Artist Spotlight: Bohemian Mayday

“We definitely feel closer to each other than other bands because we went to high school together,” said Devin Aviña, the bassist of Bohemian Mayday.

The band consists of Leon Bushelman (guitar and vocals), Matty Mabry (guitar and vocals), Devin Aviña (bass) and Charlotte Messer (drummer).

Leon and Matty played at open mics and pizza restaurants starting in the 7th grade. They often played at His Rock, a music venue in Forsyth, where the owner, Bob, would always spell their names wrong for advertisements. Funnily, every single time was different from the last. Once their names were Leon Buccelman and Matty Mayberry which prompted Leon to send the post to Matty- making a joke that the next time their names would be Leon Bohemian and Matty Mayday. Needless to say, the joke stuck and they combined the two to create Bohemian Mayday.

During their sophomore year of high school, Leon and Matty began making plans to form a band. They invited Devin to join on bass which left them in need of a drummer. After seeing Charlotte’s tiktoks where she played the drums, Leon invited her to join the band. Not long after Charlotte and Devin joined, they had their debut performance at Forsyth Central Stage’s Coffee House on March 18th, 2022.

The members were all college bound yet they weren’t afraid of their band disbanding after graduation. “It’s been hard but it’s always felt right. I don’t think we ever had a thought of breaking up after graduating, it was always ‘lets see what happens’ and we’ve actually gigged more in college than we ever did when we lived in the same town” explained Mabry.

Reflecting on the band’s early days, Messer shared how naturally the group came together, “I feel like we all have so much chemistry- even in the beginning when I didn’t know any of them- we clicked. We are definately made for being in a band together”.

Mabry agreed and added, “I feel we have something special- there will be days where we finish band practice and then we all crawl up under a blanket and watch RuPaul’s Drag Race. We spend our time after finishing band practice just hanging out”.

Messer also spoke to the band’s creative cohesion, noting that their collaborative dynamic sets them apart from other groups, “I don’t know what it is, perhaps the stars aligned, but for some reason the way we see our music is very similar. We all have very similar ideas and I think a big downfall for other bands is that one person has one idea and another person has a different idea and they clash” continued Messer.

After being asked about their biggest accomplishment as a band, every single member had something different to say. Mabry talked about how they played at the Masquerade and Aviña had this to say, “For me it was when we played at the High Museum. We had been playing at His Rock and at the Rock Solid Brewery but this just felt professional, it was our first big show. Like- not only our parents were there- we were actually performing for other people. It was our first big bragging experience”.

Reflecting on the band’s milestones, Messer highlighted two standout moments: the release of their debut album—written, produced, and dropped exactly one year after their first single—and a major performance at the iconic 40 Watt Club.“It was such a big venue,” Bushelman added. “Nirvana and Jack White played there. It’s such a historic place, and it was so cool and surreal that we got that opportunity.”

Within their creative process everyone contributes an equal amount to each song. Usually, Leon comes up with a concept and everyone pitches in to flesh it out. Everyone brings their own twist to the music they create through their love of different genres. They have individual playlists of the different music they listen to which allows them to keep their music diverse. Matty likes jam bands, Devin listens to new wave and Charlotte and Leon enjoy 90’s grunge.

Mabry expressed the band’s commitment to musical flexibility, emphasizing the importance of exploring beyond a single genre. “I think that none of us are afraid to branch out into different genres. I try really hard to make sure we don’t get stuck in just one and then have that be expected of us. It’s definitely a good thing that we have a broad taste in music so that we could pull from everything.”

Currently, Bohemian Mayday is working on a new release. They have six songs in the waiting with the possibility of more. Thoughts of a concept album were tossed around but ultimately their writing is focused more on being personal, representing their life experiences and the growth from their first album.

Upcoming gigs: The band will be performing at Smith’s Old Bar on May 2nd.