Is Gavin Mays, aka Cities Aviv, a rapper? “For the sake of normalcy, I am to an extent,” he reasoned last month when we met in Harlem. But the more complicated truth is that the Memphis-raised, Brooklyn-based musician is as adept at mixing Memphis Soul with '80s noise and industrial as he is coming up with rhymes. “In the end, I’m a cultivator of culture and content—that’s what I do,” he said.
Cities Aviv has been on the scene nearly four years, with two LPs under his belt and a mixtape to complement them. If one thing is certain about Gavin, he possesses an ear that challenges conventional taste. His live performances are raw, unsettling, and spellbindingly good. A mixture of noise, deconstructed sampling, and dance-art, Gavin never fails to leave his audience with something experiential and real.
On a recent weekend, I had the pleasure of hanging out with Cities Aviv in downtown Harlem, at the historic intersection of 125th Street and Lenox Avenue. We discussed “hardcore” music, artist collaborations, his personal take on fashion, touring with Weekend, and of course, Memphis rap.
KYLE WUKASCH: How has the transition from Memphis to New York impacted your music?
GAVIN MAYS: From a pure creative aspect, the change has left me looking more to my roots. This past album feels inherently more "Memphis" in nature as opposed to a reinvention of the New York landscape. I think it took me leaving my base to understand myself more, which is more real than anything else. This transition gave me that.
Is it true you were in a hardcore-punk band in Memphis?
Yes, I was.
How did that period in your life influence your current musical direction?
It reinforced everything I am currently doing and everything I wish to create in the future. There is a sense of expression that you find in heavy music that is absent in many other forms. What I do now wishes to capture the beauty in that expression. Never senseless aggression, but apparent passion.
You now have two albums under your belt, both markedly different in sound and production. What influenced your production style and sound with the new album?
To me, the new album was to be a culmination of all of my past works. I feel that its aesthetics and textures accomplish just that. I was listening to a lot of late-'80s noise rips and industrial and some of them probably found their way into my influence. Overall, I'd simply say the new album is more "me" than ever.
You just finished touring with the band Weekend. How was it?
The tour was crazy. I feel like a reached a point before tour where I was pretty apathetic about playing altogether. Just being in NYC and seeing the same attitudes––people just seemed generally uninterested in everything. So it was cool to break away and go to nowhere America, entering a different environment which I’ve never experienced. It was an eye-opener.
If you could collaborate with an artist, past or present, who would it be?
Personally, I feel too removed to answer. I appreciate quite a bit that is currently happening but I definitely see a void in mainstream and underground media.
I hear you're now designing shirts. Is fashion a medium you want to cont
Cities Aviv has been on the scene nearly four years, with two LPs under his belt and a mixtape to complement them. If one thing is certain about Gavin, he possesses an ear that challenges conventional taste. His live performances are raw, unsettling, and spellbindingly good. A mixture of noise, deconstructed sampling, and dance-art, Gavin never fails to leave his audience with something experiential and real.
On a recent weekend, I had the pleasure of hanging out with Cities Aviv in downtown Harlem, at the historic intersection of 125th Street and Lenox Avenue. We discussed “hardcore” music, artist collaborations, his personal take on fashion, touring with Weekend, and of course, Memphis rap.
KYLE WUKASCH: How has the transition from Memphis to New York impacted your music?
GAVIN MAYS: From a pure creative aspect, the change has left me looking more to my roots. This past album feels inherently more "Memphis" in nature as opposed to a reinvention of the New York landscape. I think it took me leaving my base to understand myself more, which is more real than anything else. This transition gave me that.
Is it true you were in a hardcore-punk band in Memphis?
Yes, I was.
How did that period in your life influence your current musical direction?
It reinforced everything I am currently doing and everything I wish to create in the future. There is a sense of expression that you find in heavy music that is absent in many other forms. What I do now wishes to capture the beauty in that expression. Never senseless aggression, but apparent passion.
You now have two albums under your belt, both markedly different in sound and production. What influenced your production style and sound with the new album?
To me, the new album was to be a culmination of all of my past works. I feel that its aesthetics and textures accomplish just that. I was listening to a lot of late-'80s noise rips and industrial and some of them probably found their way into my influence. Overall, I'd simply say the new album is more "me" than ever.
You just finished touring with the band Weekend. How was it?
The tour was crazy. I feel like a reached a point before tour where I was pretty apathetic about playing altogether. Just being in NYC and seeing the same attitudes––people just seemed generally uninterested in everything. So it was cool to break away and go to nowhere America, entering a different environment which I’ve never experienced. It was an eye-opener.
If you could collaborate with an artist, past or present, who would it be?
Personally, I feel too removed to answer. I appreciate quite a bit that is currently happening but I definitely see a void in mainstream and underground media.
I hear you're now designing shirts. Is fashion a medium you want to cont