mars hojilla

If you're looking for some queer pop-rock in the Midwest, you've found the right blog post! 

mars hojilla (oh-heely-uh) is the main stage name for Myles (he/they), who is a wonderful transmac musician. He currently lives in the Urbana area, but regularly plays in Iowa City, IA! Myles plays both solo and with a full band. The full mars hojilla band typically consist of Chloe (she/her) on drums and Logan (he/him) playing bass or violin, while Myles sings and plays guitar. Seeing Myles perform as a trans person is always uplifting, especially as he is not afraid to truly be himself. It is amazing to see people like me doing super cool things. Outside of being trans, he is simply an amazing performer. 

Myles is also involved with an Iowa City based band titled Two Canes, and it is more of a hard rock project than mars hojilla. In the past, they were a part of THEory DROPOUTS, which was a Peoria-based band active from 2018-2022. As I've mentioned in my blog on Emily the Band, Myles is an honorary member of Emily the Band as they are their certified merch boy. 

Currently, mars hojilla only has two songs recorded and out, "pinocchio" and "kiss your boys." "kiss your boys" is such a bop and makes me crave more recorded music from Myles. "pinocchio" is a slower song and gives a better sense of Myles' musical range. Two Canes also has a song released titled "Mouth Shut." 

I reached out to Myles to ask a few questions regarding mars hojilla and his music!

What inspires you the most to make music?

Myles: To me, music means catharsis. I’ve found that I’m most productive as a songwriter when I’m experiencing a Big Feeling for a prolonged amount of time - giddiness from a first date, betrayal from an ex-friend, rage and sadness in the face of racism and transphobia and performative activism - but it means the most to me when other people hear my music and find their own meaning in my work. That’s really when my songs take on a life of their own. My own experiences inspire me to start making music, but other people’s experiences inspire me to keep making music.

How long have you been making/playing music?

Myles: I’ve been making music since I saw my older sister do it first. It’s a very Youngest Child of Two sentiment. She took piano lessons, so I wanted to start; she outscored me on the family karaoke machine, so I wanted to one-up her; she taught herself acoustic guitar, so I wanted to learn from her, etc. I started writing my first song at fifteen years old - a prechorus and chorus on the ukulele called “This One’s For You” about how sad of a teenager I was - and scrapped it immediately because I knew it was bad. But it did put the idea in my head that maybe I could make something good that I like eventually. At seventeen, I wrote my first full song for the first band I was in - “Let You Down” by THEory DROPOUTS - and I haven’t looked back since.

How would you describe the genre of music you make?

Myles: Queer pop-rock. My full band sound is very pop-punk- and emo-inspired because that’s the kind of music I was listening to when I was first figuring out my songwriting style, but a lot of my toned-down acoustic songs draw from my favorite sad indie songwriters (boygenius, Tommy Lefroy, Pictoria Vark).

What was performing live like when you first started versus now?

Myles: mars hojilla started off as a true solo project because I was too scared to form a band and I wanted to do all the parts myself. My first shows were just me, a guitar, and a loop pedal that I only knew how to work half of the time. It was never going to be sustainable on its own, although using live loops to DIY bass and drum parts gave me a good point of reference for what I wanted my songs to sound like once I did put a band together. It’s truly like I get to live out my childhood dreams of being a rockstar.

Myles: I’ve been really lucky to get to perform with some of my best friends for over a year now. Chloe and Logan have been around since basically the beginning of mars hojilla and it’s so fun to play with folks who are just as excited about my songs, willing to take risks and build on them together, and enable whatever shenanigans I want to try onstage. The lingering bit of stage fright before a show never truly goes away - the what if I mess up the chords/words again? am I really about to play to a crowd of five people total? are folks going to care once I start playing? - but it’s easier to push through when it’s me and my friends pushing through it together.

What do you do for fun outside of music?

Myles: In the last two months, I’ve actually gotten really into Dropout TV’s Dimension 20. It’s a Dungeons & Dragons podcast/video series, and I’ve never played before, but I’ve been able to pick up a lot of the game mechanics just from listening to a group of strangers play their own D&D campaigns. My favorite D20 campaigns so far have been “Fantasy High”, “Mentopolis”, and “A Court of Fey and Flowers” - and I know the D20 team reached out to one of my favorite queer musicians, Sarah Barrios, to create the theme song for their “Fantasy High: Junior Year” campaign, and it rips. So in the rare event that Dropout (or anyone, really) wants a queer & trans rocker of color to write their next D&D campaign theme song, I’m happy to be that guy.

Myles: As I write this, I’m also actively waiting on a call from Caspian Voss (of central Illinois music scene photography fame) to build my character for the D&D campaign she wants to run with me, Abbey Haste, Camryn Proctor, and Henry Karan Voss. I know for sure it’s both mine and Cam’s first campaign, and I’m stoked to get down to it.

Please check mars hojilla out on social media here. Their next show is Friday, October 11th at the Trumpet Blossom Cafe in Iowa City! I recommend following his Instagram for more show announcements. Check out the video below to see them performing "pinocchio" as a 2024 Tiny Desk contest concert submission!