Humungulus: Talk with Max Miller

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What is your name, where are you from, and what do you do?

My name is Max Miller, I’m from Long Beach, California, and I run an online record distro and record label. I’m also an audio engineering student at CSUDH and a musician.

Tell me a little bit about the record label that you have started.

So the idea to start my own label started as a really dumb joke between my best friend, Otto, and I when we were recording the first album for our punk band, Skookum. We didn’t take the whole music publishing process very seriously, so we were planning on just putting the music on streaming platforms and that was that, but we ended up joking around about names for a potential label that we would release music on. The name “Humungulus” just popped up and we thought it was funny; obviously it’s like a nonsense word, it’s a derivative of “humongous” but with the only vowel being “u” – humungulus. 

It started off as kind of a funny way of pretending to be a “legit” band, but it ended up becoming something that I and the band became genuinely passionate about. Since the release of our first album a couple years ago, we’ve put out other albums on Humungulus: Otto’s folk/indie/singer-songwriter album (Big Carrots Little Sprouts), a slowcore/emo/lofi demo I put out under the name cordis die (Call Of Duty reference btw), and a twee/indie-folk/lofi album by Ruby and our close family friend Bryce under Early Flea! (self-titled). There are definitely plans to record more stuff between Otto, Early Flea, Jake (singer of Skookum), and myself in the future.

The label actually very recently kind of sprouted into being a distro where I sell mainly emo, hardcore, screamo, and adjacent vinyl records, CDs, and cassettes. I have been reselling physical media, working in record stores , and collecting records for the better part of 5 or 6 years, so the change came pretty naturally. Initially it was a “no fucking way I can make this work” sort of thing, but once I got started, it just started happening super fast and here we are!

What inspired you to start it and what are your goals?

So I already mentioned how the concept for the label was inspired from a kind of non-serious need for a professional aesthetic for Skookum’s music, but the inspiration to venture into the online record store actually came from my time working at a record store. I have been working at a record store in Long Beach for almost three years now, and in that process, I learned the ins and outs of purchasing, wholesale, distribution, and what people are into and want to buy. I was really intent on getting a lot of hardcore that I grew up with in the store, and I also wanted to fill the store with a bunch of emo records, which was a genre of music that I only recently came to love dearly. But after my boss put me on his shitlist (for no reason at all), and consistently disregarded my intent to get more of that type of music in the store, I began to get really fed up and disappointed with my situation. I wanted people to have access to that kind of music, but I wasn’t able to at my work, so one day I just thought to myself “I can do this myself and do it way better than you.” So in a way, the distro was inspired by spite, but also by my passion for the music and the physical media, lmao.

As far as my goals go, for right now I just want to get the label on steady pace; right now I’m still in the process of building up a strong inventory of records and CDs, so I’ve been spending a fuck ton of money, and obviously not getting a lot of it back even though I’ve been making a lot of sales over the month and a half that I’ve been operating. I just want to get out of the beginning stage of the business so that I can return to a state of financial stability haha. 

Another general goal I have is to make the music as accessible as possible. I don’t upcharge a bunch and I always try to get the cheapest price online so that folks who want the music can buy it and feel happy about what they’re paying for. It’s honestly pointless for me to charge more for a record even if I know it’ll sell for that much because for one, that’s shitty; scalping is shitty. And two, my business model follows the principle of selling shit cheap so I can sell it fast. If I can sell it fast, then I can get more sooner and sell it fast again, and then I have returned customers because my prices are good! It’s really the perfect model for me because I don’t have a lot of overhead since I sell out of my parents’ house and don’t really care about the profit too much. When it comes to buying music in general, I’ve always tried to resell stuff I find just enough to where I can sustain myself and buy more stuff, if that makes sense.

The last major goal that I have is to make more music for the label. I have a lot of music that I’m cooking, and I’m just waiting for the right time and people to come along to help me with putting ideas together. I also am actively trying to connect with old, niche screamo bands to reissue their records that have been out of print for decades. We’ll see how both of those goals pan out considering how busy I already am though, lol.

I know your record label specializes in emo music, why is that? Why is emo music so special to you?

The short answer is this: because I love emo music. That’s basically the short story, but it requires some explanation because I also love hardcore and jazz and noise rock and ambient and a million other genres of music, so why did I not choose to specialize in any of those genres? I’ve found that there isn’t a definitive place you can go to online where you have an almost-complete array of emo at your fingertips to buy. There are hardcore stores, and jazz stores, but no emo stores. And for a genre of music that is coming back super strong right now, it seemed like it was a gap that was waiting to be filled. 

Also, it seemed like emo was a specialization that was feasible for me as a single 20 year old to tackle. All emo pre-2000s were entirely DIY, drawing from the DIY ethics of hardcore in the production, distribution, and performance of the music. Because of this, most of this era’s emo was never picked up by major labels, and the rights to the music were retained by small, independent labels. Now, many of those labels in question (Dischord, Ebullition, Revelation, etc) – and many labels that sprouted during the emo-revival scene of the early-mid 2010s (Count Your Lucky Stars, Run For Cover, etc), make it very easy to work with them and give you decent wholesale prices for records and CDs. Labels like Ebullition make it very simple and easy to get your hands on records by arguably some of the greatest screamo bands of all time (Orchid, Portraits of Past, etc), whereas trying to get major label titles becomes insanely difficult unless you have the capacity and the capital to order thousands of dollars of product every month, or forfeit any sort of profit you make on your margins. Essentially, the nature of the scene made it possible for me to do it, coupled with the fact that I’m deeply involved and in love with the scene.

And the reason why I love emo is something that I’m not sure if I can fully explain. As a Gen Z music nerd, emo made me feel like I was heard. I’m constantly depressed by the state of the world and the constant negativity that the media shoves down our throats, and I’m always livid and angry because of the system we live in and because of the politicians who treat working class people like numbers on paper. Emo and screamo made me feel heard because that is what emo embodies for me: sadness and angst, and a need to be heard and let others who feel similarly know that they are heard. In that way, having music and art about depression, suicide, anger, emotional vulnerability, existentialism, and discontent with the world makes me feel like I can handle and understand those feelings better. It’s a community that is united by a shared want for more, and bounded by a need to stay close and care for each other. And I obviously love the music so much, but both of those things combined is why I feel like emo is so special to me.

What are some struggles you have come across? How do you plan on using those struggles to grow?

My main struggle is money. I’m like so close to going into credit card debt because I started the business with maybe $1,000 in my own money, which is not a lot lol. Trying to get the cash and trying to use my credit cards effectively and get returns on my investments is the main struggle for me at the moment. I suppose I’ll use that struggle to grow by using it as motivation to advertise better and figure out how I can get more customers and to manage my spending behavior better.

Space is also a major struggle. I live in a small house with no garage or bedroom space, so everything business-related happens in my living room, which is already cramped to begin with. Not really much room to grow from that, but it’s definitely forcing me to be more efficient when it comes to storage.

Most of my struggles are more practical than anything, but I also struggle with time a lot. Between school, and my actual job, and the business, hobbies and playing music take the backseat. I usually don’t have the time to make music or anything like that because other aspects of my life take priority. Thankfully my partner of 4 years has been extremely supportive and has become my foundation in life, and she has helped me manage my time better and make it possible for me to do everything I’ve been doing and remain somewhat sane.

If people didn’t already know you are a very talented musician yourself, what does music mean to you? Why do you think you are so drawn to it?

“very talented musician” is a stretch haha, but I do play music. Music for me is a way to express myself in a way that is essentially boundless; free from convention and judgement. It’s a form of expression that I really connect with because of how free it makes me feel, and as I listen to more and more music, I get to create music that is inspired by musicians that I look up to, and that’s a great feeling. 

I feel like I’m drawn to music because it’s a form of expression that I don’t find to be a nuisance or one that I actually have some capacity with. I can actually make music and I find it fun to make music, so that’s why I’m drawn to music.

Do you have any plans for your own music?

So like I said, I already have a demo out under the name “cordis die,” and I’m in the process of making more stuff for that project, both full versions of demos and new songs that I’ve written over the last few months. I’ve also had thoughts about starting a noisegrind/emoviolence project with just myself and electronic drums. Sounds cool, but idk if or how it’ll pan out. That being said, I do love collaborating and take any chance I get to play and make stuff with other musicians, so hmu if you’re interested!

Lastly, what have been some of your favorite bands lately? And where can people buy their music?

I may ramble a lot but I’ll try to keep things concise. I’ll mainly stay within emo and try to get a variety of bands from different eras and movements.

Jeromes Dream is a band that I have been listening to non-stop for months now and highly recommend them to anyone into emo and to anyone who wants to feel like they don’t know what the fuck they are listening to lol. For anyone unfamiliar, they are one of the pillars of what is considered “emoviolence” (screamo meets powerviolence). JD is fucking raw, spastic, all over the place, and utterly fucking depressing. It’s music that gets you riled the fuck up and then makes you contemplate life within the span of 20 seconds. They were a huge group in the late 90s, early 00s screamo scene, but just reunited in 2018/19. The last album they put out in 2024 (The Gray in Between) goes insanely fucking hard. It’s impossible not to bang your head to (pun intended).

Another group that I’ve very heavily connected with over the last year is Purl. Purl was an extremely short-lived project of various musicians in the mid-90s San Diego emo scene, members of legendary bands like Julia, Lumber, and Papillion. I think they may have only been active for a few weeks, but in those few weeks, they recorded like 3ish hours of material all on a 4 track tape recorder, and the music they created is fucking gorgeous. The music genuinely is beautiful, and the mix of slowcore, post rock, and emo bakes such a dense notion of melancholy and emotion into the music despite the fact that there is no singing at all. For anyone who is into Duster, you would probably dig it. Insanely underrated, I’ve cried to their music on multiple occasions.

Unwound is another band that I’ve been listening to a ton lately. Not one album by them is not fucking awesome; their blend of emo, noise rock, and post hardcore is absolutely unmatched, and the post rock and experimental rock elements they add towards the end of their original run as a group made for some of the greatest music ever. Their first album “Fake Train” and their last album “Leaves Turn Inside You” are my two favorites by them, and everything in between are gems as well.

Algernon Cadwallader I would say has been in constant playlist rotation for weeks now. The best way I could describe them is twinkle-emo meets math rock. Very much in the vein of American Football, but Algernon is able to convey an insanely rich feeling of playful nostalgia and melancholy that is really hard to put your finger on. They are super unique and fun, don’t let some of the wacky song titles fool you!

Rites of Spring is one of my other favorites as of late, and for like 3 or 4 years as well. RoS was arguably the first “emo” band despite their refusal of the genre name. They really set the stage for every band that followed and they set the bar really fucking high. Listen to them if you haven’t already!

I feel like this list wouldn’t be complete without some mention of First Day Back. The strongest and coolest band coming onto the scene right now for sure. They definitely wear their influences on their sleeve (I mean the name is a Braid reference, cmon guys), but their debut album is literally everything I want and more out of an emo album. They are legitimately gonna go on to be huge, I can already tell. I bet they’ll be on next year’s Best Friends Forever lineup, they’re too good to be unnoticed.

 And for the last part of the question, you can buy records by these artists (minus purl and First Day Back) on my website! Go support the artists directly via bandcamp or their websites if possible, but if supporting me is a possibility, I got all that shit and much much more!