Meet Cumgirl8, Your New Favorite Band

We’ve been hearing about the rowdy live shows and incredible performances by Cumgirl8 and after finally experiencing them at SXSW we can confirm that all of it is true. The band is a riot, and an absolute must see if you like a good live show. It all started in 2019 when the talented Lida Fox, Veronika Vilim, Avishag Cohen Rodrigues, and Chase Lombardo decided to create together. It wasn’t hard for them to land on the top of our SXSW list for 2024 as they are incredibly talented and easily have the audience eating from the palm of their hands. We had the chance to chat with the band and get a few more details from them on life and music and the universe they live in. A universe we all want to be a part of.

Playxear: Where are we catching you today?

Cumgirl8: We’re in New York, currently location scouting for an album photoshoot video we’re doing right now.

Playxear: Let’s talk about that, what’s coming up music wise?

Cumgirl8: We are currently putting together our debut record which we’re mixing soon and aiming for this fall. We’ll release another single next month separate from that, and this one will be about 40 frogs. It all ties together with the concept of the record but we can’t say more than that.

Playxear: Tell me what brought you together, how did this all start?

Cumgirl8: We met in the Cumgirl8 Universe, and we decided to do stuff together since we heard that this planet is dying and on fire, so we got sent here make a change in whatever way we can. This is our station for now, we are only here for a moment and here to assist the human race.

Playxear: How did you come up with the name?

Cumgirl8: The name was actually the name of our internet universe and planet we’re from and also the sex chat we met online about 8000 years ago.

Playxear: I was so excited to hear you were going to be at SXSW and made sure to catch your unofficial shows after you announced you were dropping out.

Chase: Are you the photographer that I straddled? Sophia!

Playxear: Yes, that was me (best moment at SXSW).

Playxear: I’ve been telling everyone about you since I returned and mentioned you to Thunderpussy, a band you really reminded me of. I actually would like to see a tour with you co-headlining, it would be great.

Cumgirl8: We love that band! We’ve known them for years and really like them.

Playxear: I wanted to talk more about SXSW and why it was important for you to drop out after finding out about the army sponsorships.

Cumgirl8: It just didn’t align with anything we believe in, we’re anti-war, anti-genocide, we don’t support any of it and when we found out that the army was such a big part of it and weapons manufacturers, we just didn’t feel like we could go on with it. It was so crazy to go onto the website and see our band name listed and right above it with even bigger letters the U.S. Army. This is completely antithetical to everything, even the message we bring from our metaverse it’s fully anti-military technology and we’re really trying to eliminate that in the most clever way we can so we just couldn’t support that. We did decide to go down there instead of boycott it from home because we wanted to be around other people that felt the same way and protest with them, and we met some really cool people while doing so. Then going down to Texas which abortion is illegal, it was important to do what we do there and important to protest at the source.

We also had a show that we booked in Dallas a few months back and they were saying that we couldn’t do the show because of our name, so it’s important to go down there and show what we are doing. They’re the problem, other people are the problem for objectifying us we’re just out here doing us and assuming that our name is something that’s not what it is, that’s wild to us. The whole concept that our name is being vulgar ended up itself a challenge that we want to face head on, especially in a state where women don’t have rights, or can’t have an abortion. Girls should be able to c*m and it shouldn’t be that crazy, but people still hate women huh?

Playxear: I think it’s amazing that you chose to come down and show your support in the various causes you feel you align with. What was the backlash from dropping out?

Cumgirl8: We just lost money from dropping out of official showcases, and actually some weird people commenting on our posts about it. Overall, most people we were working with at the events were very understanding and they appreciated where we were coming from. Shot out to Roskilde Festival who we contacted about dropping out of their showcase and of course they couldn’t because they are funded by their government and pay to be there but a few days later they contacted us to play at this year’s event in Denmark. It was cool to feel the support directly and indirectly, we’re not the enemies here which is the one thing to remember here. In the media you feel that way sometimes, but really, we’re musicians, we’re never the enemy and we’re just trying to do our best here. We completely understand and level with the other artists that had to go through with it and didn’t have that choice to drop out because money is real you know.

Playxear: I’ve been wondering about the story behind your song, “Cicciolina,” and how that came about. This is about the famous Italian porn star who we then saw you celebrated her birthday in Italy last year. Did you meet her first or did you write the song first?

Cumgirl8: The song was like a bat signal, a siren to bring her into our lives and it worked.

Playxear: So, before you met her?

Cumgirl8: Yes, it’s just a poem about how wonderful she is and how she was so inspirational to us that we dedicated this song to her. Eventually we got in touch as she found it, to us she’s Cumgirl #1.

Playxear: That’s so rad that you got to go to Italy and party with her on her birthday and perform the song. It’s such a catchy song and when I heard Chase singing in Italian at the show, I was so pleasantly surprised. Are you Italian Chase?

Cumgirl8: Yes, in this human form I am. My chip was updated with the Italian culture, and I guess it worked to our advantage to write the song.

Playxear: So, you are working on the debut album, recently released “glasshour” and are working on a new single this month. Any shows this summer?

Cumgirl8: Yes, we have a few coming up and we’re looking to tour in the U.S. which we don’t do that much. We have appearances at Primavera, The Great Escape, London Calling, and Pitchfork Paris as well as supporting L7 May 10th. Our next headlining show is May 2nd at Brooklyn Made.

Playxear: What kind of influence did music have in your upbringing? How did this passion start?

Chase: It was different for each of us, I was ta f*cking music nerd, so I was all about it. My mom thought I was a drummer in her womb because she would go to a bar and if the music was loud, I would start kicking. I’ve pretty much always been a drummer, but I also play other instruments.

Playxear: It sounds like you knew exactly what you wanted to do from the start.

Chase: Yes, I remember my neighbor friend and I would set up these 7UP glass bottles and we played drums on them to this reggae CD or something like that. It was the only thing I really wanted to do.

Veronika: I grew up with a lot of musical theater influence and I loved it, I still do. Then in my early teens I started to go to a lot of shows and get more into it. I played saxophone when I was a kid and I loved making dollhouses out of my saxophone. I design a bunch of our costumes and outfits, and I like to incorporate the musical theater into what I do, well the performative aspects and the extreme emotions of the song and dance combined. I took my first check after working and I bought a guitar when I was around 15 years old.

Lida: I grew up with a very classical background, my dad is an opera singer and my mom’s belly dancer. I grew up mostly dancing ballet and I took some piano lessons starting when I was 7, but I was pretty bad at following theory and the rules. My teacher would note that what I was playing was cool but not the music that I was supposed to read.

Playxear: How do you prefer to create? Together in a room or individually?

Cumgirl8: I think it’s the most effective and we’re just all together in a room jamming. We’ll jam for a really long time and then take bits and pieces and structure them and usually lyrics come after that. We are just vessels and all together we can really tap into the home planet.

Playxear: What’s the most rewarding thing about what you do?

Cumgirl8: Being able to just do it, and being lucky to have free range to do all of our creative ideas exactly how we want them. Everyone around us is just so supportive and cool and they get it. Also, when people come up to us and talk about how we inspire them to be who they want to be and wear what they want to wear and make what they want to make. That is hugely rewarding to us. We have friends who are starting bands and stuff like that, and we see them doing it and that feels like a reward in itself.

Playxear: I really like that you’re creating this wave around you.

Cumgirl8: Yeah, you know you I’ve been realizing that everyone is afraid to be vulnerable and try new things and to put themselves out there. We’re all out here trying to do the best we can, and I get that it’s scary to show who you really are but it’s all you can do at the end of the day. The more and more you shock those expectations for yourself the more, at least with us our work, it gets stranger and cooler. This record that we are going to put out I keep saying it’s really brave and I don’t think we would have made it otherwise. We take our experiences around the words and seeing through whatever ideas we have, and it breeds this kind of attitude that people are really drawn to. We create the world we want to be in. It starts with the music, but it doesn’t end with it at all. We’re really passionate about our music and all of it and we’re just doing it. Go hard or go home.

Playxear: I think that’s why you stand out so much among so many bands, you give that attitude of inspiring others to do what they want by doing exactly what you want. The world needs more of that.

Cumgirl8: Everyone’s afraid but we’re not and we’re very real and understand that the world is on fire.