AYYCHEM
1. Welcome to All the Cores and More! We’re here to talk about both your music and your work with Rumors. To get us started, though, tell us a little about yourself and your background.
Hey! My name is Austin, or AyyChem as my friends call me, because my last name is Hunter-Melanson. Everyone always called me “H-M” so I made it into a word “AyyChem.” I grew up in Plymouth, MA until I was a freshman, then I moved to Saco, Maine and went to Thornton Academy! I’ve been making music since 2015 and putting on shows since 2020! Super grateful to do this interview, thanks for having me!
2. Let’s start with the music. What was it that initially got you into underground/alternative music and what made you want to make it yourself?
Well my dad was a DJ, so I was constantly around music growing up. I remember one time he had me scratch records for one of his gigs at some club, and the people in there went crazy for a literal child on the decks! I remembered that feeling and always knew that’s what I wanted to chase. When I moved to Saco when I was 13, I started going to shows at the Windham Vet Center, thrown by Bones Harbison. Those shows really opened my eyes to the possibilities of being able to really do this yourself!! I’ve told him before if it wasn’t for that place and those shows, Rumors probably wouldn’t have ever existed!
3. Talk to us about your early material. How would you characterize it and what influences were you pulling from?
If I had to characterize the early days, I would use one word in specific: angst. I guess teen angst for sure. A lot of my music was more alternative and experimental rap music and I really loved like mixing that with hardcore-like elements or like pop punk type elements and using my voice in different ways than is normal for rap, music like screaming in songs and writing about not just your typical rap. But I honestly don’t LOVE all my older music, I think I should have taken things more seriously in high school when I had the chances! But I’m definitely not complaining. I love where I’m at now. Some influences on my earlier stuff are GDP (NJ LEGEND), $Uicidieboy$ 2015-18 era, Lil Peep (of course, look at me), 6 Dogs. Spose was definitely a big influence, I met him when I was about 14 and had just been thinking about starting to make music and just moved to Maine. I happened to see him in Starbucks. Just sitting there working on a cover art and I walked right up to him and said are you Spose just like a fanboy would, but he was so down to earth and he gave me his first copy of Preposterously Dank, his first CD, and he gave me The Audacity! which was the other album. That one is fucking incredible. That’s like one of my favorite rap albums ever. If you haven’t, check that out, I know that front to back. But what what got me into rap and like wanting to make it was GDP and Lil Peep for sure- the song “Someday When Things are Good” by GDP is like the goal in music I’m trying to reach. He’s literally one of my favorite artists and man. I know this is skipping ahead a bit, but having him play Rumors and being on that show was literally a dream come true, so yeah those are my influences.
4. Your new material marks a sonic shift, with an album coming out September 16th. Tell us about the shift and what listeners can expect on the album. What topics/themes and sounds does it explore?
Oh yeah, it is definitely a pretty drastic change from what people are used to, at least for my more popular songs. I have dropped a few hints with some acoustic tracks and a couple like pop punk songs but yeah, this whole entire album is going to be just solely I consider it like pop punk, indie, dance, punk music I don’t know, but I love it. It’s some of the most fun music that I’ve made and a lot of people seem to be really liking what I’m doing. This actually was all inspired from my girlfriend—my ex-girlfriend, sorry—cheating on me. With one of her coworkers. That really, really flipped my whole world upside down and destroyed the whole reality she had built up to trick me. I had never been so wrong about someone and it really inspired me to create to get those feelings out. “Red Hair” was the first single I made, while we were still together before she did everything else after cheating…. But I won’t go into too much depth you’ll hear it all when I spill my heart for you on this album. It’s going to touch on relationships, breakups, cheating, lying, addiction in relationships, relapsing, suicidal thoughts and tendencies, as well as some songs about the good part of life. I want this album to have something for everyone and show that even if you are in an absolutely horrible spot, you’re not alone and things will always get better. I will be dropping the second single from the album in 3 weeks or so, called “use4me.”
5. What have been the main highlights of your musical journey so far?
Getting to share a stage with GDP and booking him MYSELF at MY OWN venue was seriously one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life. Getting a Bill $aber feature for free simply because he fucked with the song was so cool. Doing a show with Khary and it going so well that we are running it back June 28th at Geno’s! Super psyched for that one, but honestly the best feeling or moment from my music journey is having someone I legitimately looked up to and idolized since I was a kid tell me that I INSPIRED HIM?! That’s so insane to me. I have gotten to meet and interact with people I never thought I’d ever cross paths with in my life, and it was all about just going for it and shooting my shot. The best moments happen that way! Of course opening Rumors is something I will never beat, I have never been more proud of anything in my life than the amazing community of people that we built here! I am beyond grateful for everyone who supports me, it means so much more than you all realize. This is my dream and you are all making it happen for real I can’t thank everyone enough.
6. So in addition to performing music, you’ve been providing a space for bands and artists across the sonic spectrum to perform in the form of Rumors. We’ll get into the uncertain future shortly, but how did the first incarnation of Rumors come about?
So this all happened because I was working in the kitchen at Mulligan’s and I actually was homeless living in my car at the time. I just noticed that [there] was a big room that had nothing in it and it was just like perfect for throwing a show, so I convinced the owner to let me throw one show in there with me and my friends. I told him that I would do everything that needed to be done and we did that and it went well and he wanted me to do it again! I said you should let me turn it into a real venue, so they gave me permission. I named it, made the logo, painted the whole place, built the stage, got all of our staff together, and have booked and attended every single show that we have ever put on at Rumors. This place is my heart and soul. It’s like I literally created my dream job and honestly it’s exactly what Biddeford needed. There’s no venues around there that are all ages. There’s nothing for the kids to come out and for anybody to come out no matter who you are, no matter what you are, no matter anything, anybody can come out and come to Rumors and be in a safe, loving [environment] where they can enjoy themselves and just listen to some good music. I pushed very hard for it to be all ages and it has gone really, really well. If I didn’t have the Windham Vet Center when I was a kid, I would not be here today, and I want to be able to provide that same type of environment that was provided for me when I was 13, 14, 15 going to shows.
7. What would say have been some of the highlights and fondest memories that you have of the Lincoln Street location of Rumors?
Oh my gosh, they are way too many to count. But off the top of my head one of the first huge shows that we ever did was Haywire, Pain of Truth, Balmora, and I think Gumskab was on it as well. Man, what a sick lineup! I can’t believe we had them in Rumors within like six months of opening. Another one would be our first show that we did with C-Dot 416, myself, NOBDY, and Strac-that one was sold out. We were like over capacity. We had to stop letting people in. That was definitely a fun one and I guess one more, I’d have to say Eyestone Fest, that was such a beautiful, beautiful show of support from the community for such a good cause and some of the best [hardcore] bands that Maine has to offer played that show: Cruel Hand, Wake Up Call, On the Outside, Corrective Measure…like I could go on and on and on, there were so many bands that day. That was one of the best days of my life. It was absolutely incredible and Smash ICE Fest, (fuck ICE, by the way, ha ha ha), but yeah, that was also a really really fun show and anything with my buddy Ellis’s band Bad Move. They always tear it up. I am so excited to have them on the Rumors benefit show. It’s gonna be amazing.
8. Tell us about what’s going on with the venue currently and how people can help.
So unfortunately, the building is being sold. The restaurant downstairs closed and was running as just a bar for a little bit, but they just were not able to cut it, so they closed Mulligan’s down, which in return took us out because they are selling the whole building, so unless somebody decides to buy the building and let us keep Rumors up there, we’re going to have to move it somewhere else. I’ve started a GoFundMe [linked below]. It’s also on all of our socials, and we are also doing a huge benefit show at Townhouse Pub in Saco. Doors at 3 o’clock, music from 3”30 to 11. We’ve got a lot of great bands lined up for that and I’m hoping that the fundraiser and that benefit show could provide us enough money to either maybe save the spot we’re at now, but that’s very unlikely at this point, or at least put a down payment on a new spot so we can get up and going again. Like I said before, I will do whatever it takes and this is 100% not the end of Rumors. The community we built here is something I never expected to have behind me. It’s really, really beautiful to see. I really put my everything into this place and having it taken away so suddenly through no fault of ours really hurts and I just want to get back to the music and providing the space that we were providing for people. It seems like everybody is really rallying behind us so far; the GoFundMe is only been up for [a short time] so we have a while to go. Those are really the best ways you could help right now, as well as if anybody hears of any real estate or halls or rooms or mills or warehouses, really any type of space that you think could be turned into a venue and is either for sale or for lease or for rent, definitely let me know. I would love to go check out some spots soon…and I guess another way is if—this is a shot in the dark—but if there’s any angel investors out there that wanna make Rumors happen definitely hit me up ha ha ha ha!
9. Is there anyone in particular you’d like to shout out?
Absolutely, I got a shout out my partner and sound engineer Dan Dan, the man, he is seriously what makes Rumors as great as it looks! I also wanna shout out Brooke, my bartender for the past 2 1/2 years up at the Lincoln Street location, and Justin, our security and door guy at the Lincoln Street location. You guys are both awesome and I think you know that and as soon as I get into a new spot, we’re all gonna be cooking again, guys. I can’t wait to give a special shout out to all my friends who have been rallying behind me to try to keep my head on straight, knowing that I was already dealing with a lot with the break up and everything, and my girlfriend cheating on me and all that type of stuff, they really got my back and it’s amazing so shout out Xomboy, it’s Milty, Caazi, Grace, Abby, Morello, KNG Dead, Adri, Jake, and shout-out my last ex for breaking my heart and making me make the best music of my life!
10. Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Any last words for the readers?
Of course man, thank you so much for inviting me to answer some! I have really been looking forward to this. I guess at the end I really just want to thank everybody for really just rallying behind us and making us all feel so loved over here at Rumors. I’ve been keeping the staff that I had updated with what’s going on and they can all see the support, too, and it’s really beautiful to see, so thank you on behalf of everyone from Rumors. Keep coming out to shows, we’ll be continuing to throw shows all summer at different venues. All of the shows that we had booked we are currently looking to rehome; if they are not already rehomed, I will be posting updated flyers on Rumors and we will continue to do that until we get into our own spot again and open up! I seriously cannot wait! I love every single person who has ever come to Rumors to support a show in any way. You literally saved my life. I went from being homeless living in my car to running a venue, having staff, and booking some of my favorite artists that I’ve listened to since I was a kid, all in under under two years, and that’s something I will forever be proud of. Thank you all for reading this. I love you all!