Sex Mex, Won't Stay Dead, King Sans

In 2018, a 16 year old Clark Gray had his sights on becoming a sound tech. It seemed to bridge a gap between something he was passionate about while still appearing to be a “safe” job. In 2020, the illusion of anything ever really being safe was destroyed when the whole damn world shut down. After fucking up friendships and his high school band, Clark began his “real life” doing bullshit warehouse and factory jobs. When he was home, he was experimenting with looper pedals and other things to replicate the sound of a band that he felt like he could no longer have, often recording bass lines of R.M.F.C. and Descendents songs, and playing along to them on drums.

The first few years of Sex Mex were very unstable. It see sawed from the desire to have a band, to the desire to get rid of everybody in a moments notice. The only solution was to have the band without having a band. No sound compromise. No people compromise. A completely digital band made up of digital Clark’s. At the end of the day, Sex Mex is just an extension of Clark. The very loud, obnoxious extension of an otherwise, shy, quiet person.

Won't Stay Dead is a horror-themed punk band from Chicago. Formed in 2017, they blend catchy hooks and harmonies with macabre lyrics. The band’s high energy live shows and funeral-appropriate aesthetic have drawn comparisons to Alkaline Trio, My Chemical Romance, The Bombpops, and Veruca Salt.

Two figures emerge from the darkness, untouched by the lamp's light, they sing in delicate cacophony. Iz and Jake are King Sans: Chicago's gothic noisepunk duo. Sans consistently delivers a high-energy, theatrical live show, that is as equally playful as it is sinister.