When she was in elementary school, Cristina Mauri was obsessed with Myspace-era scene kids — even if she was a little too young for their scissor-shredded band tees and Manic Panic dye jobs. Now 23 and a DIY show promoter, the subcultural style she missed out on first time around is now, once again, everywhere. Thanks to a revival of screamo stoked by TikTok — or skramz, as it’s often called now – the “skinny jeans, swoopy hair, patches and safety pins“ of scene have been resuscitated and imagined anew.
Last Sunday, Mauri threw SickSickSick Fest in Austin, Texas, headlined by 90s screamo legends In Loving Memory and the punishing New York five-piece Olth – the scene’s new-gen heroes. California’s Gxllium and Texas outfits Sinema and Victim Blamed rounded out the lineup, and when Bulletsbetweentongues pulled out due to a band member injury, local mathcore heroes Clocktower stepped in for an impromptu set. “It was pretty much all of them just running on stage, screaming and then coming off,” says Mauri. “Super fun,” she adds.
When these bands perform, they play loud, they play fast and they play furious. It turned out that things were just as heated in the venue’s second room, too. Previously unbeknownst to Mauri, the show was happening in tandem with a pro wrestling extravaganza, titled Funeral For A Friend (no relation). Mauri rolled with it. “It all mixed in really well,” she says, adding that screamo shows aren’t so different from being in the ring. “Sicksicksick fest is just a bunch of people moshing, so it’s amateur wrestling on its own.”
Credits
Text: Owen Myers
Photography: Monika Mogi