Excerpt from transcription, audio
recorded on Saturday, March 29, 2025
Jazzmin Hi, I'm Jazzmin Readeaux, and I'm the vocalist of Lagrimas.
Ameer: So, how did the band get started?
Jazzmin : Okay, it's kind of a weird story. At first, Edgar asked me and my ex-husband to join. I guess there was this bit in The Office where they were going to start a cover band, kind of as a joke. Edgar wanted to do something like that, and asked us to join. But we said no, because we were going through our own stuff.
Later, I got together with this ex-member—we never actually played a show with him—and we asked Edgar if he wanted to start a band. So it's kind of like, what came first, the chicken or the egg?
Ameer: How would you describe your sound to people who haven’t heard you?
Jazzmin : I think we're really sassy. I usually describe it as emo violence, sasscore... it’s not super technical with time signatures, but it’s chaotic. In a good way.
Ameer: I’d agree. I love it. Has your personal experience influenced your music?
Jazzmin : Definitely. We have two songs I didn’t write—Rye wrote Pour One Out for Mister Gary and Edgar wrote Smells Like Pasadena. But I wrote the rest, and they’re all really personal. It’s basically my therapy.
Ameer: Since it’s so personal and therapeutic, do you ever feel uneasy sharing that through your music?
Jazzmin : Sometimes, yeah. Performing can put me back in a rough place emotionally. But I don’t think that’s always a bad thing. I want people to feel like it’s okay to be vulnerable.
Honestly—and I know this isn’t great—but I can’t write happy songs. Even the love songs I’ve written come from a place of doubt, like “Am I good enough?” or “Do you even care about me?”
I’ve been prescribed antidepressants before, but I don’t take them. Part of me is scared that if I’m mentally healthy, my art won’t feel the same. I know I shouldn’t think that way, but it’s hard. That’s probably not the best for my health, but writing helps me cope. It helps others too.
And honestly, I don’t want to be on medication forever to manage my emotions. If it works for others, that’s great. But I already have enough health problems and pills to take. I don’t want to feel numb or lose control.
Ameer: I understand. Yeah. So, talking about your performances and how you are on stage, do you feel like you're able, I guess, to disconnect between what you're performing and what you're actually feeling, or do you feel like it blurs the line a lot?
Jazzmin : So, I am very spiritual, and I practice Santeria. So what I do is, before I perform, I pray and I ask to be possessed by the Orishas and my ancestors. And I say all the time, like, please give me the best performance. Use me.
Like, use me for this. Use me to, like—you know, just use me. Use my body. And I think that really helps, because I do a lot of physical things too that should hurt.
You know what I mean? Yeah. But I'm fine afterwards. I think that little disconnect really does help.
And I understand that not everybody is a spiritual person, and it might sound weird to people who aren't or aren't familiar with that practice. But for me, it really helps.
Ameer: That's cool. I know, like, when you're performing, sometimes I would see you kind of pray, and I was wondering—is that a part of the performance, or is it this actual, I guess, emotional part for you?
Jazzmin : Yeah. So I don't choreograph. I think there are some things that I will repeat. I think whenever we play "White Boy"—which we don't really play often anymore, because it's a Bikini Kill cover—I'll get on my knees and then I'll do, like, a prayer thing. That I know I do every time. There are certain things that I know I do, but I don't choreograph shit. I don't think about it. I just do whatever comes to mind.
Ameer: How did the Houston scene first treat you guys or react to you guys when you were kind of first starting out?
Jazzmin : So, honestly, people liked us. But then it was a really big divide, because when we were getting in the scene—post-COVID, you know? And before, it was like a bro scene. You know what I mean? Like, super bro, super like, I beat the shit out of people.
Like, I disrespect women. Yeah. I'm not gonna call you by your pronouns, all that shit. Yeah. And so when we got in there and there were three Black people and then a Mexican guy—
and people were racist. Like, I'm not gonna say that's not true. People were racist.
Like, I remember the first show that we played, this kid was heckling Rye because she had her hair out in a fro. And he was like, "Oh, are you guys gonna play some jazz?" And I'm like, we're at a grindcore show, what the fuck are you talking about?
And he was specifically heckling her. And that pissed me off, you know.
And one time we played—I know this isn't in Houston—but one time we played in, I think it was Denton,
and someone called Laramie a nigga.
Ameer: No...
Jazzmin : Yeah. And he was a white Latino, so he was like, "I didn't know I couldn't say that." I'm like, no.
You can't fucking say that. So then Laramie punched the dude in the face, and a fight broke out and stuff.
It's just weird. I hate that we had to fight so hard just to be in it.
Even when we got featured in the Houston Chronicle, that's when it got crazy.
But I remember hanging out with Rye, and when people misgender me, I get it, because I don't present masc or whatever.
Yeah. But with Rye and Laramie, I'm like, they're fucking girls.
And some dude came up and was like, "Oh, I love you guys," and kept calling Rye "Ryan" and misgendering her. And I was like, that's not her name.
Yeah. You know what I mean?
So it sucks, because it's really cool to see the scene grow into such more of an inclusive space, but it really, really sucked getting there.
Ameer: Could you put, like, a timeline on that?
Jazzmin : So, we started in 2019. I think we played one show, but it wasn’t even a scene show—it was one of Laramie’s circles. I think she was in a queer sorority-fraternity kind of thing. And after that, our first real show was in 2021, like, the beginning of that year.
So we’ve been at it for about six years, but actively playing shows? Maybe four years.
Ameer: I guess, do you feel like from that point to where we are now, the Houston, Texas scene has changed more? Or do you think you all have just gotten more recognition and, therefore, more respect?
Jazzmin : I feel like it has changed. Because even if people aren’t actually tolerant, they’ll at least pretend to be tolerant so they don’t get canceled.
It’s really weird. The scene also just feels... different. When we started making music again, genres were really mixed and all kinds of people were everywhere. Now it feels very divided.
But I do think it’s gotten better in some ways—like, I don’t have to be as worried—
Wait, that’s not true. I was gonna say I don’t have to worry about going to a show and some dude trying to pull something, but that’s not true.
I can go to a show and not have to worry about being called a slur or something, you know?
So yeah, I guess that’s progress.
Ameer: Yeah. Little baby steps.
Jazzmin : Yeah. Baby steps.
Ameer: How did you get into the scene?
Jazzmin : Oh, shit. I don't even know how I ended up at my first DIY show. When I was really young—like eight or something—I started getting into mall-core emo, you know? Like My Chemical Romance, The Used, AFI—stuff like that. I still love them, honestly.
I used to go to shows with my mom—mostly R&B and hip-hop. My first rock show, I think I was nine. My aunt took me to see Incubus. They were really good, and that kind of started my whole show-going journey. I loved Pierce the Veil—like, when they first came out, I went to so many of their shows. I think my first Warped Tour was in 2009, and I just never stopped going to shows after that.
Back then, people would hand out flyers at shows because there wasn’t Instagram. Facebook was still super new. MySpace was a thing, but I wasn’t allowed to have one—my mom’s super strict. I still live with her and she's strict as hell.
So, yeah, I’d get flyers at shows, and I think one day I grabbed one for a show at Mango’s or something. Mango’s was this old venue we had here. I think I started going to DIY shows when I was maybe 16.
Ameer: So what attracted you to it? What pulled you in?
Jazzmin : Well, I’m a very political person. When I was in sixth grade, I was a hardcore socialist. By ninth grade, I was a full-on anarchist. I always say most people get into politics because of punk, but I got into punk because of politics.
I don’t even remember what I was writing a paper on—something about anarchism, I think—and I found Nailing Descartes to the Wall by Propagandhi. That song hit so hard. I was already vegan, already an anarchist, and I was like, “This is so cool.” The whole song’s about animal rights and stuff like that, and I just thought it was the coolest thing ever. So I took a deep dive into all of it.
While I was still going to those bigger post-hardcore shows and getting flyers, I already knew the punk scene existed. Eventually, I was like, “Let me check this out. It’s gonna be like 1985 all over again,” or whatever. And that’s how I got into it.
Ameer: I relate to that a lot—being into politics and then getting into punk. I feel like it happened for me at the same time. You know what I mean? Like, politics and music were just influencing each other at the exact same moment.
Jazzmin : I love that. I feel like that’s becoming a little more common now, especially because of TikTok and Instagram. The world is just so connected now. But I love it. And honestly—I don’t know if you know this—but to me, you’re a big part of the scene.
Ameer: Oh, yeah?
Jazzmin : Yeah! You document everything. And I love that you don’t just go to the super big shows, you know? You’re, like, DIY royalty to me. I think you’re awesome.
Ameer: Thank you! So with the band and all your other creative endeavors, what were your goals and dreams with those things?
Jazzmin : I just wanted to help other people. I mean, don’t get me wrong—it’s very therapeutic for me, and I need it. But when I was younger, I needed me. Like, I needed a 30-year-old version of myself when I was 10.
I had certain bands to look up to—like Gym Class Heroes, Coheed and Cambria. And when Pierce the Veil came out—like, Pierce the Veil was huge. Bands with people of color. When I was younger, I gravitated toward bands like My Chemical Romance because they were so openly queer.
Back then, it used to be called “Gender Fuck.” And I think Gerard came out, like, ten years ago or something and said that if he had known about all this, he would’ve just called himself non-binary the whole time. You know what I mean?
Being very young and knowing I was queer, but not being able to tell anyone or express it—I really gravitated toward that kind of stuff.
So I wanted to be that for kids. And I noticed that everyone I knew who had those kinds of heroes went on to either do something creative or give back to the community.
I just want to help kids. Not just kids, honestly—I’ve had people come up to me who’ve been through domestic violence or other heavy things. And just… helping people in general. If I can make someone’s life better, I want to do it. You know?
Ameer: I think this is gonna be my last question, but do you have any future plans you can share publicly?
Jazzmin: So we already released two of the dates we’re playing in June. We’ve been working on this fucking album forever, but we’re aiming to drop our full-length in June, which is gonna be really fun.
Black and Brown is still happening—people have been asking me about that. I’m just working on sponsors and stuff right now, but it’s still on track for June.
And—I’m not gonna say names or anything because I can’t—but I got asked to be part of a new project. Not a performing band at first, but just recording stuff for now. I’m doing dual vocals for it. And it’s with one of my heroes, which is fucking crazy. I can’t say who, but yeah—that’s coming up soon.
So yeah. Exciting stuff!
