"I love the freedom of not knowing what we are striving for, when we begin to write a song," says Dennis Caswell, drummer for Buffalo, NY, female-fronted shoegaze renaissancers Makaras Pen. A traditional creature in Hindu mythology, a Makara represents the confounding dichotomy between love and lust, a difficult, yet universal feeling that like Caswell‘s thoughts on a song, seems to be a generally averted discovery for all- falling for one over the other.
White notes the shoegaze genre, “has always evoked different emotions in different people, hence the makara,” which, he claims, “represent[s] good and evil, right and wrong and other counter thoughts.” He simply mentions that it “seemed like a good fit.”
For Makaras Pen, who formed in the ashes of Tearwave (which featured guitarist Doug White, who runs a studio where acts like Gym Class Heroes and Every Time I Die have recorded), let’s hope the five members can continue strolling the difficult (seemingly never-ending) line between the above two feelings in support of their soon to be released (05.08.10 digitally and 06.08.10 physical) self-titled debut.
Led by Emma Willis, and supported by the longtime (15 yr.) friendship of Caswell, White and bassist Val Hill, MP’s debut will be out on legendary darkwave label, Projekt, who also released previous Tearwave’s releases. These 11 songs evoke the swirling force of greats like Siouxsie and her Banshees or Lush but with the slightest tinge of some dazzling, larger-than-life sheen (thanks in part to Willis’ glowing vocals) from someone like Serena Maneesh or The Cocteau Twins. After a listen to focus tracks “Currents” and “Falling Deeper,” you’ll hopefully see what I mean.
Following White’s brief musical hiatus after Tearwave called it quits, Makaras Pen formed after the established guitarist made a simple decision: “I decided I wasn't even close to being done with what I started [and] called my best friends in the world and got MP solidified.” Full songs formed quickly—tends to be the norm when you’re playing with people you’ve been “extremely close” with for (over) a decade— and after auditioning Willis for the singing slot, MP was solid with the hope of “taking the Tearwave sound to a new level.”
“From the day I auditioned for this band I knew it was going to work,” said Willis, who started her college career as a music education major. After studying the formulaic and structural aspects of the genre, she notes after hooking up with White and Co., that it was “refreshing to be in a band with guys who knew what they were talking about.”
A a refreshing, simple take on shoegaze, made by longtime friends who are simply trying to evoke “any emotion good bad or indifferent.”
Discography: Projekt
PRO00245 Makaras Pen CD in Jewel Box with 8 page booklet (Projekt, 2010)
Darkwave none
Merchandise: none