San Mo in the Mainstream

Chloe Rawlinson

Music Journalist

While we, as San Marcos residents, usually think of our little college town as the perfect place for growing bands in the DIY scene, there’s several great bands that you may have heard without knowing they hail from our area.

I’m gonna start you off with a great one that I love talking about: Brockhampton. Brockhampton has faced a bit of a resurgence within the last year, especially recently with former member/leader Kevin Abstract’s release of a new project, Blush (its great by the way, you should take some time to listen to it).

The group, consisting of Kevin Abstract, Matt Champion, Merlyn Wood, Dom McLennon, Russell “Joba” Boring, Ameer Vann (who would later be removed from the band), and Ciaran “Bearface” McDonald, came together through a Kanye West fan forum around 2009, which is insane in and of itself.

As a north Houston girl, it prides me to say that Champion, Wood, Abstract, and Vann would first start collaborating on music projects while students at The Woodlands High School. Other members of the famously large groups would collaborate independently.

In 2014, Joba would move to San Marcos, attending Texas State (eat ‘em up), taking several members of the band with him; it would be here that Brockhampton really started to take form. They would release their first several songs, and for Abstract, his second album, while living in San Marcos.

After relocating to Los Angeles, the group’s career really took off with their releases of the Saturation trilogy, which are fantastic albums. Though the group would move from the San Marcos area rather quickly and have now formally disbanded, it’s a lot of fun, and rather fitting, to know that it is also the birthplace of Brockhampton.

The Deer, an indie-folk alternative band, also formed in San Marcos. Members Grace Rowland, Alan Eckert, Noah Jeffries, Michael McLeod and Jesse Dalton had a humble beginning within the San Marcos music scene. The group met while attending Texas State University in the 2010s.

The Deer played multiple concerts around the Austin, primarily folk music festivals where they began to gain some traction, including Kerrville Folk Festival and Old Settler’s Music Festival before eventually landing some incredible supporting slots for Big Thief and The Head and the Heart.

While they didn’t release their first labeled album Do No Harm wasn’t released until 2019, it was a smash hit in the Austin area, earning top spots on KUTX’s charts and a nomination for Austin Music Awards’ Album of the Year.

Their music is incredibly relaxing, if you’re into folk, I suggest diving into their discography. They describe themselves as taking influence from the dreamy melodies of Mazzy Star, which is pretty evident in their most recent release from 2022, The Beautiful Undead, my favorite project of theirs.

Keeping with the folk tradition, The Oh Hellos, too, formed in San Marcos. Made up of siblings Tyler and Maggie Heath, the band has stayed true to the independent San Marcos tradition, remaining independently produced for their career.

The two recorded their first album in a bedroom (so cool), and have since kept their circle small, recruiting friends to play in their touring band. They take influence from Texan and Irish folk tradition, as well as their upbringing in the great lone star state.

Their first full length album, Dear Wormwood showed some serious prowess, even gaining traction on TikTok the past couple of years with “Soldier, Poet, King” still remaining their most played song on Spotify.

The Oh Hellos music is really dreamy, every time I hear it, I think of the very sweet an autumnal Over the Garden Wall. Tyler Heath’s voice, in my opinion, is quite similar to that of Mumford and Sons’ Marcus Mumford.

If their stuff sounds up your alley, I would start with their aforementioned first album, and working your way up from there, appreciating their growth as a fellow San Martian.