush! I want to encourage others to question the powers that be. You should go read that book, you should factcheck the things that you’re told, and you should volunteer for that group. If you want to change something, you can always try.
Funeral Soundtrack #4 is released on 9 August, available to preorder here
