“Think of us as psychedelic activists:” unconventional rock group Muzzins make a statement about art, community, and being unapologetically original.
Noun: Muzzos. Verb: to muzz. Noun: the Muzziverse.
Muzzins are a rock trio who are gradually building not simply a community of fans, but an entire universe of lore and an ethos of being. To date they’ve only played about fifteen shows, yet they’ve already built a solid following: they’ve had people offering to do visuals and branding, and have received gifts like weed chocolates and hand-rolled joints. They’re not for everyone, and that’s perfectly fine by them. As lead singer “R-Muzz” (Rayna) says, “We’re not a casual band. We’re not background music or dinner music.”
The three members of Muzzins—R-Muzz on vocals, keytar, and melodica, T-Muzz (Tom) on bass, and C-Muzz (Chris) on drums and backing vocals—met in a peculiar manner. All three happened to meet in Reykjavik, Iceland about three years ago. C-Muzz was on a research trip for his work studying arctic foxes. R-Muzz was there as part of a travel cooking show covering Icelandic cuisine. T-Muzz was simply on a short vacation, but had brought his bass and was busking on the streets where the other members saw him play. The three connected there, realized they all lived in Boston, and decided to start a project together when they all returned.
I first encountered the band at Somerville’s Crystal Ballroom about a year ago and was immediately struck by the joyful nature and good vibes they radiate from the stage. Despite only being a trio, the band fills both the visual and sonic space. They have also cultivated a futuristic and psychedelic look, with T-Muzz in a jumpsuit, R-Muzz in a signature wig and costume, and C-Muzz in a ripped lab coat and sunglasses.
As for their sonic component, this band grooves, and they groove hard. C-Muzz is a rock-solid drummer and consistently elevates the energy with his playing. To my ear, however, the core of Muzzins’ sound comes from T-Muzz’ bass. For a single bassist to fill up so much of the sonic spectrum while maintaining audience interest is a tough challenge, but T-Muzz has an absolute knack for writing funky, catchy, and melodic bass grooves. He also comes equipped with tools to assist his task, with his pedalboard featuring multiple Big Muffs, overdrive, chorus, flanger, octave, pitch shifting, and delay effects, all held together by a signal blender. The grooves and riffs that he writes hold your attention like you’re in a trance.
It’s truly impressive that the band doesn’t need a full-time guitar or key player to fill the space, and that’s a formula with which Muzzins are perfectly content. “I really enjoy creative constraints. There’s something energetic about the dynamic of a trio,” R-Muzz describes. “Within the confines of our instruments and personnel, what is the maximum we can get?” Keeping the members at three provides a vessel for further creativity, as they like to explore what each member can do, as well as using silence or sparseness as a tool.
That foundation allows R-Muzz to showcase her creativity and dynamism from her position as frontwoman. Her role, both on and off the stage, is the “point of the arrow.” Her performances are energetic and she also has a gift for writing catchy vocal hooks, but perhaps more importantly, she is responsible for transmitting positive vibes to the audience. Rayna has an interesting history. Originally from India, she is a neurobiologist by training who has written for Vogue and Rolling Stone, but she is also an executive coach and a television chef. The message that she professes is to love yourself. Their music is improvised, and perfection is, by nature, impossible. Muzzins is a project of self-love through imperfection. As she says, “The right people, who we are for, will like it.” Indeed, that care-free nature permeates their music, and it’s infectious to everyone in the audience.
I was able to witness another Muzzins performance at Atwood’s in early February where they were promoting the release of their new single, “Send it Back.” They drew me and the rest of the crowd in with the same spirit I had seen months earlier. R-Muzz dropped funny one-liners (“Smoke this and listen to jazz”). Their music defies styles, they’re simply their own thing. I found myself finding links to the Ramones, the Cranberries, Rage Against the Machine, Black Sabbath, Primus, and even Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Along with their costumes, I can only describe them as psychedelic punk wizards.
Their creative, improvisatory spirit explains their quick rise, as they’ve generated rapport with fans. They started what they call an “invisible merch club,” which consists of an email with instructions for a personal art project. As they say, “Who wants more junk and more shit to throw out?” They would much rather hand out creative projects to encourage personal creativity. Indeed, the origin story I wrote earlier in this piece was my creative project that the band assigned me during our interview—in other words, it’s entirely made up. That’s the spirit that pervades Muzzins, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.