Anatomy Of A Band Called Cursing

Anatomy Of A Band Called Cursing

The anatomy of a band called Cursing — three friends whose creative chemistry feels both instinctive and hard‑earned — comes into focus on a starry Hollywood night, standing together on the sidewalk of Hollywood Blvd just before their set at Harvard & Stone. Fresh off the release of their new EP Chiral, the Los Angeles trio of Max B Buck, Skyler Leon, and Elijah Stavely talk with the easy rhythm of people who’ve grown into their sound side by side. Their music, a blend of indie, alternative, and alt‑rock, thrives on contrast: soft edges against sharp ones, melody against grit, two writers whose styles mirror each other without ever fully aligning.

Before they stepped inside to take the stage, we caught up with them about the making of Chiral, the evolution of their live show, and why duality has become the heartbeat of their band.

We’re here with three of the members of Cursing. Introduce yourselves and tell me what you do in the band.
Skyler: My name is Skyler Leon. I play guitar and do backup vocals, among other things.

Max: I’m Max B Buck — I do main vocals, I’m the singer, and yeah, between me and Skyler we write and make the music.

Elijah: Elijah Stavely. I’m part of the Cursing crew. I music‑direct, run playback, and primarily I’m the drummer.

How did the two of you first start making music together, and when did it click that you should be in a band?
Skyler: That’s a good question. We’ve always messed around and played music since we were young because we’re cousins. It was always casual, but it became more serious about a year and a half ago. He was doing his own thing, I was doing mine, and then we kind of meshed it together and it became what it is today.

Max: Being cousins and growing up around each other, we had a lot of the same influences and music tastes. As we got older, we bonded over that more. We were already doing our own stuff with music, and then I started doing studio sessions and told him to come through. He’d play guitar, we’d come up with ideas, and then we started expanding on them and writing songs. That was pretty much the start.

And how did you get dragged into Cursing?
Elijah: They reached out to me online. There wasn’t any prior connection — they just saw I was a drummer and they needed one. Max originally reached out when it was just him. We played a handful of shows together, kept rehearsing, then Skyler got more involved in the project, and it eventually morphed into Cursing. I’ve been along for the ride ever since.

Max: Elijah was a shot in the dark, and we got really lucky. He’s been part of the family ever since.

When someone asks, “What does Cursing sound like?” what description feels right to you?
Max: The way we usually describe it online and in general is indie alternative rock. That’s the closest I’ve gotten to labeling it, but it’s still hard because I do think we really harness our own sound. But for the sake of genre matching, that’s where I’d land it — indie alternative, alt‑rock.

Skyler: I’d agree with that. It’s a difficult thing because with certain genres — like indie or rock — you might not be hard enough for rock but too hard for indie. We sit somewhere in the range of those three.

Max: Yeah, it definitely resides between those two lines.

So Chiral suggests duality — two versions of something that mirror each other but don’t match. What made you decide to use that title? And since it’s also a song, what was the inspiration behind it?
Max: When we started working on it, we just knew we wanted to record a new body of work. It was pretty vague at first, but we slowly realized that the contrast in how we both write is basically what creates our sound. It’s our similarities and our differences. If we were exactly the same, I don’t think we’d end up with the same product. But because we’re similar enough — just not superimposable — that contrast is what makes it work.

A lot of the songs talk about being in between two things or navigating that duality. So Chiral felt like the right title because it kind of represents us and our writing style in general.

Let’s talk about a few of the songs. “In Effect” — tell me about that one.
Max: In Effect was one of the first songs we recorded for the project — maybe the first or second. Like a lot of our songs, it started with me following whatever melody Skyler was playing on guitar, and it kind of came together from there. I think it was the first real example of that contrast we talked about earlier.

Lyrically, it’s mostly about acceptance — accepting what’s already happening, how everything is already “in effect.” It talks about sitting around without a care in the world, just laughing, being indifferent, letting the moment pass. I’m basically quoting the lyrics, but that’s really what the song is: acceptance and letting go.

“City Limits” closes the EP. Tell me about that one.
Max: That one is definitely meant to be the closing song. It’s about turning a new page — how saying goodbye or ending something can actually be a beautiful start to something else. That’s kind of what the project felt like too. It feels like the first time we really meshed everything we’ve been trying to do and put it into one body of work.

And with that, certain doors close, certain windows close, but it also branches into something new. I don’t even want to say “better,” just exciting and new.

Being part of the LA music scene, how has that shaped your sound or your ambitions?
Skyler: That’s an interesting question. As far as ambitions, you end up playing the same venues that have a lot of history, which is always cool. In the beginning, we had certain venues we were working toward — like the Troubadour. It’s been cool progressing in that sense.

As for shaping our sound, I feel like we’re pretty contained in our own world. I mean, technically your environment always shapes your sound, but specifically the local scene? I’m not sure. What would you say?

Max: I’d say it does, in the sense that I like being around the energy of it. I don’t want to use the word “competition,” but when you play on so many bills with so many different artists, you take little elements from each one. It’s different every time. Being exposed to that much variety definitely shapes how we perceive ourselves and where we stand. It’s a cool kind of duality.

What other bands or projects are you involved with outside of this one?
Skyler: I freelance primarily. Cursing is the main consistent project I play for, but I tour, gig, and do music videos for all sorts of artists around LA. The most recent tour I did was with an artist named Vienna Vienna. And I just started working with an artist named Jackie Lee as well. It’s a variety of different artists.

Why did you change your name to Cursing from Mux?
Max: The first name, Mux, was kind of a play on my name — Max — and it was a nickname I had growing up. When the project was Mux, it really embodied that it was just me. I was doing a lot of stuff solo.

But when Skyler came in and started writing and playing with me, the sound shifted. And then Elijah came in, and it became more of a duo — or really a band — and the project reshaped itself. By the time we were making this EP, it felt like a turning point. Like in City Limits, how endings can start something new.

We wanted a name that didn’t just identify as me, because at that point it was fully the three of us shaping the music. I wanted to detach from the personal aspect of it being my name.

And honestly, we were already having issues with the name — SEO, searchability, another software company using it. Those things could’ve been figured out, but everything else I mentioned was reason enough to move on. We wanted the project to feel like it embodied something bigger. That’s how we landed on Cursing.

So what could someone expect from your Harvard & Stone show tonight? Or what is someone missing if they’re not here?
Max: They’re missing a lot of good energy and fun. We’re about to play the whole EP, and I think what you’ll really see is the evolution of it. If you caught our earlier sets, the bones were there, but now it feels like a whole new thing. If you haven’t seen that yet… you wouldn’t know until you came out and saw it for yourself.

And what do you hope the rest of this year brings?
Max: A lot of growth and milestones. Definitely touring — supporting other artists we’ve worked with or haven’t worked with yet. Getting the music out further than just LA, playing more shows, all that great stuff. That’s the goal: more exposure all around.

Any final words?
Skyler: Stream the new EP. Chiral. Stream Chiral.

Elijah: Well, it’s February 15th, so…

The day after Valentine’s Day…
Elijah: Love. The haters and doubters will try…

Max: Disregard the naysayers. That’s all I gotta say. Love. All love.

In Conclusion

As the crowd at Harvard & Stone begins to swell, Cursing step out of the back room and into the noise, carrying with them the same mix of ease, humor, and quiet conviction that threads through Chiral. Their music lives in the space between contrast and cohesion — a project built on duality, but driven by the kind of bond that doesn’t need to match to make sense.

With a new EP out in the world and a year full of possibility ahead, the trio seem less focused on perfection than on evolution: more shows, more growth, more chances to stretch beyond the familiar edges of LA. And if their parting words are any indication, they’re meeting whatever comes next with the same attitude that fuels their songs — love, momentum, and a healthy disregard for the naysayers.

Cursing are just getting started, and they’re moving forward together.

(Interview by Ken Morton – Photos by Scott Waters)

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