The indie rock group Mamalarky just released their latest album, “Hex Key,” on April 11, with guitarist/singer Livvy Bennett describing the experience as “bittersweet.”
“We self-produce our records, so we’re very involved in, like top to bottom, just making these songs happen. So when it’s done, I’m usually emotional,” she said. “I’m like, damn, I don’t get to come back to this Ableton (music software) session and add stuff. It’s just done. So in that sense, it’s kind of melancholy, but it’s also really exciting. I forget that other people get as excited about the nerdy, weird, art rock (expletive) that we’re on. So it’s cool to have those moments for sure.”
The tri-coastal quartet — Bennett and keyboardist Michael Hunter are in Los Angeles, bassist Noor Khan is in Atlanta and drummer Dylan Hill is in Austin, Texas — recently supported Spanish indie rock band Hinds on the road, but their in the midst of a headlining tour. They’ll make a Pittsburgh stop on May 3 with a show at Government Center on Pittsburgh’s North Side, with Colatura and Kennedy Mann opening.
“Hex Key,” which is a further explanation of their diverse, psychedelic pop sound of their first two albums, featured five singles: “Nothing Lasts Forever,” “Feels So Wrong,” “#1 Best of All Time,” “Anhedonia” and “Won’t Give Up.”
In a Zoom call with Bennett (in L.A.) and Khan (in Atlanta), the pair discussed the new album and several songs, signing with noted punk label Epitaph Records and more.
So is this the No. 1 best of all-time record?
Khan: (laughs)
Bennett: To me, yes.
Khan: To us, at the very least.
Bennett: Yes, but it’s all subjective and yeah, I feel like this record is the first record we’ve done that every single song I love 100%.
If it’s not this one, what do you consider the top records?
Both: Of all time?
Well, you put it out there with the song title so…
Bennett: You’re right. I would say “Hex Key” is number one, “Pocket Fantasy” by Mamalarky is No. 2 and “Mamalarky” by Mamalarky is probably No. 3. (laughs) I’m just kidding. But I just don’t know how to answer that question because there’s so many records that I love.
Khan: It’s a tough one.
Bennett: It’s also just like, how do I even answer that? It just depends on which day you ask me. But we’re definitely big Deerhoof fans. Pitchfork asked us that recently, and I said “Friend Opportunity” by Deerhoof. I always come back to them. I also like “An Orange Colored Day” by Arima Ederra. In the last few years, I’ve listened to that record into the ground. But it’s a hard question.
Khan: I’ve been a really big fan of Junior H’s last record, “$ad Boyz 4 Life,” too. That one’s a top to bottom for me.
With this album, do you feel like there are certain themes running through the songs overall?
Bennett: It’s been the most direct we’ve been about having positive self-dialogue and being the force in your life that’s going to encourage you, because I feel like sometimes you look outwards and you’re like, especially when you’re making a record just in your living room, it’s like, is this good? What are we doing? And we have to support ourselves, so that’s a big theme. Also songs like “MF” are about burning things to the ground. (laughs) I wrote that after the Norfolk Southern train derailment actually. I feel like there’s so many one-time catastrophic events happening. But that was what I wrote that about. And love, I don’t know, I write love songs compulsively. So there’s definitely always gonna be some of those on there.
That’s interesting because the Norfolk accident, that wasn’t far from here in Pittsburgh, it’s less than an hour away. So were you just watching that on TV?
Bennett: Yeah. I mean, it’s also crazy, through the lens of the wildfires that just happened and just feeling like there should be more protections in place to protect people from environmental disasters. But that one in particular was just like, damn, so many people got (expletive) over by that. And it’s weird. We just moved past it. It feels so long ago by now, but I’m sure there’s still ramifications from that (expletive).
There’s always another tragedy, like the school shooting at Florida State (April 17) …
Bennett: I know. I know. That was also something that I feel like making this record, I was feeling rage. I don’t know if that’s super obvious in the lyrics or anything, but music is a good vehicle to explore those things in a way that feels healthy and maybe productive.
Maybe some of that rage might be masked a little bit by the music. Do you feel like there’s the disparity in the poppier music and that rage in the lyrics?
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Bennett: Yeah, for sure. People describe our music as sunny a lot of the times, but even some of the saddest songs, they sound pretty bright, but there’s some torment in there. And yeah, it’s very elementary to say, but it’s good for you. I feel like regardless of if you’re a songwriter making albums and putting them out or just being like, I kind of play piano, if you can just externalize some of these things, I found it really helpful making this record, for sure.
When I listened to “Won’t Give Up,” it made me wonder if you have doubts about what you’re doing sometimes and how do you move past those doubts?
Bennett: Definitely. I feel like we made this record for ourselves, and we always have. We’ve been really lucky that we’ve built our path around us being the directors of where we want our music to go. But sometimes that means we have to push through that feeling of, is this going where I want it to go? Is this song conveying what I want it to say? And I think just writing a song like that is helpful in those moments. And also, just being a young adult in Los Angeles, there’s some days that you’re just getting kicked down like 10 times in a row. I always say that the hardest day in L.A. is way harder than any other city that I’ve lived in because it’ll be like, someone stole your license plate and you got a ticket and there’s traffic and something really expensive happened. It just feels like a city of chaos, which I enjoy. But that’s also a bit of what I wrote that song about, just finding the strength to keep going here, which I’m glad I have.
Is Atlanta as chaotic as Los Angeles?
Bennett: Maybe in different ways.
Khan: I’m curious if people can hear the difference between “Pocket Fantasy” and “Hex Key” because most of “Pocket Fantasy” was written in Atlanta, and I feel like it’s a bit more dreamy and fantastical in a way. We also were working on that album during the pandemic and we were taking so many walks around the neighborhood. It’s like the forest is in your backyard in Atlanta, so I think there can be chaos here, depending on where you are of course or depending on what you’re doing. At the time that we lived in Atlanta, we weren’t experiencing much chaos per se.
With a song like “Anhedonia,” how do you separate the feelings that you had while writing that song and then months later performing it? Are you able to be in two different head spaces for that?
Bennett: I’ve actually really been very present, or I’ve been very focused on embodying the core message of the songs that I write, when we play them live. So sometimes I am feeling, even if I’m performing and enjoying the live performance of it, I feel like I’m really in the lyrics of what I wrote at the time. So, no, actually I feel like there isn’t much of a separation, but that song, we almost didn’t put it on the record because I was like, this feels like a downer. We tracked it to tape, and it wasn’t a perfect performance per se, but I’m really glad we did because I think people enjoy it and I like it now.
Is it a democracy when it comes to these songs, say three of you want the song on there and one doesn’t, is it majority rules or does everybody have to be on the same page?
Bennett: It kind of is very song-to-song, but I feel like for the most part, I can’t really remember how we did it this last time, if we had a list or if it was just clear which ones.
Khan: There were a lot of songs that felt very clear, like this needs to be on the album. But for one like “Anhedonia,” I think we got some feedback that other people really liked it, and I think sometimes you do have to fight for a song a little bit, if not everyone feels super confident about it, it doesn’t always work.
Bennett: Like “Blush,” I am the only one in the band who doesn’t like that song.
Khan: It’s one of my favorite songs on the record. (laughs)
Bennett: I was playing guitar. I was like, do do do do do do do do do. And then everyone else in the band was like, let’s make this happen. And I just didn’t like it. And I like it now, and I hear it now. But it’s hard to separate your experience of writing something (but) I appreciate it for what it is now. But there’s tons of that. We write a lot of music.
There’s such a diversity of sounds among the songs, so how do you know that a song isn’t right, because it seems like almost anything goes?
Bennett: I don’t know. I think the excitement behind it is just the main guiding factor. If it’s something we all feel excited about or feel like it’s intriguing in some way, even amongst the collection of songs, if it feels like something that is divergent enough, I would say that is actually more of a guide than anything. Is this fitting a pocket that none of the other songs are that we feel like would be helpful to this record? That’s something that I think we listened to quite a bit.
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This is also your first album since signing with Epitaph. So how did that relationship come together? It just seems since they’re known for being punk rock, did that cause any anxiety or any nerves about signing to a label like that?
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Khan: It did and didn’t. We’re not very punk. Will they know where we fit? And I think their relationship with Anti (Records) and them being under the same umbrella gave us a lot more peace about it a bit, because anything that an Anti artist is doing, Epitaph can also help us do. But yeah, I think for the most part, we were feeling really confident about Epitaph from the beginning.
Bennett: We went in and played our record for Brett (Gurewitz), who owns the label, and he was really enthusiastic about everything. They loved “#1 Best of All Time,” which is like drum and bass. I wouldn’t say punky, but it’s definitely a rock song. But they also liked “Won’t Give Up,” which is pop music.
Khan: They loved “The Quiet.”
Bennett: They loved “The Quiet” a lot, which to me was like, OK, y’all understand what we’re going for. Everyone at our label is so nice. I love them so much, and they’ve done a great job. I’ll say that.
Who would be able to find a hex key in their house the quickest?
Bennett: Right now, probably us. First of all, I had them on my counter, but also we took the album art ourselves, so we have a wide array of them. And we also have custom hex key key chains that Noor designed for sale on our tours. So I think they’re with me right now, or no, they’re with you?
Khan: They’re with Dylan. (laughs)
Bennett: Maybe he has the highest quantity.
Khan: I don’t know. I know exactly where a hex key is right now. And I could get it within maybe 20 seconds.