Ex Hex focuses on fun

The three-piece act packed with rock veterans doesn't take itself too seriously

Mary Timony has been in a lot of bands, but never one like Ex Hex.

Constantly playing with different people was an effect of being part of Washington, D.C.'s DIY punk movement By the end of t he '90s, she'd already held spots in two acts that garnered significant attention, and the turn of the millennium proved even bigger with her involvement in Wild Flag, a female punk supergroup that also included Carrie Brownstein, Rebecca Cole, and Janet Weiss.

Now, Timony joins fellow experienced band jumpers Betsy Right and Laura Harris as Ex Hex, which plays Siberia Monday. The project is still new; the band released its debut and currently sole single "Hot and Cold" last month. Still, after decades of ends and beginnings, Timony speaks of Ex Hex's creation with the zeal of a high school garage band that just booked its first gig.

With Ex Hex, Timony and her bandmates have a simple mission: make music and enjoy doing it. That's not to say the members haven't done this with past projects, but it's more about timing, Timony says. She's less jaded now.

"We're pretty carefree and easygoing, but at the same time, we're being perfectionists about the songs."

Ex Hex's influences reach back to the '70s, a development in Timony's songwriting that emerged from reminiscing about the music she loved as a kid. From there, the mission was simple. "We want every song to be something we really, really like."

Getting on the same page wasn't hard. Timony admired Right and Harris when they played in other bands, and diving right in wasn't a problem. They'll play a few shows this week at SXSW in Austin, Texas on the strength of "Hot and Cold." The mid-tempo chord thrashes recall the most humid of summer days, and the song captures those feverish, passionate memories often paired with that time of year. It's simple but memorable. Return to the track after not hearing it for a week, and the prime '90s melodies will pop back into your head within its first bars, and they don't leave quickly.

Timony's time as a musician has seen some of the biggest innovations in the music industry, as well as some of the more controversial shifts in trends and buying practices, but she couldn't be happier to be making music in the 21st Century. Timony says the immediacy of current music and the wealth of resources to share it makes for a better environment than when she first started. "Now all you have to do is put a song on Soundcloud," she says. "There's a lot of really great music being made now."