Interview by: Josephine Clarke, Guest Writer
Sexpact is a comedy rock band collective formed as a part of Mess Fest. The people present for this interview were Logan Munoz, John Bordeau, Colin Huerta, Lazarus Howell, and Joel Davila. Devin Wright is also in Sexpact, but unable to make it to the interview.
What is Sexpact?
Lazarus: Well Sexpact is when we all get together and we create a pact where at another time in the future we all have sex-
Logan: Sexpact is a musical comedy band here to amaze and terrify. We are gonna break boundaries, we are gonna–
John: Tear down previous notions of sex and sexual identity.
Lazarus: We’re tearing things down!
Joel: Like clothes! Cause it’s sex!
What was the inspiration behind this project?
Joel: Well we hadn’t gotten laid in a while-
Logan: We were all virgins before the sexpact. No it was kinda like, one day I wanted to explore more comedy through music. The festival was coming up, so I’m like, “let’s do a band. Let’s do live music for the festival and make it funny.” The whole Sexpact aspect, though, sorta came from the many stereotypes and expectations of what bands are and what rock n roll is.
John: It also just came from the songs themselves. We found that there was a common theme among the songs.
Logan: Sex!
Lazarus: It’s like, “Hey! Wait a second! We like sex! what!”
What have you learned throughout this process?
Logan: Let’s all go around! Five words on what we’ve learned. Joel, you go first.
Joel: I think one of the things that I have oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. I was gonna use the rest of my words on “oh fuck.” I think that it’s such an interesting dive into the culture of the Theatre School and the production process of the theatre school. I find it interesting because by the very nature of how bands work, which is you go, you practice your shit, you bring it in, but the very nature of how bands work we were going against the grain of how theatre typically works which is everybody comes together, you do your work in the room, things progress (generally, in a production) in the space, in the rehearsal space. And it was very interesting, at least in my opinion, to see how the culture of the Theatre School worked, by fucking it up.
Colin: I heard a lot of stuff about how Mess Fest is going, and I kinda came onto the scene kinda late, and I think I was gonna say something along the same lines of like, the way that production has sort of gone against what we’re trying to do and I think that, in a way, that’s pretty punk rock of us to do that. This would also not be the first time going against what the bureaucracy of the Theatre School wants from me. Also, it’s very fun to actually play in a band. I’ve never actually played in a band before, so that’s nice.
Lazarus: Brother Logan-
Logan: I’ve learned a little too much, if you ask me.
Logan: I think that I learned that makes a lot of promises to artists with a vision outside of what is pre- existing and elevates their hope and idealism to break out of it, and yet, formulates this program to mold us into the perfect machines for that said institution. The whole thing that Colin said about the punk rockiness of it all is really formulative with how I’m going to go forward with not only my education, but also art in general when put in other people’s hands.
John: I’ll say something not related to TTS. I’ve been playing in cover bands since I’ve been, like, ten. That’s not a joke. You can look up Casey Train and you’ll see a little ten year old bass player singing William Bloat. When it comes to a band with exclusively original songs, I didn’t realize how much of a process that is, to bring those songs to life and develop original arrangement. So that’s something I’ve learned a lot about.
Lazarus: I learned how to play the tambourine. I also learned that if you go to every rehearsal with the most unnecessary instrument you can still be in every song.
John: “Well he’s here! Might as well be in this one!”
Lazarus: There are no small performers, only small actors.
Logan: You butchered that quote.
Colin: The fuck does that even mean?
Does this fit in with or align with your personal practice?
Joel: Well drumming was one of the things that got me into performing in the first place. I can tell the story that everyone knows about Blue Man Group and while that was the first rhythms that I learned, the first playing that I did was to the Bruce Springsteen show at Madison Square Garden. And I was on a little tiny drum kit just hammering my way out with Max Weinberg, who’s been the drummer for Conan, he’s been the drummer for Springsteen for ages. So I’ve been playing drums since I was four. Probably even before. And, you know, music, Blues Brothers, my dad and I would get in little suits and we would do the Blues Brothers concerts with the DVD playing –I think at that time it was the VHS playing. That Was how I got started in music, and I got interested in performing comedy. Through Blue Man I was making people laugh and I think, for me, the two have never truly been separate from performing drums and performing comedy. In fact, when I teach comedy–or “teach” that’s such a strong word–but when I coach comedy I talk a lot about drumming, cause I find very similar connections within the two fields. I think for me it was one of those things that made me more versatile as a performer.
John: And, you know, the classic “ba-dum tish."
Joel: Oh yeah! Everyone knows “ba-dum tish.” It made me more versatile to play the drum kit, which is something I’ve never done before. It was a step towards being a versatile drummer and being a versatile comedian. Good luck following that one!
Colin: I’ve always played guitar and there was a point where I thought I was gonna go to school for guitar playing and not at all for acting. I didn’t think I’d get an opportunity to do this, especially when I started taking it a lot more seriously during the pandemic when acting wasn’t a thing. It’s really nice to get to come back and get to just play with people. Which is how I want to carry myself as an artist. I really just want to get down with a group of cool people and do something that I care about.
Lazarus: For me, a month before school started I was like, “Logan, I wanna play the tambourine. I don’t know how to play the tambourine but I’m gonna learn how to play the tambourine.” Cause at this point, Logan was like, “Everyone’s in the band. I want everyone in the band. It’s gonna be great, it’s gonna be everyone.” And I was like, “Alright. I’ll play the tambourine.” And he was like, “Alright, let’s do it!” I bought a tambourine, and I learned how to play the tambourine. For me, it was just, not only learning to play the tambourine but having fun with it and finding fun ways to use it.
Lazarus: I think the tambourine is something special because it’s not only a drum, but it’s something I can use with my body and I can move with it. I think there’s a weird mindset of me, Lazarus the performer, as a solo performer, cause I usually do things solo, versus me in a band, doing things with the band, having to talk to the big man.
Logan: I’d like to say something! I’m hearing a lot of things about opportunities to express themselves through other mediums. I think, recently, there has been a weird flux between complete freedom and autonomy when it comes to during the pandemic and now that we’re back in it’s like we’re being reintroduced to all of these facets of art that seem to be so weird and strange and strict and beholden. think that Joel’s connection between improv and drumming is why I wanted to do this so much and why I hope it helps me and other people in the future, figure out their connection to art by being versatile, and not being beholden and using art for what it’s meant to be, which is to truly express. And forgetting that is–it’s not hard to forget it, which is scary, but it’s hard to get back and that’s why I wanted all of this to be about sex because art’s kinda like sex, it’s only good if you let it be good.
John: Whatever I make, I damn sure make it sexy.
What are you hoping audiences will take away from this?
Lazarus: “Oh my goodness, Lazarus is so good!”
Logan: “Look at how hot all these people are! So hot!" [laughter] I want people to take away a sense of liberation, freedom, and joy. The comedy in it isn’t “boom, boom, ha ha, funny, joke joke joke.” A lot of it is through the pathway we like to call “human flourishing” which is the pride of stripping away certain facets of yourself and being vulnerable to an audience. And I think that’s one of the easiest ways a person who isn’t acclimated to comedy can be acclimated into comedy because it truly is just the act of loving oneself and allowing people to see that. I think that’s really powerful and I hope people can take that from it, at least.
Josephine (she/her) is a third-year dramaturg. She is incredibly interested in dramaturgy and comedy and how the two intersect. Her practice is defined by flexibility and creativity, and she strives to make dramaturgy as dynamic as possible.
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