An Awful Mess

An Awful Mess is an emo-infused rock band from Mesa, AZ. An almagamation of all things 2000s, reminiscent of the days of MTV, Taste of Chaos, and Warped Tour, An Awful Mess draws inspiration from bands like Senses Fail, Hawthorne Heights, The Used, Underoath, Get Scared, and Story Of The Year. The band combines cascading guitars, ferocious screams, and emotive singing into an explosive sonic cocktail. Composed of vocalists and guitarists Andrew James and Aaron Mitchell, lead guitarist Ruben Arellano, and bassist Troy Sanchez, An Awful Mess got their start after the inevitable demise of previous bands Starcross and The Saving Pointe.

In January of 2020, the band announced themselves to the world, releasing single "Going Nowhere" and headlining their first show before the pandemic shut down the music industry. Rather than being discouraged, the band put their album on hold to work on several singles that would be released as a self-titled EP, a pair of holiday EPs, "An Awful Halloween" and "An Awful Christmas", and a heavy EP titled "Burning Down".

Their debut album, "Beautiful Things" is the culmination of years of writing and rewriting about the hardest experiences in life, and that was before the 2020 pandemic pushed the record back two years. The record explores themes of love, grief, and hope. What it is to lose hope, and what it's like to find it again.
Latest release, "Autumn Leaves" is a new take on previous band Starcross's music. Since its release, the band has been working on even more new music. A full record is expected by Summer 2024.