SXN & The Classix formed only six months ago, but they already seem to be showing promise. The group already has a few performances under their belt, most notably their appearance at Solstice in the fall. This semester, the band is scheduled to perform at Equinox, another one of Hamilton’s music festivals. As suggested by Classix, the band is composed of six members: Saxon Johnson, the band’s founder and rapper; Ruby Simon, their saxophonist; Angus Campbell-Grossman, playing the guitar; Mateo Arce on piano; Max Weiner, the band’s bassist and Noah Steinman on drums.
Saxon Johnson, the founder of the band, said that his family and general love for music got him into performing.
Saxon said that he has been inspired to perform since a young age. “My family is full of performers,” he said. “My great uncle, he was a poet. My dad was a rapper and a drummer. My mom is a singer and my grandma is a singer. So many different musicians and artists in my family that just really inspired me to be who I am.”
Saxon’s main reason for starting the band comes from his love of music, his connection to the band members, and his appreciation of playing live. “It’s a different feeling than playing with an MP3,” Saxon said. “It’s nothing electronics can imitate, it’s unique and raw.”
The drummer for the band, Noah Steinman, shared that one of his inspirations for picking up an instrument is a famous jazz drummer from the 1970s and 80s.
“I really admire drummers like Buddy Rich,” Noah said. “…listening to jazz and jazz drummers specifically brought me a lot of joy in my life.”
Others in the band said they joined in order to come together and play music as friends.
“Saxon has been one of my closest friends since freshman year, and when I found out he was gonna be rapping with a live band, I was totally down,” said drummer Mateo Arce.
Bassist Max Weiner said he enjoyed performing, and the feeling it’s given him. “It’s difficult to get teenagers in a room and super hyped,” Max said. “People start to think that’s lame, but we don’t.”
Mateo acknowledged that one of the hardest parts of maintaining the band is finding time to get together and practice. “We’re all busy people, and I find that sometimes can be hard,” he said.
Saxophonist Ruby Simon agreed. “A lot of people within this band are already a part of so many other bands,” she said. “It’s hard to find enough people to put together a strong group, but Saxon’s done that pretty well.”
Ruby said that despite the challenges, the band came together quickly. “It was really quite easy, we’re all just close with each other,” she said. “The main help was the bridge of friendship between all of us.”
Saxon’s upcoming original songs include “Chance On Me” about pursuing love even when it is not certain, “Watch Out,” about love gone wrong, “South Central Saxon,” about his love for his neighborhood, and an upcoming piece dedicated to his mom.
“A main theme that comes to mind when writing music is love,” Saxon said. “I love my mom very much and it’s completely dedicated to her to express my love through music.”
He plans on performing all of the aforementioned pieces at Equinox here at Hamilton on Saturday. The event runs from 1-8 p.m, with SXN & The Classix taking the stage at 7:00pm.
