Seattle native but Mexico resident veteran rockers NO-X-IT have delivered their hard rockin’, fist pumpin’, adrenaline boostin’ new album Hecho En Mexico. Get ready to RAWK!
There was a time when Seattle was the center of grungy, crunchy, gritty, distorted, and often dark, hard rock. As with any booming scene, one-percent of the musical talent end up on a different trajectory toward pop culture stardom while the rest continue making music and art simply because it’s who they are and what they love to do.
While one can trace NO-X-IT’s roots to the time and space of the Pacific Northwest grunge rush, the band endured and survived all the chaos of an industry infiltrating their local scene and continue delivering organic, authentic, passionate and emotive hard rock which has stood the test of time while keeping the band honest, energized and creative all these years.
For those who miss the raw, gritty, chunky guitars of early 90s rock, Hecho En Mexico will deliver the goods consistently through all ten tracks included on the album.
To ensure the optimal listening experience, be sure to tell the kids you’ll be ignoring them for a while, turn the volume up to 13 and proceed to grab your air instrument of choice for a face-meltin’, mosh pit style workout.
From the track 1, Make It Last, to the grand finale, Carretera, NO-X-IT pour their all into every song. Soaring leads, intensifying walls of sound and head bangin’ rhythms collide for an energized listening experience that I can guarantee will leave you walking away in a much better mood than when you first clicked play.
Even when the band chills out, slows down, and brings out the acoustic guitar and horns for songs like Running Away, the energy and the momentum never cease. The horns are definitely my favorite element in this track.
Now that I’ve discussed their new album, it’s time to jump into my interview with members of NO-X-IT. We discuss the new release, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
We, NO-X-IT were originally formed in early ’91 on a small island north of Seattle in the field day of the scene. We walked a path uniquely different from the rest of the Seattle bands. Quality of musicianship and songwriting were two of the prime ingredients used to create original hard rock music. We currently are from the small town of Todos Santos, state of B.C.S, Mexico.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
Insanity or some form of mental impairment might be the short answer. We’d lose it without music. Don’t know if you need much motivation when you’re addicted, and there’s nothing in this world like walking out on that stage and melting faces. The more the merrier.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
Our first few records were cut in a couple long days. We were very well rehearsed, as we are now. However, this time around we had our own recording studio and a professional engineer in the band. We spent months on the writing and development of the tracks, and was able to have the luxury of some ear candy this time around. The object of the newest record “Hecho En Mexico” is to deliver a smoking rock record that moves people, even if it isn’t their forte. Of course, we are always, like many others looking for the deal, getting out there on tour, and living the dream.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
The difficult part for us, is probably the lack of social media skills, and being somewhat clueless to the digital music age. We’re seasoned pros who were born without an iphone in our hand and would much rather be in the studio and on stage. The greatest part of technology is being able to record and produce music with people around the world. We have a fabulous mix engineer “Ryan Farrington” who we worked with through airgigs, Maria Grig in the Russian Federation wrote & recorded string tracks for one of our songs, and here we are now, working with you to get this music and band some acknowledgement and exposure in this crazy digital world.
What was the last song you listened to?
Well technically, it would have been one we ended rehearsal on last night. That would be track three “Count On You” from the new record. But, if you want to know what we may have heard, which was new to us, and had a real spark. We would unanimously say “Greta Van Fleet”. They straight up rock and I believe they’re lighting the torch which has almost faded with all the Radio Ga Ga. Highway Song would be the cut and down with the haters that want to bash the vocalist for sounding similar to Robert Plant.How many vocalists on this planet would love to have that issue?
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
I really love vinyl even though I currently don’t own a turntable. Some of the younger generation I went to audio engineering school with are really bringing it back.A lot of people out there have never sat down in a room with friends and listened to analbum, and passed around the cover, or read liner notes. I find it rather sad, living inan age where music seems to be almost a back seat accessory item, where people don’t really pay attention or get completely lost in the song.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Ironically, we haven’t really used any of these for listening. Our music is on Spotify, Apple, I-tunes etc. We tend to do more Youtube for listening and checking out new stuff.You might say we are lacking in preference right now.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
We have a hand full of videos on Youtube, from our latest “Fake News” and a few going all the way back to ’91. Also, we have a decent website which has a decent selection of past songs and currently all of “Hecho En Mexico”. There is also a hand full of songs on Soundcloud and we are at work on getting other platforms up and running. The website is constantly being updated.
Anything else before we sign off?
Thank you for listening to our music and the opportunity to be part of your program, and exposed to your followers.
