Forming in 2007, Ohio metalcore band Miss May I were quick to become a beloved presence within the scene, building consistently on the foundation that their debut album, Apologies Are for the Weak, established in 2009.
Navigating fresh influences and an expanded melodic metalcore sound through the 2010s, Miss May I’s core vision remained largely unchanged across a catalogue of work boasting seven studio albums. If anything, the sonic identity of the band was bolstered with time.
Then 2024 came along.
With the departure of band members B.J. Stead and Justin Aufdemkampe, Miss May I experienced their first lineup change since their formation.
An amicable parting of ways, the band stated at the time, “We all had our eyes on the prize and never took no for an answer when we started this venture, ‘Miss May I,’ back in high school, and we won’t stand in their way as they continue to grow.”
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In their place, talented guitarist Elisha Mullins was welcomed into the Miss May I family – an introduction frontman Levi Benton describes as refreshing, simply because he brought a different flavour and perspective to the band.
“He comes from being a producer,” he explains, speaking with Rolling Stone AU/NZ backstage at Knotfest Australia’s Melbourne leg. “All this new music we’re doing, it’s stuff we’ve never had before, because we’ve never written with someone like this.”
Of Mullins himself, Benton describes the guitarist as a natural extension of the existing group.
“We’re all cut from the same cloth,” he says. “Elisha’s from the Midwest, he’s the same age [as us]. We listen to the same local bands. It’s a natural fit, it’s very cool.”
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The spirit of change is continuing to make its way through the band: along with the new lineup and new music, they’re also navigating fatherhood, which naturally dictates how they’re able (and want) to work.
“People from the outside saw how a lot of our band has changed, and a lot of it had to change to make it work now,” Benton explains. “In the States, [our families] come out on the weekends or as long as they can, and they meet us at the end of international tours.
“Our drummer has a kid, and our guitar player is expecting in October. We were bonding over it and talking about how we’re meeting up with other guys we hadn’t seen in years; we’re all so far from home, and we’re all just talking about our kids now! It’s nice to have this community when it gets hard.”
Image: Levi Benton Credit: Michelle Grace Hunder
The band entered territory that was somewhat foreign with the departure of Stead and Aufdemkampe, Miss May I’s two main writers. For Benton, Jerod Boyd (drums), Ryan Neff (bass, vocals) and now Mullins, this new band dynamic needed some initial massaging to find a groove.
“The funny thing was, it was a total lost thought, we weren’t even thinking about it,” Benton laughs. “We went into the studio and the rest of the guys were like, ‘Oh my God. Justin and B.J. were the main writers – we’ve got to change something up.’
“We went back to the drawing board, and that’s when the anxiety hit. After years of touring, we didn’t even think about writing [like that]. We spent a whole month with Elisha in the studio, just doing one song to get the vibe of how we write together. It was a mock up of sorts, just a practice run; we ironed everything out.”
For Benton, the experience has reinforced his own relationship with music, as well as his position within Miss May I.
With new music in the works, developing into what has become a long-anticipated Miss May I project – their last album was 2022’s Curse of Existence – Benton is excited to show the band’s next step in evolution.
“I appreciate what we do and the opportunities we get, but differently these days,” he says. “Because we’ve been a band for so long, I appreciate the concept of ‘the show’ a lot more. Festivals are a little different, but when we go to our own [headline] performances, it’s not just about us being loud.
“We’ve done it for so long now, we want to give our fans a show that feels exclusive, that they won’t get again. Our mindset wasn’t always like this. It used to just be, ‘Here’s us as a metalcore band, how loud can we be?’ There are so many more layers to it now, which makes it so much more exciting.”
More information about Knotfest Australia, and Miss May I’s sideshows, is available here.
