Violet Mayugba has her eyes on the prize. In this episode we sit down with the insanely cool Destroy Boys guitar player to talk about her journey in life and music. We also peel back the curtain on the origin and evolution of Destroy Boys, the smiles and cries of non-stop touring, the eternal influence of Green Day, arena shows with Blink-182, a new album out this summer and so much more! As always - brought to you by Sailor Jerry!
https://www.instagram.com/violetmayugba/
https://www.instagram.com/destroyboysband/
https://sailorjerry.com
Violet Mayugba has her eyes on the prize. In this episode we sit down with the insanely cool Destroy Boys guitar player to talk about her journey in life and music. We also peel back the curtain on the origin and evolution of Destroy Boys, the smiles and cries of non-stop touring, the eternal influence of Green Day, arena shows with Blink-182, a new album out this summer and so much more! As always - brought to you by Sailor Jerry!
https://www.instagram.com/violetmayugba/
https://www.instagram.com/destroyboysband/
https://sailorjerry.com
Surely, surely, surely, surely, surely, surely. Oh yeah, what's up everybody and welcome to episode 63 of the Sailor Jerry podcast. My name is Matt Cawthorne, I am still your host and today is Thursday, february 22nd 2024. And yes, ladies and gentlemen, sailor Jerry Spicestrum is most definitely still made the old school way 92 proof bold and smooth as hell. I hope everybody's doing great out there. I want to give a couple shout outs here worldwide.
Matt Caughthran:What's up England? What's up Manchester? What's up London? What's up Leeds? What's going on Australia? What's up Canada? What's up Sweden? What's up Stockholm? What's up Gothenburg?
Matt Caughthran:We got a lot of listeners all over the globe and I appreciate every single one of you. I hope everyone's doing good. If you're just tuning in to the podcast for the first time, welcome aboard, we're stoked to have you. If you're watching on YouTube, you might be thinking man Matt is looking pretty fresh, pretty revitalized. He must have had a birthday or something. And you would be right. Ladies and gentlemen, I know it's not ladylike to reveal your age, but I am very grateful to have spent 45 years on this planet. February 13th 1979, your boy came kicking and screaming into the world and I am very fortunate to have lived the life, that I've lived and experienced everything I've experienced, and to be here now sharing it all with you and talking to other artists and other musicians on the Sailor Jerry podcast. I hope everybody who celebrates Valentine's Day had a good Valentine's Day. Of course, it's Black History Month. February is the best month of the year.
Matt Caughthran:It's time for episode 63. Violet Mayuba has her eyes on the prize. In this episode we sit down with the Destroy Boys guitar player to discuss her journey in life and music. Of course, we also talk about the origin and the evolution of the band, the joys and the pains of touring nonstop, the never-ending influence of Green Day, writing a new record and so much more. I had such a good time talking with Violet, and Destroy Boys are a band that you 100% need to know about because they are about to blow up and you don't want to be late to the party. So sit back, relax, pour yourself some Sailor Jerry and let's go, violet. Thank you so much for being a guest here on the Sailor Jerry podcast. How do you pronounce your last name?
Violet Mayugba:Thanks for having me.
Matt Caughthran:That's not how you say it Awesome. What nationality is that it's?
Violet Mayugba:Filipino.
Matt Caughthran:Nice, that's really cool.
Violet Mayugba:Thank you. I'm proud to be Filipino. I wish I could say more about it, but I honestly don't really know anything about my heritage. I don't know anything about it, but cool food is good.
Matt Caughthran:Yeah, the food is really good. Speaking about family, you're from Sacramento, right? Yeah, awesome. We've actually played in Sacramento a lot over the last couple of years and it gets better and better. I got a lot of friends up there and there's a lot of cool new restaurants and places to get coffee and stuff like that. Shout out Sacramento, for sure. But when I was doing a little background research, I always asked if there's musical history in the family and I was so surprised and so stoked to see that there's some really cool music history in your family between your guitar playing dad and your singing mom, which is amazing. So it's the skirts and fallacy. Right, those are the two bands.
Violet Mayugba:It's research dude.
Matt Caughthran:That's what I'm talking about. I was so stoked so your mom sang in a band called the Skirts and your dad played guitar in a band called Fallacy. Yeah, and you can look both those things up on YouTube. It's awesome.
Violet Mayugba:I'll look both of them stand up. If you look at that stand up, I got to prepare you for a lot of weird, interesting moves.
Matt Caughthran:Yeah, the full-length volume, I think, came out in 2001,. And it's up on YouTube and you can listen to it. And it's cool because obviously we're just meeting now and I don't know you. But it's cool because I'm a fan of the band and your songwriting and it's just really cool to see those two elements between your parents and now you as an artist. It's just rad. So what was it like growing up in Sacramento in sort of a rock and roll household, so to speak?
Violet Mayugba:So that's so cool. I know both of those bands, by the way. Like thanks for checking that out my mom's band I don't want to spoil too much, but they've been kind of writing a little bit, which I'm very excited. I keep trying to produce and they like won't let me produce, like let me. But you know, what's so funny about that is like my parents were pretty young when they had me. They were 30 and 31.
Violet Mayugba:So I was like, growing up in that house, my parents' bands would like rehearse downstairs while I was growing up. So I was like I hate music. Because I was like, yeah, like I go down there asking for like a snack and they're all like drinking beer and like talking to me on the mic and I'm like, oh, you guys are weird. Like I hate music, I hate bands. I'm going to be a chef. That was like my whole thing for my whole life. And then, when I was 13, I discovered Green Day and, like you know, I had my dad had shown me like a million bands, right, like he had shown me Green Day. And I was like, yeah, but I also was really into pop music. I'm not going to front and say I like was punk from day one.
Matt Caughthran:Yeah, you were underground. Kid out the womb.
Violet Mayugba:Yeah, I was like no, I was on the guitar and they were like great, here's all our stuff.
Matt Caughthran:So we've been waiting for you to say that.
Violet Mayugba:Like I grew up learning and writing. Most of our first record actually on my dad's 70s strat, 73 strat.
Matt Caughthran:No way. Yeah, that's so cool and so there was. Obviously they weren't like pushing you. They were probably secretly hoping but fuck music, I want to be a chef. How far did you go down the chef rabbit hole?
Violet Mayugba:Well, I'm actually still in the show for rabbit hole. I can't even lie, nice. What's funny is that my dad and I grew up cooking and, like you know, I think the normal kind of American thing is that like mom cooks by herself and like with everything, but like my parents were both so crazy badass growing up, my mom traveled for work like six days out of the week, like 16 hours a day, so my dad was always the one cooking and I would help him after work and he'd be like just really engaged with me, be like what does this need? You know, like having me try stuff, and I'd always be like salt because I still over salt.
Violet Mayugba:But it's part of love food in me that just has never gone away. And I got more into the science of cooking and just proper like modern culinary stuff. Like the older I got and I just now that I am an adult, I live on my own Like I always, every day I make myself a new meal and I experiment and I do a lot of research and I love all that. I love all that stuff.
Matt Caughthran:So yeah, you love the whole process of it. Do you think there's any parallels between you know writing a song versus you know making? You know real food? You know, or is there? Are they just two completely different worlds?
Violet Mayugba:I think they can be compared. Yeah, I feel like cooking and music are a couple of the very few things in humanity that just everyone responds to, because in a it's instinctual. You know like you hear a sound, you're like cool, you eat food, you're like great, you know you have to eat to live. Everyone likes food and taste good.
Matt Caughthran:Yeah, and music is life, so it's all good. You know what I'm saying.
Violet Mayugba:I think there is a certain amount of creativity involved and I also think that just anyone can do it. You know, there are a lot of people that are just naturally inclined towards those things. Like I am not a natural or I wouldn't I don't know, I wouldn't consider myself a naturally inclined songwriter. I think it's like something I'm proud of is that I built the skill over so many years.
Violet Mayugba:In my first few years of writing songs, I was literally just writing great songs in different keys, like changing stuff, and then I'd show my parents and be like, check the song out. They'd be like that's American, idiot, but good job. Um, and then you know, you grow up and you read recipes. You fall into the tea. And then same thing with songwriting. It's like okay, like I'm going to try this. I remember this worked last time and I liked this band that did this, I liked the chef that did this. So just growing into my own Now I never look at recipes anymore.
Matt Caughthran:So yeah, no, it's cool and, and you know, speaking to songwriting, it's like you know, as you, as you evolve, you know you learn to take your influences and not like you don't like play the exact thing, but you, they, they like filter their way inside of your writing and and how you evolve as a writer and it's really cool to have that happen and to experience that. I remember one of the things that so we have like a Mariachi band too, and our guitar player, joby, is. You know, he's a badass, but one time it was really funny. You know, we were, we were in the studio and he comes in and he's so stoked, he's like I got the best new song. You know that I've like ever written, you know, and he comes in and he starts playing this thing and we just all start laughing and he's playing Hotel California by the Eagles.
Violet Mayugba:That's so funny. You say that because I did that with California Cation with my band. So to California, oh and yeah, it happens.
Matt Caughthran:You know there's so many songs that have been written. You know it's like it's every song. It's just funny.
Violet Mayugba:My band was losing their shit on me. They were rolling over laughing and I was at this one. We were like 19. I was like you guys, like that's not fair, like you guys can't laugh at my ideas, like that's fucked up, like well. And they were like no, dude, you're playing chili peppers. And I was like, and they were like play the riff. And I say our drummer like fast forwarded to the exact part I was doing and I was like, oh, and that song. We ended up changing it and it ended up becoming our song honey I'm home, or the outro.
Matt Caughthran:Nice yeah, Nice Well.
Violet Mayugba:California.
Matt Caughthran:Cation is a big tune, so it happens out there, but that's all. That's all the kind of give and take of songwriting. You know it's like me, as, as when I write lyrics to all do the same thing. You know, it's just like, and that's one of the things that I loved about punk initially. That kind of drew me in was the initial aspect of hey, like, you don't really got to be like the smartest person in the room or the most talented musician or singer. You know there's a hundred different ways to say fuck you. You know there's its attitude and its feeling and it's you know, it's, it's, it's where you're coming from and and what you're experiencing in your life that you can have the ability to scream and do the microphone. You know, and it was. It was such a cool thing for me to like, realize, you know, because I always wanted to, you know, play my part.
Matt Caughthran:All my friends were starting bands and you know I, I loved, I just I loved picking up a mic and screaming into it. So it was like something that punk rock gave me, that accessibility as as a young kid, was so awesome. You know you guys have evolved a long way, you know, I know you got three full lengths out. You know you got a new song that's. That's crushing right now on radio, which is unbelievable, and we'll get to that in a bit. Yeah, it's so. It's so awesome. I'm so stoked for you guys. But going back to the, just the start of the band, and is it? Is it Alexia? Is that how you pronounce it?
Violet Mayugba:Yeah, they use they'd cool.
Matt Caughthran:Okay, I want to talk about your guys' relationship, your creative relationship, how you both came together, how the band started. Can you kind of, you know, tell that story for our listeners?
Violet Mayugba:Oh, my God, I would love to. So when I started playing music, I was like I'm going to be girl Billy Joe. Like I'm going to be girl, billy Joe, I'm going to do all this stuff. Oh, but I didn't really have a direction. Besides knowing that I loved that type of visceral, gnarly energy, I wanted to play music and I wanted to be in the biggest band in the world. Those were like my cornerstones.
Matt Caughthran:I didn't know how I would do it.
Violet Mayugba:I just was like this is exactly what I'm going to do, this is my life, and I just latched onto that and I kind of started a bunch of like bad bands, like in my garage. Like I did this program in Sacramento called stairway to stardom, which I am saying that it's really funny. It's like a funny like rock camp, like you get together they teach you how to write songs and yeah.
Violet Mayugba:I wish they were still doing it because I would love to coach it. So I did that and then I did, you know, like I would have friends from high school come over and we'd play Blink when I need to covers in my garage and so just kind of directionless kid stuff. And then I also something that I kind of had the experience with in high schools. I didn't have a ton of friends. It was very combative. I was like dealing with a lot of brain stuff, as most of us you know, punks are, and I didn't have a ton of friends.
Violet Mayugba:But I had this one girl named Abby Milstein I love to this day, she's sweetheart, and she had just transferred from another school. She had a million friends right and she was like my one best friend. We were very close. And then she was like come with me to this party. And I was like, okay, you know, just rude, she's a rude kid. And she was like oh, my friend Alexia wants us to pick them up. And I was like who's this, who's this person? Just all like all smiles, like I'm sure you've seen pictures of them. They have that big, beautiful, sunshine face and they were like oh yeah, they're like who are you?
Violet Mayugba:You know like just ask me questions, being really sweet, and I was just very like oh, no, no, no.
Violet Mayugba:And then they just stopped it, nothing to be my friend. And after like a few days of them doing that, it was just I was obsessed, like. I was like, oh, you're my person for life and I've never lost that. They are like, yeah, I person, they are truly my person. So we hung out every day. We were like let's start a band, because I did that with all my friends, you know. And they were like I'm going to learn how to play drums and you can play guitar and sing. I couldn't sing.
Violet Mayugba:They certainly didn't know how to play the drums, but we had a kid in our garage so we were just like doing jump hovers and stuff. And we were talking about writing songs. One night and they were like I actually wrote a song that I sang and played you, layla, on, and I was like, oh, what? Like, okay, yeah, sure, like, play it for me. And they played this voice memo. I heard their voice and I was like I remember it so clearly.
Violet Mayugba:They were sitting up on the couch and I was sitting on the floor and I got up, like I was proposing to them, and I went you're the key, you're going to make us famous. Your voice is perfect, this is what you're going to sing in the band. What are you doing? Talking about playing drums? And I went on this tangent and I was like I'm going to play guitar, you're going to sing, we're going to write songs, we're going to put this song out tonight and they were like what? No, I don't want to sing. They had so funny compared to them. Now they're like this beast of stage. But first, they tried.
Violet Mayugba:They were like no, I don't want to sing. And I was like I don't care what you want to do or what you don't want to do. Your voice is pristine and I'm taking it like Ursula and Ariel. So it's my now and a song called I think I should make out with other people, which is like Everything about this roadways that I love and that people love.
Violet Mayugba:It's just very honest. A lot of weird talking, just funny romantic entanglements, high school stuff, and we put it on band camp and, like all of our friends were like this is really good, and I was like Alexia, let's play shows. Our first show ever was Halloween 2015. It just never stopped Like we're perfect together because they are this very like I was talking about people being naturally inclined to that. They are this very natural and stinctural, almost like reincarnated creative force, Like I think that they got a little piece of Percobane's soul, you know, or something, Just something so magical and universal about who they are and I'm like I like to call myself a suit in disguise. You know how, like music industry, people would call them suits.
Matt Caughthran:Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah.
Violet Mayugba:Just some label guy and I'm like this is how we're going to do it. I love playing guitar. You write me a bunch of songs and we'll pick some, and it just never stopped.
Matt Caughthran:You know I'm a big fan of, like you know, creative relationships, songwriting relationships, that kind of chemistry is just so special and really cool and you both have that with each other and it's just incredible and you hear it too. You know you hear it when you listen to the band and it's really, really cool. And I was stoked to just kind of get a little background on your guys' story because as the band evolved, you know when did you go from you know stepping out from the acoustic realm to you know, putting a full band together and kind of you know, taking that leap?
Violet Mayugba:Well, I'd always, you know, I never really envisioned us as an acoustic band. I was just waiting for that next moment, like I um part of this whole thing also. Just, I feel like I'm peeling away from origin story a little bit, but something I didn't want to talk about too. I feel like I'm talking a lot about my like ambition and stuff and it may sound I hope it doesn't sound egotistical that I was always like I want to be the biggest band in the world.
Matt Caughthran:No, hell, no. I mean I think it's. I think it's important and rad to have that vision and that type of you know that type of goal, and you don't have to. I mean, there's plenty of bands that don't, that are awesome too, but I would never take it that way. And I mean any sort of kind of creative person has you know whether or not they want to talk about it or not. There's drive there and there's goals there and there's ambition there and it's up to you how you want to speak about it or let it out. Some people do, some people don't, and it's all good. I wouldn't get that at all from you.
Violet Mayugba:Oh, thank you. So, like I would say, I always had this ambition. You know we were going to be this big, huge band. I keep coming back to Green Day because I was, you know, talking about the early days, all I cared about. You know, they have like eight dudes on stage. So I hit up my friend, ethan Knight, and I was like, or no, he? You know it's funny he actually hit me up and he was like, let me play drums in the band. And I was like, yes, yes, great. And so then we just went to this is so crazy Solo freehand vocal, alexia, me on guitar and then Ethan on drums. Just one guitar, one vocal. That's how our first record is the guitar. How are we going?
Matt Caughthran:to tell.
Violet Mayugba:On that first record, it's us live in a room in a studio drums, single guitar. One record, all one take.
Matt Caughthran:Yeah, and that's sorry, mom, right, is that the? Is that the the first album, right?
Violet Mayugba:We're concerned, curious about why that record sounds like shit. It's because we were 16, live in a room, no doubles, no.
Matt Caughthran:Hey, you know the thing about you know first albums and just you know first EP's for songs. That's so rad is that you know it doesn't matter what the band is, it's always you know, it's always a start, it's always a ground floor kind of basic attempt at making an album and you know it's it's always going to have funny moments about it and it's always going to have just amazing moments about it and it's it's really cool when you listen to that album. Now, like you're saying that, like you know, one of the things that that bands do and that you guys have done that's that's really cool Is just, you know, record by record, usually the production steps up a little bit. You know you learn things. Like you're saying you learn, you know about, you know the studio. There's such a learning curve in the studio, oh my God, and that's what's so cool about making multiple records.
Matt Caughthran:And you know evolving and growing as an artist and especially as a band, because you experience that together and it's always so cool. Like, like you know, we're talking about your latest single. The production on that thing is incredible. And when you look back yeah, when you look back from, you know, sorry, mom, 2016,. You know, you know, you see, you see growth and you see a band that's gone places and it's, it's rad.
Matt Caughthran:So I like the production of the first album.
Violet Mayugba:A lot of people do. It's funny, like I think that it captured that time for us perfectly Just. It's very janky, it's very honest. There's no songwriting help, like just nothing. It was just songs we wrote in my garage and we just went in there and we played them and we mixed it the same day and we put it out the next day.
Matt Caughthran:Yeah, it's always funny too, because you get, you'll get like the Super Die Hard fans that are just be like that, just refuse to let go of that first album sound and they're just like what the hell, where's where did this bass come from? What's up with? What's up with Southern guitar? You guys have changed.
Violet Mayugba:What's so funny about our fans? I love our fans. They're really cool and since we started so young, a lot of our fans are very, very young still, but we also have that core listener base that came around during when that record came out 2016. Yeah, and they grew with us and they've always just accepted us for what we want to be or who we want to be as a band and they're just. They just ride hard for Debo and I appreciate it so much for that.
Violet Mayugba:You know, I see so many fan bases out there. Like I feel like the more famous you get, the more bases start to splinter and just argue with each other. And but our kids are so I mean truly just a live aspect, like they're always looking out for each other in the crowd, just always supportive of us as people. Like you know, what's funny is today's Valentine's Day when we're recording this and I posted on her pants account like these pictures of me and Alexia for Valentine's Day and I had to put a disclaimer. I'm like we are not dating because. And then they were all like love, love your friendship, love your friendship. And then they were like guys, they're not dating. You know real TV fans, you know y'all are just super wholesome besties and true love transcends romantic connotations Like yeah, that's a little bit of a foul eerie, as he said that like that kids play 17,.
Violet Mayugba:You know, I'm just like, yeah me, guys are smart.
Matt Caughthran:Yeah, yeah, you use the Bronx comment section is no, I mean it's not beastly, it's just. You know I it's, it's, it's, it's pure gold sometimes, but you know that's, that's everyone's comment section in general comment sections. You know, live by the sword, die by the sword. But yeah, I mean some people are tortured by their audience. You know what I mean and it's like that. That sucks.
Violet Mayugba:Yeah, I mean, look at pop stars.
Violet Mayugba:You know like I feel like yeah you know, jocke post like she put out that single demons which is great, by the way and she was like getting ripped apart for being satanic. Yeah, I'm so grateful, like we said, you know, perfect word looks so fortunate to have such sweet, sweet kids and just like I feel like they're so willing to learn and we're always trying to Promote those kinds of values at our shows. Alexia always says like not for each other. I always say on the mic I'm like if you want to go get water will still be here when you get back Water. You know, just make sure the person next use Okay, if you see somebody fucking with somebody, let security know and they'll kick that dude's ass.
Violet Mayugba:Like we've had to kick people out of shows before, like, yeah, mid song, and we wouldn't be able to do that if we didn't have such a Caring audience. You know we were playing the Roxy and I think it was 20, 22 or 2021 like end of our first headline tour ever. We like we sold out the Roxy. We were very excited and and like, right before we went into the song that I sing, this group of girl, I was like 20. Girls were like pointing at this guy that we're like Out of here and I was like what happened? You know it's been. Now I'm like what's going on? Yeah.
Violet Mayugba:I'm not into public shaming, I'm not in any of that shit. I think it's weird but, like we always say, like look after each other and we go, and this girl told me he goes or she goes. That guy's been grabbing like 10 girls since he walked in here and I just went on the mic, I go get the fuck out before I get security to get out. And then he just failed, you know, and we wouldn't be able to do that if we didn't have people that cared.
Matt Caughthran:So yeah, yeah, I mean, you know music is a community, you know, and as it breaks down into, you know, underground subgenres, punk, hardcore, all that good stuff, I mean the community is supposed to get tighter and stronger, you know. So it's like it's very important that you know Everyone looks out for each other at shows and all that good stuff, and and it's also, you know, it's also important to let everybody express themselves too and get crazy and not freak out when someone's Stage diving or dancing or doing whatever they want to do. You know.
Violet Mayugba:Well, many of our fans like they come to our shows and it's their first show and they're like whoa and Alexia had we had to learn that, you know, because we're growing up too.
Violet Mayugba:Like we didn't. We don't know how to deal with these insane crowds of 500, 800,000 people. Like we didn't know how to do that. So Alexia learned to say like If you don't want to get hit, say, all the pit, go the back, you're not missing anything. Like you don't want to get jumped on, if you don't want to be pushed around, that's okay, there's no judgment. Just don't go to the one area where people are doing that and then be mad that you got pushed, you know.
Matt Caughthran:I've always loved the chaos of punk shows like that's. I loved it. When I was a kid I was like I'm gonna go in there, I'm gonna lose my mind.
Violet Mayugba:What's so cool about music is that it literally takes over your body and soul, like when I saw are you a Gulch fan?
Matt Caughthran:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Violet Mayugba:Yeah, so I'm a huge Gulch fan, like I am a hell yeah, and I know those dudes, they're very sweet and mellow offstage and and then you know they get up there and they're like fucking stomping through the stage basically, and I Went in the crowd and I was like I'm gonna get fucked up, but I can't control my body.
Matt Caughthran:I have to go.
Violet Mayugba:I must dance and it's so. It's hard to kind of Ask people to almost rain that in like the effect that your music is having on them. How could you yeah, you like stop being emotionally affected by my music and expressing it physically, like that's not fair.
Matt Caughthran:Just be respectful, that's all yeah, I saw Gulch's last show at Sound Fury. I think they reunited for something at Gilman, though, recently.
Violet Mayugba:Their friend.
Matt Caughthran:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, shout out Gulch, awesome, awesome band, awesome record too. And and what's let's? Let's dive into songwriting a little bit. What do you, what do you, makes a good song.
Violet Mayugba:Oh, that's such a good question. First thing that comes to mind is like novelty, uniqueness, like we talked about this before, it's every song, every version of every song has been written, so that's really hard, but I feel like this is such a thing I used to say when I was 16.
Violet Mayugba:So maybe this is gonna come across as ignorant, but I feel like if you're making a conscious effort to not rip someone off, you can take tons of influence there and it's still gonna come across as something new, wrote something unique. Being honest and vulnerable in your songwriting, I think, is something that's important. It resonates with a lot of people. That's me projecting from my band because we're saying hell, a personal shit about ourselves and people love that and I also respond to that really well in music. I'm like, yeah, I feel like shit too. I'm gonna put this on repeat.
Matt Caughthran:All right, ladies and gentlemen, it is time to take a quick commercial break and refresh our Sailor Jerry cocktail. New year, new cocktail. 2024 is all about the Jerry Cola. I'm talking about two parts Sailor Jerry, four parts Cola and if you're feeling fancy, we're gonna put two Meraschino cherries on top. You know we're building it in a cocktail glass. You know we're gonna pour it over ice. That's it. Clean, simple, refreshing Jerry Cola. Baby. Visit SailorJerrycom for more recipes just like this one. Now back to the show. The first time I saw you guys was actually last year at Slam Dunk in Rimini, italy.
Violet Mayugba:I was gonna say not show together. Thanks for watching us, yeah yeah, yeah, no problem.
Matt Caughthran:No problem. That was. And that's when you start a band from Sacramento and with me being I grew up in East LA, so same kind of thing you don't really like. You say you have goals, you wanna get out of California, maybe you wanna tour to Texas or the East Coast or maybe get into Canada, but then you, you know, if you're stoked and you're a little bit lucky and things pick up a little bit, you find yourself going over to the UK and maybe into mainland Europe. And what was? You know two things here I wanna know what the first Destroy Boys tour was like, and then I wanna know how you feel about you know just the awesomeness of being able to travel around the world playing music, you know.
Violet Mayugba:Oh, my God, the two best questions ever in the world. So our first real US tour was when we were 18, but before that I booked us a ton of DIY tours on Facebook Like that just represents the time, like 2015, 16, 17. I would go to DIY tour postings or like I would message just venue pages or I had this notebook where I would write out every all ages venue in like California, oregon and Washington. That's like where we used to tour to all the time and you know I would have sections for Arizona and stuff.
Violet Mayugba:We never went there DIY cause it's just it was too hard at the time in high school, you know, but like right down their email, their phone number, whether or not they were all ages, cause you know it's really important for us to always play all ages shows. Also, we couldn't go in the venue at that point cause we're so. So you know, whether or not I'd reached out to them, I would highlight it a certain color, and I was able to book us all these, you know, these really funny shows like, and we would tour in my car. So it was just me and Alexia and whoever was playing drums for us at the time and all our gear in the back of my Ford Focus, going up the five, just touring around. But you know, me and Alexia were so obsessed with each other that we could hang out forever.
Violet Mayugba:And just to go from that, going from doing those house shows in my car, like backing up my Ford Focus into these Portland houses and unloading my dad's, like old Marshall and stuff into those houses, going from doing that to touring in a bus with Blink 182 and arenas, like, I will never stop being grateful, ever, because and I'm lucky to have that experience where I do get to have that frame of gratitude cause a lot of people, they just get thrown into it and that's a whole other experience I don't know about.
Violet Mayugba:But just working so hard and being able to get to that feels so good, like you said, like being able to tour and travel the world. I love touring, we all love touring, as you know, very hard on the body and the mind, so the more we tour like last year we went to Europe twice we were only off for 11 weeks out of the year, I think 11 or 13,. Like 11, 12, 13, one of those I haven't done the exact math but like very little time off, hitting it incredibly hard, which obviously we're so grateful for. But I ended up kind of like breaking my body and my spirit.
Violet Mayugba:I had an injury in Belgium where I had to get carried off stage and I had something like a seizure. They never figured out what it was, but it was just. Oh. Yeah, that was our second time we were up After.
Violet Mayugba:Yeah, we had to cancel our UK shows. I had to fly home. I have a shoulder neck injury. That's from playing guitar and touring so much. That's like an overuse thing. But I wouldn't trade it for the world being able to see all these places, see all these people play all these cool shows. Like our second Europe tour, the one that I got injured on. Our first show was in Warsaw, poland. We were like who's?
Violet Mayugba:gonna come to this. No one knows our band out here. It was almost sold out and they were like yeah. Warsaw's dope, Warsaw's totally rad and I was like what the fuck?
Violet Mayugba:I'm in Poland. This is, you know, and like before, that frame of gratitude where I'm like, oh my God, like I used to journal in high school about how bad I wanted to make a record where we actually doubled the guitars. And now I've got to walk around Poland to get schnitzel and Eastern European foods. And you know, in Rimini too, that was our first time in Italy ever. It was my first time there period. My Alexia and Narsie had been there before, like on vacations with her family when they were younger, but I never been there and we never toured out there. That was our, I think our one of our like six, seventh shows in mainland Europe, outside the UK. And you know, like you remember, it was right on the water.
Violet Mayugba:So, after we played, we all, like, threw our gear off. You know, God bless our sweet crew for crabbing and we all just ran into the water and I was like this life is about, dude, it's actually.
Violet Mayugba:I was just talking about this memory, it's like my favorite memories of last year. Like my band all took mushrooms I don't take mushrooms, but they all just like microdose. We went in the water. It just the four of us were all swimming together and it was so sweet, Like we are really blessed as a band where, like wherever we go, whatever we run into, like the four of us are really best friends. We love hanging out with each other. Obviously, we need a little time.
Violet Mayugba:Having time off away to do normal people stuff is good, but like this whole last month, you know in February, we've all been texting every day in the group chat being like, oh, should we add this to the show? Like, oh, I miss you guys. So being able to travel the world with my best friends and play music for people so cool, it's so cool.
Matt Caughthran:Yeah, that's, uh, you know that's. That's rad to hear and I know you know what you're talking about first hand. You know I'm fortunate enough with with the Bronx to be in that same type of situation. You know we've toured with so many bands over the years who are are, I mean, I always, it always blows my mind that when you come across like a band, that's like miserable or they like don't like each other and I'm like yo, what are you guys doing? How, like, how do you survive out here, like day to day, like not liking each other?
Violet Mayugba:Like when, after the show, like when we get on the bus, we all just sit in the background and talk shit or watch movies or like. Yeah that'd be stupid. You know like I was super uptight growing up so you know it's funny, like in my early twenties now like boys are about to turn 25. I just turned 24 in December, like kind of early mid twenties right now, like being a kid with my band, I think it's so fun. I feel so bad for bands that like don't have that experience anymore.
Matt Caughthran:Yeah, and it's, it's the coolest, you know, it's like the point. I mean you're, you're so stoked to be able to, you know, like you said, travel the world. People show up to your shows, people are buying the records and are into the band and I mean that's a gift, of course, but when you're able to enjoy it with you know, when you have the right relationship with the band and it's everyone's just friends and you have, plus, on top of that, you have the creative relationship of you know, gelling and playing live every night and like it's the best you know, and shout out, shout out to the, the other two band members you said Nara say and David, right, yes, okay. And Nara say is he drums or bass?
Violet Mayugba:I say drums and then David is bass. Awesome, yeah, those are. Those are my boys, my best friends in the world.
Matt Caughthran:The band dynamic is always interesting, you know, and in every single, in every single band it's always a little bit different, but when you have that relationship where everybody respects each other, loves each other, pushes each other, is there for each other, it's, you know it just makes everything that much better, you know. So I'm stoked that you guys have that.
Violet Mayugba:Man, I could talk about how much I love my band for hours. Yeah, I like I'm sure a lot of bands have this too, but I just love talking about it. We all have that same goal, like we're going to be the best live band, we're going to be the biggest band in the world, we're going to make the best records. And after every show you know just the four of us we'd reconvene sometimes with our crew to ask them their opinion and just be like that was awesome. What was awesome about that show? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Violet Mayugba:What was weird about that. Like there was that one moment where I came in late like my bad, you know, and just having that meeting in the minds because the four of us were all so different but we're all so similar and just having this common goal with my best friends so cool. Like I said before a bunch of times, like I, I'm just a slut for strategy, you know. Like I'm all about it.
Violet Mayugba:I love chatting with them. Like you know, me and David especially are kind of like we're like head honchos, like we're the heffays of the band.
Matt Caughthran:Yeah.
Violet Mayugba:The other two are like just pure creative. They're both super smart, but David and I will get together after every show and be like you guys got little.
Matt Caughthran:You got little managers inside your, inside your head on the same way in our band.
Violet Mayugba:It's fun, it's like a different passion and I don't think that, you know, anyone should be shamed for wanting to grow their thing into the biggest, best thing possible.
Matt Caughthran:Yeah.
Violet Mayugba:We don't shame people in other industries for that. Like obviously it's like I'm not trying to be a total shark about it, but a little sharky Awesome.
Matt Caughthran:You mentioned. You know I want to talk about the Blink tour just real quick, because I know I saw an Instagram post of yours where you mentioned it was kind of a full circle type moment. So I know you know how massive those shows were and just you know what an incredible thing it must have been like. But tell us a little bit about the shows. How were they? You know what was that like?
Violet Mayugba:So Blink for me. I mean me and the boys grew up obsessed with that band. Alexia got into them a little later because of me, but they were you know, I keep saying this word but literally like a cornerstone of my musicianship and my inspiration, and they were always just so impressive to me and yeah.
Violet Mayugba:And they were also fucking hilarious. Thomas, so funny. He is a dirty dog. We would go sit in his green room and say really fucked up stuff to each other and it was awesome and like landing at that show. Like I said before, we had never done arenas. I've been backstage in arenas before. It was always like wow, so cool, I can't wait to do this. But you know, being walked around, you have a liaison, you have and I think everyone could tell that we were really green because every single person I saw I'd be like hi, I'm Violet from the Star.
Matt Caughthran:Boys.
Violet Mayugba:This is our first show with Blink. How are you Nice to meet you? And we didn't meet the band till like a few days into the tour because you know they're so busy and tired and they press all day long. You know, obviously it was Tom's reunion tour. They really they always came in our room and checked on us. Super sweet, their crew is the best and those shows were just insane, yeah.
Violet Mayugba:It's just insane In a different way, like it wasn't like our headline shows where people are just killing each other, you know, and we knew not to expect that, but it was purely just so novel and so special and lucky for us that, you know, we didn't care if people were dancing or not, we just fed off of the room and the experience and it was so we had the best time. And then obviously, I'm leaving out a huge part of this direct support band, Turnstile the Kings. Yeah, Like I said before, we're always trying to figure out how to make our life show better and more compelling and get that energy across as much as we can. That's a masterclass watching that band.
Matt Caughthran:Yeah, they, they, they rip. I really like those guys a lot and you know I'm really excited to see what they do next. I know it's going to be awesome.
Violet Mayugba:It was cool seeing their natural and like meteoric rise because it was I was really feeling like burnt. I think a lot of people share this with me. Just and I don't mean to sound like a total grandfather, but like it seems like bands break through the rock band. I'm not into making records, I'm not into making short form videos and I understand it's just part of the grind. God bless, tick, tock. That's the reason my band, you know we had a song of viral, so I'm not knocking it or anything, but I was like man, do rock bands break anymore when they don't have a video going? Did I just make the song in the summer, you know? So, watching them go from you know this coveted hardcore band to an aftershock headliner, I was like oh fuck, yeah, rock bands can still break.
Matt Caughthran:Violet, I don't want to take too much more of your time. I know you know we're a little bit longer than usual here, but I have a random question. If Bill and Ted showed up at your doorstep with a time machine, where would you go first and why? What era would you travel to?
Violet Mayugba:Oh my God, I cannot stop talking about these dudes. I would go see a Greenish young woman, oh, like 89 or 91.
Matt Caughthran:Damn, that would be good. You know it's so funny. I feel like every band starts like at least punk band, like I remember, like I was in high school singing like Christie Road, like we would all, we all.
Violet Mayugba:You know like we like everyone, everyone.
Matt Caughthran:at some point, if you start a band has like covered like Green Day in their garage and it's just, it's the coolest thing. So we got a eternally shout out Green Day here on the podcast.
Violet Mayugba:for sure she knows.
Matt Caughthran:Oh yeah, what's up.
Violet Mayugba:So I'm really into Magic the Gathering. I'm wearing a Magic the Gathering shirt that my Valentine got me and I would go back to like 86, 87 and pick up a bunch of packs old cards and then I would come back here and sell that shit.
Matt Caughthran:That's good. That's good. Those are two good time machine destinations. I like that. I like that One's for pure musical enjoyment and the other's for flip magic cards to make money.
Violet Mayugba:Well, I would go with them for a little bit and then I would be like I want to eat. So it's it's self. Yeah, there you go.
Matt Caughthran:All right. So coming up on 2024 for the band, you know you guys got a lot of cool things on the radar. You're doing punk rock bowling this year. You're playing a bunch of festivals. March 16th I saw Destroy Fest. What's what's up with that? Give me the. Give me the the lowdown on that.
Violet Mayugba:So Destroy Fest is like my baby. It's a brainchild I've had for a little while that I'm trying to grow. It's basically like a little Destroy Boys Fest. Couldn't come up with a name for it, so Destroy.
Matt Caughthran:Fest. That's a good name.
Violet Mayugba:Thank you. So it's a bunch of our friends, you know, a lot of female, non-binary fronted bands that we all put together. Like the four of us come together, we're like what are our favorite bands right now? And then we put together this little festival, and we've done one in San Francisco, we've done one in New York, and we've done one Chicago, and now we're going to do one LA, the Bellwether, march 16th, like you said, and awesome.
Violet Mayugba:Great bands on that show Cho Cherry's playing Illuminati Hotties, jaymont, jigsaw Youth, who are one of the greatest bands doing it right now, nice and Margaritas Podridas. So Killer Vicious Lineup, the biggest Destroy Fest we've done to date. All of them have sold out, which is really fun and cool. For me, that's so cool, congrats. Thank you, so that one's not sold out yet. We got another month. We'll see what happens.
Matt Caughthran:Don't sell it out. We got this I hope so.
Violet Mayugba:I mean, all those bands that are playing are so good Like and just great people Like. We know all those bands personally.
Matt Caughthran:Cave Town. Mother, mother Summer Tour. That's going to be massive. What else, what else going on? Summer, you guys got new music coming out. You got a new album coming out. What's going on?
Violet Mayugba:Do we have a little? Just give me a little nugget, give me something. I'll give you a little little piece. We've been working on something for literally almost two years now with Carlos Delaguerza and it's coming up, and I've never been prouder of anything we've made. I'll say that.
Matt Caughthran:Yes, awesome, violet, all right. Last question here what, to you, is the meaning of life?
Violet Mayugba:Oh God, having fun with your friends.
Matt Caughthran:Perfect, perfect, oh yeah, that's a wrap on episode 63 of the Sailor Jerry podcast. As always, huge amounts of respect and gratitude to our guest, the one and only Violet Mayuba of Destroy Boys. Violet, thank you so much for your time. An incredible young musician and awesome band. So be sure and check them out. You can follow Violet at Violet Mayuba on Instagram and you can follow Destroy Boys at Destroy Boys on Instagram. Obviously, google the band. They got a ton of shows coming up this year Summer tour, of course, Destroy Fest March 16th. You can follow me at 2 and 3, matman. You best be following Sailor Jerry at Sailor Jerry. And, of course, ladies and gentlemen, say it with me now, sailor Jerry, spicestrum is still made the old school way 92 proof bold and smooth as hell. We'll see you in two weeks. Peace, surely.