Over a period of nearly 10 years, Brooklyn native and musical polymath Athena Matsil has maintained a presence as Awksymoron across New York City’s DIY scene. With a steady flow of new music that has grown as Matsil has, the indie band presently features Jane Lai on keys, D.j. O’Loane on guitar, Phil Joy on drums, and Sam Zagnit/Griffin Jennings on bass. Matsil handles everything else: she sings with gorgeously rich tone and unparalleled range, can whistle better than anyone in New York DIY, plays violin, and writes guitar parts that are as wistful as they are vibrant. Together, the quintet plays songs written in earnest about the stuff of life. Awksymoron is not tethered to a single genre, with moments that evoke sounds of jazz, math rock, latin music and early rock. For fans of the Beach Boys, the Sea and Cake, Helado Negro, and Rebecca Sugar.
