Artist Q&A: Freezing To Death With Hags95
- Andersen Beck
- Dec 15, 2025
- 5 min read
On Thursday evening a three-band concert was held at the Polish Hill Courts, which is perhaps the truest DIY location in the city. A crowd of around two dozen gathered in this wooded abandoned basketball(?) court, either in front of the small handmade stage or around the bonfire made right on the cement. The show was put together by Crow Melvin, aka Hags95, and featured local duo Flick and New York group Sapphire Autorack (I've been told they've since changed their name to what I do not know).
The show went from around 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.. We had a friendly visitation from two curious policemen who heard the music but couldn't tell where it was coming from. It's worth noting that they didn't scold us or make any fuss about being in the park so late, they just greeted us and left. The generator shut off before the last set was finished, bringing an abrupt end to the performance. All love to the others that played, but Hags95 was certainly the star of the show.
Hags95 creates a diverse shoegazey sound laid over Akai breakbeats and programmed internetty rhythms from his laptop. The music itself is unique in its own right while also being trademark modern Pittsburgh music as I've come to observe. The through line of youth music in this city is that of pushing boundaries – whether that be stylistically, technically, or in performance. I caught Crow after the show for a quick interview.
BLD: So Crow, how long have you been making music?
CM: I started playing piano when I was five, and that just kinda opened the floodgates I guess. I did classical piano for ten years and then all my other instruments are self-taught. As far as writing my own music and really getting into songwriting, I think that started over COVID, because it started for so many people over COVID, (laughing) I fell into that trap for sure.
BLD: What got you into the style that you're playing now? Very pedal-heavy and with the awesome Akai and soundboard setup.
CM: Honestly, it's a mixture of a lot of things, I know this is the default answer for so many people, but way early on, kinda when Destiny XL was released, my brother put me on to TAGABOW (They Are Gutting a Body of Water) and that was kind of – like I heard My Bloody Valentine, I heard Slowdive, I was like "Okay shoegaze is cool," but that was like the first time I really locked in with like "this can be something more than that, it can be more transformative," and I think that's really dope.
As I started listening to more TAGABOW and listening to adjacent bands like Fullbody and Feeble and all those people, I feel like I kinda gathered a sense of like where they were coming from - because also interviewing those guys after shows, literally going up to them, I would fake interviews. I would be like "Hey, can I interview you for my thing," and they'd be like "Sure," and if they ever asked me what it was for I'd just make up some shit; it was just an excuse to pick the brains of artists I liked the music of. But doing that allowed me to kinda lock in on, "Oh this is where people are getting their inspirations, I should look at these things and gather more music knowledge," that sorta thing. I think my current iteration of music is most inspired by TAGABOW, Hooky, little bit of Fullbody, and a lot of these Instagram guitarists who are like "This is the biggest pedalboard I have ever seen and I'm going to make a crazy sound that you've never heard before," and if I can emulate that a little bit that's cool.
BLD: What's the origin of the name Hags95?
CM: Forever ago, maybe 2020 or 2019, I was at the Dormont Pride Festival at Dormont Park, and there was one of these vendors who was selling vintage thrifted stuff and there was this cool varsity jacket that I fucked with because it had this thing on the back that said Liberty Champs and like a giant outline of Pennsylvania, like the state; on the front, on the chest it said Hags 95 and I was like "I don't know if that's someone's last name, or like Have A Great Summer," or whatever but something about it just stuck with me for forever. When I actually started like doing music seriously, that's the one thing I needed to do. I kept coming up with like "This band name's so cool and like interesting," but the one that just stuck with me was like, Hags95 is fun.
BLD: What's your favorite song in the set you played and why?
CM: Lowkey, Pocket Essentials. I wrote it for Arden, which is very nice, but also I wrote it from a place of you know, passion or whatever. I'm not trying to be soppy. I was writing it for Arden and then the more I played around with it and messing with drum loops, I was like "Man, I kinda fuck with this heavy," and the more I fucked with it I was like, "This sounds like something that would be in a video game that I would like." I feel like that created the outline for how I write songs now. It's like if this sounds like something from a soundtrack of a video game I would play, then I'm on the right track.
BLD: On that topic, what video games are you loving these days?
CM: Oh dude lowkey, some crazy niche shit. If you know Eternity Egg, get on that shit. Like the pre-release beta just released, like yesterday or today. I've been thinking about that so much while writing stuff; it was fun to mess around with, I think the songs I enjoy playing are the ones that stick with me the most.
BLD: Anything streaming currently? I know you showed me some demos.
CM: I do have some stuff on SoundCloud; I'm planning on releasing an EP soon, called Liberty Champs, from the jacket, (laughing) it's all a reference, all a reference to this fucking jacket. But that will hopefully be out on small things, I don't fuck with big streaming. If there's a way for me to release all my music for free, or like pirate my shit, I don't give a fuck. Art shouldn't have a paywall. I know what I'm making isn't entirely like, world-bending and transformative, but I think it's fun and if other people think it's fun, they should be able to listen to it for free.
BLD: On that note, how can fans support you?
CM: Follow the 'Gram I guess, I'll be making updates on there if I release anything. You can also follow the SoundCloud, but come to shows! You don't even need to buy merch, just like hang out, it's cool.
BLD: Any final statements?
CM: The world is ending, but there's still some cool shit out there. Just look for the cool shit.
Huge thanks to Hags95 for a great show and shoutout to Massi Petitta (mamoneysign) who made the posters, provided the generator to make the show possible, and built the fire that kept all of us alive in the brutal cold. This show could be the birth of a new presenter in Pittsburgh music, only time will tell.
Go follow Crow on all the socials linked throughout the article, support this one-man machine in all his endeavors, and be good to each other! As Pittsburgh descends into its hellish winter, go enjoy art with your neighbors. It'll keep you alive, provided you're dressed appropriately.
-Andersen Beck Founder, Reporter
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