With only the first few strums of the guitar, the pace of the song picked up and the tension of the room was high, as sophomore Maddie Jones took center stage. In the crowd, head banging and screaming was the way to survive the mosh pit, and to be fully immersed into their new single “Leave Me Alone”.

Messy Hera is a three-person band that plays sublets of punk rock like “Riot Grrrl.” With strong messages of feminist punk music that highlights more female-fronted bands. Jones takes lead vocals and guitar, with Bella Esparza on bass and Ronin Ciancioci on drums. 

 Jones striked her passion for music at a very young age. Originally, she had plans to make a solo debut, but she was drawn to making a band while attending lessons at the School of Rock. There the formation of the band came naturally, with the resources and opportunities they had in the lessons.

“I started going to local shows and saw how amazing these hard working bands were, and I wanted to do it,” Jones said. 

As the band grew, they began to book shows at Elevated760 and Humble Heart. At only the ages of 14-16 years old, the band struggled to plan any performances with crowds almost twice their age. But luckily the band was given an opportunity for their first show in December of 2021 at Queen Bee’s San Diego. 

From then the band has boomed on the San Diego music scene and is booked with seven shows through July and has enjoyed playing big venues like SOMA San Diego. Listeners should anticipate the music in the work, and listen to Messy Hera on all streaming platforms.

“I’ve seen them both live and listened to their music, and I like it a lot, I love how you can tell it’s personal to them. They’re all very passionate,” sophomore Antonio Vargas said.

During my first listen of “Leave Me Alone” it grabbed my attention with the hard hitting bass and drum, and the quality vocal tone of Jones. My favorite part of the song was the buildup of the lyrics “leave me alone” that erupted in an impactful takeover of the background instrumentals.

 Writing their own lyrics, managing and booking their own shows, and hoping to grow as artists, Messy Hera is an inspiration for all budding and rookie artists. To keep up with their schedule make sure to check out @messyheraband on Instagram.