root salad MAKU Sound “D
edicated to the Everyday People of all races and back- grounds, specially to those who find within their spirit
the strength to outgrow the hardship inside themselves to promote a positive life for all amidst the wickedness of the few who constantly rule this world to turmoil and despair.” This is what it says on the sleeve of Mezcla, the fourth album by New York’s MAKU Soundsystem, released by Glitterbeat Records back in May. As dedica- tions on CD booklets go, it certainly beats “I’d like to thank my hair stylist and my make-up artist.” It pretty much sums up the philosophy of the band too.
Mezcla has got that dirty, edgy, Noo
Yawk type of sound. Drawing heavily on Latin American, especially Colombian, influ- ences (no surprise there, given that six- eighths of the band have Colombian roots), mixed in with elements of Afrobeat, reg- gae, rock, ’70s soul, funk and jazz. They deliver big choruses, dirty brass, hard rhythms and a political edge and have been knocking around in one form or another since 2010.
MAKU Soundsystem was started up by guitarist Camilo Rodriquez. As I discover when, thanks to the wonders of modern communication technology, I’m able to talk to lead singer/percussionist Liliana Conde and keyboard player Filipe Quiroz in New York, from the comfort of my own North London home. The name (or at least the MAKU bit of it), stems from an article Cami- lo read in the New York Times about an indigenous tribe of the Amazonian rain for-
21 f
System Jamie Renton is rather taken with the New York based Afro-Columbian octet.
est, The Maku, who were forced to migrate from their home, having had no previous contact with modern society. As a Colom- bian émigré himself, Camilo could see a par- allel with his own and all immigrant experi- ences. But the word ‘maku’ has also taken on a different meaning and is now also used to refer to the everyday population. “MAKU Soundsystem refers to a party for everyday people!” Liliana explains.
Camilo hooked up with Filipe (who he’d worked with in previous projects) who in turn roped in his old high school friend Liliana as singer. From this core trio the band was formed, initially as a loose con- glomeration, with which their debut Vamos Bien was recorded in 2010. Slowly develop- ing into more of a band by the time of their second album Makumbala a year later and consolidating themselves into the current eight-piece line-up with the release of album number three, 2012’s MND Music Never Dies. With Camilo, Liliana and Filipe now joined by drummer Andres Jimenez, saxman Isaiah Richardson Jr, Robert Stringer on trombone, percussionist Moris Canate and bassist Juan Ospina, who also shares lead vocal duties with Liliana.
The band have moved in the opposite direction to most in terms of their recording methods. Whereas their debut was devel- oped in the studio, as they’ve become a proper-job live band, they’ve increasingly taken to writing their songs at their own pace while on the road and took it particu- larly slowly with the new album. They honed the tunes at gigs, so that by the time they went into the studio, they were very
comfortable with the material and able to record the whole thing in a couple of days, playing live and all together, with minimum overdubs, setting out to capture the high energy of their live shows.
f the tracks on the new album, they’re particularly pleased with the closer De Barrio which draws on currulao, a rhythm from the Pacific coast of Colombia, mixed in with the classic Motown soul sound. Drummer Andres Jimenez wanted to tell the story of his stepbrother’s experience travelling from Guatemala to Texas by land. He brought the idea to the band, who developed it together. The lyrics talk about a child who crosses the border in the desert in search of survival into the unknown. As immigrants themselves, this is something that all mem- bers of the band can relate to.
O
“We don’t necessarily think of a politi- cal or social cause whenever we get togeth- er to play music,” explains Filepe, with regard to the band’s lyrical concerns. “But we are not removed from our social and political context. Our music is personal and our stories, what we sing about, what affects us, inevitably reflects that context. Some people might perceive our music as resistance music or political and we are happy to inspire that, however, we feel music is such a powerful expression that it transcends politics, there is so much in our nature to get inspired by.”
Thanks to Hannah Renton for young
person’s technical assistance with Skype and the like.
www.makusoundsystem.com F
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