STARKVILLE — What will the world look like by 3033?

For Mango and Samar, two transnonbinary traveling musicians better known together as Mirrored Fatality, the answer is clear. The pair have a “whole new world” they are presenting through their art, both as a warning and imaginary version of the future.

“It’s like imagining the future dystopia as a warning, but also … very much commentary on the present dystopia that we’re living through,” Samar told The Dispatch Monday. “Also a reflection that we get from people is that this feels like what it’s like to live in the world today.”

Mirrored Fatality arrived in Starkville at the beginning of April, following a tour through Europe, to become the latest artists-in-residence at the MacGown Art Retreat and Studio. Since arriving, they have performed for an audience at the Starkville Area Arts Council, given talks at Mississippi State University and focused on developing their music.

Joe MacGown, owner of the studio, said he met the pair at a punk show just a few years ago. As an eclectic music lover, he invited them to apply to the residency program. The same day, they applied to the residency program to bring their unique music to the area.

“The whole idea of the art residency is to bring in a variety of artists. Local, regional, national and international,” MacGown said. “ …For our local people, I want to bring in people who maybe can learn a lot more. Local people, maybe they can learn from me and we can highlight them in our community and state, whereas the people from other places that are professionals, essentially, can inspire other people.”

Mango and Samar formed Mirrored Fatality together in 2019, while the pair were attending the University of California, Los Angeles. Initially, they started out performing as a punk band.

“We started off as punk, and we’ll always have a punk spirit in what we do,” Samar said. “It’s very anti-establishment and very anti-U.S. war machine. You know, that’s always a big part of Mirrored Fatality, but I wouldn’t say we really make punk music anymore.”

Over time, the duo became more experimental with their sound, incorporating noise music, techno, opera, melodic ambient noises and more into their shows. They have traveled all over the world, incorporating different genres and styles into their sound.

While they started out just playing guitar and bass, Mango and Samar now work all kinds of mediums into their live performances, working in drum machines, guitar synth pedals, synthesizers, presentations and videos, sculptures and performance art.

Almost every time they perform, Mango said, the show changes, evolving by audience and location. Mirrored Fatality tends to take on a life of its own, and their shows also change as it blends together present political issues and crises with the dystopias of the future, Mango said.

“I try to imagine that Mirrored Fatality is its own living organism at this point,” Mango said.

Mirrored Fatality shows also incorporate a few out-of-the-box elements that can surprise new viewers. Mango said they “toned down” their typical show slightly for an audience at SAAC, but their shows have involved things like shoving dragon fruit into each others’ mouths and packing one another into suitcases as part of the performance.

While the pair may sometimes use unconventional methods to communicate their message, Samar said the goal is to commentate on the “present dystopia we’re living through,” bringing attention to issues of global inequality and anti-violence.

Still, the goal is not just to draw attention to the bad. Instead, it is about fighting for a better future.

“Even though our work is very (dystopian) and post-apocalyptic, something that I’m really appreciative of is that no one has ever said it feels hopeless to watch all this stuff,” Samar said.

The pair will be staying in the city until April 25, they said, with the hopes of introducing more local people to the Mirrored Fatality project and the noise music genre in general before they leave.

“We were introduced to the genre through live performance, and it completely changed the course of our lives,” Mango said. “If we can do that in any way and give back to … Starkville, Mississippi, I feel like that’s success right there.”

To schedule a visit with the duo during their residency or learn more about the MacGown Art Retreat and Studio, email [email protected].