With a debut single under their belts and a growing list of gigs, including one this weekend, Auckland band MAYJUN – Jeremiah Fale, Elijah McPherson and Tivoli Levi – are winning fans with a fresh spin on pop punk. They tell Emma Gleason what’s behind the music.
Their debut single Jealous is out now, they’ve got more than 100,000 views on TikTok and come Saturday MAYJUN will be performing at Auckland venue Big Fan, the local music venue established as a nurturing hub for local artists.
It’s a strong start for a young band – vocalist Jeremiah Fale and guitarist Elijah McPherson are 22, while drummer Tivoli Levi is 21 – particularly one that’s surfing a new wave for an old genre.
Why pop punk, why now?
“At the time of recording Jealous we hadn’t really settled on a certain sound,” the band explains, and their vibe was a result of their personal tastes and collective harmony.
“We knew what kind of songs we wanted to do and had our own individual influences and Jealous being a pop-punk anthem just happens to be what came from that session.”
They’d landed on something that resonated, with themselves as artists, and contemporary audiences – many of whom are discovering the genre for the first time, or revisiting it the second time around.
Working in the genre is something they hope will challenge musical stereotypes.
“The idea behind MAYJUN was to push music that people that look like us don’t really create.”
There’s clearly an audience, with their music striking a chord.
“We’ve received some really great responses from different people within our circles and on our social media. People really like the fact that we’re doing something really different and even from TikTok we have people leaving comments like “I wish you guys were around when I was in High School” or “Finally! A poly boy band’,” the band says.
“We also had some really good responses at the ‘Ones to Watch’ show which has been really cool to see.”
Influences include Dangelo, Simple Plan and Paramore, but the music is firmly from 2024 Tāmaki Makaurau.
“In terms of songwriting, we draw from lived experiences and each of our own lives.”
It’s that background that has given them a rich source of knowledge, skill, source material and support.
They’ve been in and around music since they were kids.
Growing up in South Auckland, they were exposed to multiple influences across genres, backgrounds, instruments and contexts.
They cut their teeth at church and learned from family members, and explored music in high school before they came together and committed to the craft.
Elijah McPherson started playing guitar in year eight, thanks to his sister, before starting lessons proper, and later joining his high school’s big band. Music runs in the family; his grandfather was a “huge” inspiration.
Tivoli Levi grew up around a diverse mix of musical genres, including RnB, rock and gospel. He met McPherson at high school, who persuaded him to join the school band, and the creative partnership stuck.
Like Levi, Jeremiah Fale grew up honing his instrumentality at church. And, as with McPherson it was a sibling who first taught him guitar. Exploring music throughout his school years, he decided to pursue a sound of his own, establishing his artist name HALES.
It was through AMA-nominated RnB singer Sam V (Sam Verlinden, who won Best Pacific Soul and RnB gong at the Pacific Music Awards) that Fale met Levi and McPherson, and they’ve been playing together ever since.
It was a show in Invercargill of all places that really got the wheels in motion for MAYJUN.
“We’d finally realised how similar our eclectic music tastes were and thought ‘hey we should start a band!’,” the band says
“The first session we had was literally us throwing every first idea that we had at Christian [Tjandrawinata, their producer] and from that we’d created Jealous which we were really proud of.”
A piping-hot pop-punk hit, the song was released March 15. Since then they’ve been on stage at venues like the Tuning Fork honing their sound in front of a crowd.
“We’ve played a couple shows and have had a lot of experience playing for/opening for other artists but with so many different industry members in one room it was definitely a different type of pressure!”
It was a great experience and (importantly) fun. It also showed their canny understanding of using appearance and clothing – they all have great off-duty style – to shape and communicate a band’s identity, and riff off the music.
For the Ones To Watch show – their first – the band was clad in a referential, culture-laden and eternally cool Kiwi classic: Black singlets. Paired with leather jackets, it’s a departure from stereotypical pop-punk aesthetics, helping visually define MAYJUN and render their diverse influences on stage.
“We are by no means fashion experts but for this occasion, we knew we had to step up our look as a band. We decided to go with the leather jacket look as it’s a real iconic look with figures like Elvis and even James Dean rocking it.”
They want to do things differently. And think there’s room for it.
“In terms of genre, there’s a massive reggae market in New Zealand that tends to be the style Kiwis push and consume the most,” they said.
“We’ve also seen a lot of tall poppy syndrome and how much people prefer the stereotype of the humble, quiet artist that isn’t too cocky or overconfident.”
Instead, they want to be proud of their work, and challenge the idea that confidence and drive are synonymous with inflated ego.
Above all they hope their music carries a message about creative freedom; rejecting judgment or stereotypes and making the music that’s true to you.
“We started MAYJUN on a random night in Invercargill and already by just being ourselves and making music we want to make it’s already brought us new opportunities,” they said.
“It’s connected us with people who think and feel the same. We’re also hard driven to push for representation in all genres of music.”
So, what’s next for the trio? A MAYJUN EP is in the works.
“[We’re] looking at the tracklist and creating more songs for the project,” they say.
“As well as the EP we’re looking at doing a release party/show for our first New Zealand on Air-funded song.”
And there are still tickets available for their show this weekend at Big Fan, so see them now, because this is just the beginning.
MAYJUN and Lucya George are playing Big Fan on Saturday, June 29. Tickets are $15.
Emma Gleason is the New Zealand Herald’s lifestyle and entertainment deputy editor. Based in Auckland, she covers culture, media and more.
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