Between the Wars
Chico’s The Makai remain steadfastly committed to the DIY culture they were raised on
2005-06-13
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While some local bands put out DVDs and get regular airplay on corporate radio,
other bands aren’t quite so starry-eyed. With no MTV ambitions, they stick
to their punk roots by taking care of business the old-fashioned way: the do-it-yourself
way. Rejecting stardom for authenticity, The Makai are making things happen through
simple, honest hard work. Today’s arena rock and formulaic hard rock knockoff
bands dominate the musical landscape, yet DIY guru Ian Mackaye seems to sum it
up perfectly with, “Just because it’s more accessible, doesn’t
mean it’s good.”
When The Makai stormed Chico on Halloween with their loud and aggressive brand of hardcore metal, they did so firmly rooted in the punk work aesthetic. “We grew up listening to punk, mostly hardcore punk,” guitarist Zeke Rogers explains. “That’s kind of our roots and mentality.”
The fusion has allowed them the ability to play with punk, hardcore, metal and a variety of other bands. “It helps us get shows on tour,” guitarist Ian Makau says.
Cross-genre pollination is exactly what the band is looking for, says singer Brandon Squyres. “I, frankly, would rather play with bands that don’t sound anything like us because it’s more fun that way.” Drummer Keith Vidra adds that playing with punk, metal and hardcore bands is great because it brings in all sorts of crowds that otherwise may never have heard or seen The Makai. Vidra especially likes to play with punk and hardcore bands because of the energy those crowds bring to the show.
Uncharacteristic of your traditional metal band, this unsuspecting five-piece doesn’t flaunt the long hair, leather jackets, spikes and pretentious five-minute guitar wank-off sessions that are synonymous with metal. They aren’t emulating the drab redundancy oozing from MTV or commercial radio. They bring things back to square one: the music. Hard. Loud. Aggressive.
Taking their cue from the DIY punk culture, The Makai are an atypical metal band, having stripped away all the gimmicks and nonsense associated with metal these days (the occasional decapitated head in a bucket of blood notwithstanding). They’ve accomplished more in their six-and-a-half-month existence than most bands do in their careers. Not only have they recorded a handful of songs at Chico’s Black Lodge, but they toured the West Coast in January and are readying themselves to hit the road in June and then again in August. Talk about a band with ambition and drive.
“A lot of people, when they start out, think, ‘Yeah, that sounds fun. I’ll be in a band.’ But to really go all the way you got to put more effort into [it],” Zeke says. This mature and levelheaded approach to the band’s work ethic is attributed to the time spent in previous bands, cutting their teeth and honing
their skills.
“We were all in punk bands before and then were like, we can get more tricky with this shit,” bassist Jeff Worrel says.
Another thing common to all band members is being on the same page musically and wanting to play the same type of music. “It’s hard to get five people dedicated and moving in the same exact direction,” Squyres says. The Makai tried out 20 different drummers before finally settling on Vidra. The band recently parted ways with their original guitarist, but were able to enlist the services of Zeke.
By drawing on an array of genres and styles, the band refuses to pigeonhole themselves as simply a metal or a hardcore band, yet they’re unsure of where they fit in exactly. “I always have a hard time describing what we play,” Squyres says, “because so many people change the names of metal. There will be a nü-metal, post-hardcore, hardcore, pre-hardcore, metal hardcore, metal-core. You know, there are too many labels and I don’t know which one we are at the moment.”
“Metal is kind of like punk,” Zeke adds. “There are so many types of metal and punk bands that people don’t have the expectations that it’s going to sound that certain way.”
“It’s more punk-metal than anything,” Vidra says. Worrel simply describes the band’s music as “a lot of fast and aggressive with some chunky parts.”
Lyrically, the band tackles fantasy subjects ranging from dragons to zombies. “I don’t like to sing about ‘big issues,’ like political issues,” Squyres says. “I don’t feel like burdening anybody else with my opinions about that shit because I don’t like it when people preach to me. Politics bore me. I don’t like hearing about it. I can tell people [this song’s] about dragons and they’ll get excited. It’s much better than going, ‘this one’s about the strife of humanity and I hate the government.’” He is also quick to point out that it doesn’t really matter what the songs are about because through his growls, screams and yells, “they can’t understand what I’m saying anyways.”
While The Makai continue to progress and move forward and transcend imaginary boundaries, one thing is certain: They will not abandon their punk roots. “I’d rather play house shows and all-ages shows than bars,” Makau says. “I don’t know if I’d do it any other way.”
When The Makai stormed Chico on Halloween with their loud and aggressive brand of hardcore metal, they did so firmly rooted in the punk work aesthetic. “We grew up listening to punk, mostly hardcore punk,” guitarist Zeke Rogers explains. “That’s kind of our roots and mentality.”
The fusion has allowed them the ability to play with punk, hardcore, metal and a variety of other bands. “It helps us get shows on tour,” guitarist Ian Makau says.
Cross-genre pollination is exactly what the band is looking for, says singer Brandon Squyres. “I, frankly, would rather play with bands that don’t sound anything like us because it’s more fun that way.” Drummer Keith Vidra adds that playing with punk, metal and hardcore bands is great because it brings in all sorts of crowds that otherwise may never have heard or seen The Makai. Vidra especially likes to play with punk and hardcore bands because of the energy those crowds bring to the show.
Uncharacteristic of your traditional metal band, this unsuspecting five-piece doesn’t flaunt the long hair, leather jackets, spikes and pretentious five-minute guitar wank-off sessions that are synonymous with metal. They aren’t emulating the drab redundancy oozing from MTV or commercial radio. They bring things back to square one: the music. Hard. Loud. Aggressive.
Taking their cue from the DIY punk culture, The Makai are an atypical metal band, having stripped away all the gimmicks and nonsense associated with metal these days (the occasional decapitated head in a bucket of blood notwithstanding). They’ve accomplished more in their six-and-a-half-month existence than most bands do in their careers. Not only have they recorded a handful of songs at Chico’s Black Lodge, but they toured the West Coast in January and are readying themselves to hit the road in June and then again in August. Talk about a band with ambition and drive.
“A lot of people, when they start out, think, ‘Yeah, that sounds fun. I’ll be in a band.’ But to really go all the way you got to put more effort into [it],” Zeke says. This mature and levelheaded approach to the band’s work ethic is attributed to the time spent in previous bands, cutting their teeth and honing
their skills.
“We were all in punk bands before and then were like, we can get more tricky with this shit,” bassist Jeff Worrel says.
Another thing common to all band members is being on the same page musically and wanting to play the same type of music. “It’s hard to get five people dedicated and moving in the same exact direction,” Squyres says. The Makai tried out 20 different drummers before finally settling on Vidra. The band recently parted ways with their original guitarist, but were able to enlist the services of Zeke.
By drawing on an array of genres and styles, the band refuses to pigeonhole themselves as simply a metal or a hardcore band, yet they’re unsure of where they fit in exactly. “I always have a hard time describing what we play,” Squyres says, “because so many people change the names of metal. There will be a nü-metal, post-hardcore, hardcore, pre-hardcore, metal hardcore, metal-core. You know, there are too many labels and I don’t know which one we are at the moment.”
“Metal is kind of like punk,” Zeke adds. “There are so many types of metal and punk bands that people don’t have the expectations that it’s going to sound that certain way.”
“It’s more punk-metal than anything,” Vidra says. Worrel simply describes the band’s music as “a lot of fast and aggressive with some chunky parts.”
Lyrically, the band tackles fantasy subjects ranging from dragons to zombies. “I don’t like to sing about ‘big issues,’ like political issues,” Squyres says. “I don’t feel like burdening anybody else with my opinions about that shit because I don’t like it when people preach to me. Politics bore me. I don’t like hearing about it. I can tell people [this song’s] about dragons and they’ll get excited. It’s much better than going, ‘this one’s about the strife of humanity and I hate the government.’” He is also quick to point out that it doesn’t really matter what the songs are about because through his growls, screams and yells, “they can’t understand what I’m saying anyways.”
While The Makai continue to progress and move forward and transcend imaginary boundaries, one thing is certain: They will not abandon their punk roots. “I’d rather play house shows and all-ages shows than bars,” Makau says. “I don’t know if I’d do it any other way.”
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