This is a continuation of our reporting from our night at Rumba Cafe (PT 2/4). If you missed our first interview with “Space Kid”, you can check it out here! And now we continue with…
Golomb
The second performance of the night was “Golomb”, one of The Bobcat Press'‘ absolute favorite local bands! The grunge sound that the Columbus trifecta is able to produce met and exceeded any expectations we had going into the show. Mickey (lead guitarist) plays in perfect tandem with Xenia (bass) while Hawken, the sole proprietor of shoe resale company 614Sole, holds it down on the drums.
Image via their Facebook page
The energy of this band is incredible- their chemistry provides extra entertainment alongside their music, which is fantastic. Below is our full interview with them (if that’s your thing), but if you’re just here for the music and want me to put a sock in my mouth already, their information WILL be linked below where you’re looking… right now!!
And here’s our exclusive interview with them- enjoy!
[Mickey as vocals/guitar, Xenia as vocals/bass, Hawken on drums]
Band Origins / Background
Do you guys spend a lot of time together outside of this? Eat a lot of meals together?
Xenia: We eat a lot. We're (Mickey) married to each other and he's (Hawken) my brother, so we've eaten many a meal.
Do you guys live together?
Xenia: We (Mickey) live together, but we (Hawken) don't anymore.
Hawken: I don't live with them.
Xenia: We used to. (laughing) What if you did live with us?
Hawken: We used to all live together though.
Xenia: We did. When we all started playing we did.
So how long have you guys been playing together?
Hawken: For about three years, four years.
Xenia: Yeah, almost four. We were a band before and then we moved to LA for a little bit and then we came back when COVID happened.
How was LA? Was it expensive?
Xenia: LA was ok, it was really expensive. We weren’t there for very long- we could not find a drummer and we never played any shows, so we didn't have any music scene experience there really. But yeah, it was interesting. We're going back there in a couple of days.
Wow, what for?
Xenia: Honeymoon. We’re gonna go to the desert and hang out.
Hawken: Do not disturb! They got married a couple of months ago.
Xenia: It was in October- just over two months ago. Yeah, it was awesome.
What's that like for you guys?
Xenia: To be married or to be in a band with Hawken?
Both actually, yeah.
Xenia: Being married is cool. We've been together for over seven years, so it was a pretty normal thing to do I feel like, at this point. Being in a band with Hawken is cool, we like him.
How did you come up with the name Golomb?
Mickey: It was my mom’s maiden name so, yeah. Pretty easy pick.
The “Sound”
What's your guys' method to playing instruments? Like, what goes into it in your head? What are you thinking about when you’re playing?
Mickey: Try to make it sound big.
Xenia: I try to play whatever Mickey's not playing. I don't like playing the same thing, so I try to always play something else.
Hawken: Trying to keep the tempo. I feel like that's key, those three answers are key. That’s how it is, that’s raw!
I feel like you guys really harmonize. Like, that's definitely intentional.
Xenia: Yeah, I always try to harmonize.
Hawken: Oh, you ain’t hear me?
I mean, I can hear you on the drums, but I can’t hear you singing
Xenia: Hawkins back there like, “Ahhh”. We need to give him a mic.
Mickey: No...
Xenia: [He got a mic] and he said, “I love all you beautiful people. Thank you for coming out tonight”.
Hawkin: I thought that was fun- I thought it was funny.
I liked it
Xenia: It's just the fact that you asked for a mic just to say, “Thank you all for coming”. It was really funny- it was hilarious.
Hawkin: What else am I supposed to use the mic for, you know- I'm not singing. I'm just asking for thanks.
Xenia: You were giving thanks.
You're (Mickey) left-handed, aren't you? We kind of picked up on that.
Xenia: He is a lefty
How has that affected you, both with playing music and just overall- mentally?
Mickey: When I played Wii, I would have to switch it to the left hand, yeah.
Xenia: Yeah, we have to coordinate, like, who's gonna sit on what side when we sit down at a table, because otherwise we'll just elbow each other, so it affects me too.
Hawken: Yeah, when I'm trying to sit down to dinner with Mickey I’m like, “You better stay to the left of me”.
Who are your guys' influences on the music?
Xenia: I feel like we all kind of like different things, but I would say our influences are probably: The Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth, Spacemen 3, and Galaxie 500… I feel like those are who I would say most directly influenced our band, but we listen to a lot of other stuff.
Ian: Sonic Youth is super good- you ever try to buy Sonic Youth merch?
Xenia: Yeah, it's insane. It's so expensive. I have a Sonic Youth t-shirt, but I think it came from Hot Topic (laughs)- but it's all fucked up now because Hawken stole it from me for a while and got like tractor oil on it and so its all destroyed now…
Mickey: It's been a long while- I feel like- since I played that, so I'm trying to remember what I was thinking about. I feel like... I don't really like how people will be talking about stuff. So that's what I was talking about on there and... yeah- if you know what I mean.
Ian: It struck a chord in me, I felt like it was a cool song.
Mickey: I feel like I try to be as positive and friendly as I can to people.
Ian: Some people don't reciprocate that, though. I was just talking to someone earlier like- everybody needs to be loved and everybody wants to be, so why shouldn't you just do it, you know? Like just be nice to people.
Mickey: Yeah. Yeah. And that song is about the opposite. Xenia knows what I'm talking about... And what I did was I recorded it twice-
Xenia: It's layered
Mickey: That recording is the same, I just played it twice.
Musical Experience
Would you guys say you know music theory?
Xenia: I took music theory in high school for one semester [but] I don't remember anything about it.
Mickey: Like a very, very minimal amount
Xenia: I just think in patterns. I don't even know the notes I’m playing.
Okay, but if you play something wrong, you can feel it.
Xenia: Oh, yeah yeah yeah, you hear it. I tried [really learning it]. I thought it was interesting when I was learning it, but I can't seem to make reading music stick. That was like junior year of high school and I really don't remember anything. Hawken, you never did any music reading or anything like that?
Hawken: No, I never took music theory.
Xenia: Well, you were in band.
Hawken: I took band in middle school.
Xenia: I did drums in middle school band too.
So how long have you guys been individually playing each of your instruments?
Hawken: I started- my dad had a drum set in the house, you know, when I was growing up. I played in middle school band and high school band a little bit and then I started playing with these guys when they lived in LA and they came back and then they were living with my parents and I was living there for a little bit and-
Xenia: I don't think you were living there for a little bit, you were in high school.
Hawken: I was like living there for my whole life and these guys lived there for a little bit when they came back from Los Angeles.
Xenia: (laughing) We were living there for a little bit, you were living there for your whole life- Hawken was 17.
Hawken: I was like 17. And then somebody hit them with like a free recording opportunity at a studio called Secret Studio- talking ‘bout Keith Hanlon.
Xenia: Yeah. And I had recorded with him previously, but then he wanted us to come back.
Hawken: They asked me to play drums with them on their recording, so I couldn't help but say yes. And you know, the rest is history.
Xenia: I played [bass] in middle school, then I started playing guitar and I was in a band for about six or seven years where I played guitar. And then I started playing bass again for this band about six years ago.
Wow. So you've been in music for a long time.
Xenia: Yes. I was in a band called “Cherry Chrome” from the time I was like 15 until I was like 20- so five years or so. I would play guitar and I was like the front-woman of the band. And then yeah- I started playing bass when Mickey was like, “You should play bass” and I was like, “Oh, yeah, I used to play bass, I could do that”.
Mickey, how long have you been playing the electric guitar?
Mickey: I think the summer after my freshman year?
How long has that been?
Hawken: (lying) He graduated like 2020
Mickey: Ten years maybe, yeah. And then I started playing in bands soon after that.
Xenia: (laughing) We graduated in 2017.
Advice for Future Bands
Do you have any advice for someone who's just starting out in the Columbus music scene?
Hawken: Columbus is hard. I feel like there's, you know-
Mickey: No, it's easy to start playing shows: just ask someone to play a show. And probably make recordings of your songs…
Hawken: I mean, clearly Mickey does the booking.
Xenia: Hawken’s like, “It's so hard!”.
Mickey: Just try to play shows- hit the people up, send them a message, say what's up to them.
Xenia: And practice
Mickey: And make recordings, right.
Hawken’s Shoe Thing
Ian: So Hawken, I’ve heard tell that you run like a shoe thing.
Hawken: Yeah, 614 sell-buy-sell-trade sneakers [614Sole]. I got a storefront coming in- it's downtown Columbus.
Really. What got you into that?
Hawken: My friend Jordan.
Xenia: Michael Jordan.
Hawken: He introduced me to selling shoes in middle school.
Michael Jordan?
Hawken: Yeah. And he helped me out along- He showed me- you know, I saw it through Instagram- but I got a storefront coming out.
Gaming
Mickey : Do you guys skate?
Ian: No. Well, I ride a scooter. I played Skate 1 on the Xbox 360
Mickey: Hell yeah.
Xenia: Isn’t Skate 4 supposed to be coming out?
Mickey: It's supposed to.
Ian: You ever get into SSX?
Mickey: Oh for sure. Tricky. Yeah, Tricky is the only one.
Ian: That's sick, dude. Did you play the 2012 one? It’s on Xbox for like 6 bucks- such a hoot.
Mickey: SSX tricky though- on GameCube- was fire. I was always Psymon.
Ian: Psymon's tough dude. I played Mac usually.
Mickey: Mac was dope. I feel like- what's the one girl with the like red-
Ian: Zoe?
Mickey: Bro that was like my first crush, for sure... (pulling up a picture) Yeah the girl on the cover- god damn she’s so bad.
Zoe from SSX Tricky
Ian: (looking at the picture) Oh yeah, no doubt.
Hawken: She doing alright.
Mickey: (showing a picture) Psymon, I was always this dude.
Psymon from SSX Tricky
Xenia: Ohh of course you were, with the chains.
Hawken: What game is this?
Mickey: SSX tricky.
What's your favorite video game?
Mickey: Mirror’s Edge.
That's a good one. That's some parkour.
Mickey: For sure, or the first or second Borderlands
Xenia: I was [into] like Mario Kart and Wii Sports Resort- I was more of a Wii girl. I could never get the hang of the Xbox controller…
Caleb: See, I would say that about the Wii controller, honestly…
Xenia: Well, for the Wii sometimes you’re just moving it. I was a big fan of Just Dance too.
Hawken: I like Fortnite.
Mickey: That's your top game of all time?
Ian: It's top five
Hawken: I'm not gonna lie bro, I had a lot of fun playing Fortnite. You never played Fortnite.
Ian: I played a lot of Fortnite. It's so much fun.
Mickey: Yeah, but there's no, like… there's no-
Hawken: It’s definitely top five. If not top three- it's probably Black Ops 2, Fortnite and MW3. If not like Skate 3.
And that’s all for Golomb! Huge shout-out to them for taking the time to talk with us, we really enjoyed getting to know them musically and personally!
We still have two more interviews with the other performers from that night, so make sure to be on the lookout for that!
