INTERVIEW // Heart Rot: Feminine Rage and Shredding for Sport
This Thursday, I had the pleasure of going to The Mercury Lounge in the Lower East Side to see The New School’s very own Heart Rot perform their second gig ever. When I arrived, I was greeted by Ceci Williams, Maya Lagman, and Lily McMahan, the three members of the band. They led me down to the greenroom to conduct an interview through a narrow, winding basement with floors that looked like they hadn’t been cleaned since the Bush administration. Williams, the band’s drummer, reassured me that I would not be murdered down there, despite the appearance.
The trio are all freshmen at TNS and met by chance on an Instagram account created for the class of 2026. They joked that they actually “met in the womb”, as their friendship feels very tight-knit for only having met a few months ago. This closeness and understanding of each other was very apparent when they went on stage—the three women were constantly communicating through facial expressions and body language. This gave way to a tight and in sync performance that boomed with chemistry and made it seem like they were genuinely having fun.
The musicians have built their brand around being women. Lagman, the lead guitarist, said, “I’ve always liked working with girls better,” as she finds it easier to relate experiences and work creatively. She explained she has nothing against working with men, it’s just that as a woman, “it’s harder to take up space.” This shared understanding between the members brings them closer together and allows them to be completely comfortable bringing ideas to the table. This desire to create a safe space even extended into their show, where Lagman called for the audience to open what she calls a “girl mosh pit” so that everyone could have fun.
This sense of femininity is also very apparent in their song writing. Taking inspiration from the likes of Courtney Love’s Hole and Veruca Salt, their music is bursting with a “dark feminine” energy as McMahan, the band’s vocalist and rhythm guitarist, put it. The band clearly takes a lot from grunge music of the 90s—quiet verses crescendo into harrowingly noisy screaming choruses on a sonic rollercoaster that is full of angst. While the band may need some time to carve out a sound that is truly their own, their skill sets lend perfectly to the grunge aesthetic. Hammering power chords on her Telecaster and bellowing out vocals that are somehow simultaneously ethereal and emotionally cutting, McMahan is a natural performer. Additionally, Williams’ drumming seamlessly creates transitions from bridge to chorus, making the quiet to loud dichotomy work without the listener really hearing the jump.
The standout of the show, however, was Lagman’s performance on lead guitar. Sporting a hand crocheted tank top and a sleek matte black Les Paul guitar, she absolutely SHREDS by every definition of the word. Showing her talent on a cover of Cream’s White Room, she soloed for what was roughly 30 seconds of pure madness and energy that left me stunned. The guitar tone was beautiful and my only criticism is that I wish it had lasted 5 times longer. On the band’s original songs, she contributes simple, yet memorable and addicting riffs that tie the whole thing in a chaotic and angsty shaped bow.
This is definitely a band to keep on your radar and I look forward to what they have in store for the rest of this year. They are planning on using the money made from shows and merchandise to record their debut album, which they hope to have out by the summer.
Words: Jojo Thaler // Photos: Naiomi Lewis
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