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See It Another
Way. This is the title of the latest unclassifiable,
unbelievable, undeniably Macha sophomore release on Jetset
Records. Four words: See It Another Way. Perhaps this is where
all the reviews should stop, all the attempts to classify the
band’s sound and all the creative classifications (just see
this issue where our reviewer calls Macha: “indie rock for
Chinese restaurants”) should end. Is it even productive to
classify? Is it a curse for the label to push a band that you
can’t really describe? Well, the band isn’t about to
help either. Just a hunch, though. I didn’t have the nerve
to ask: “So, how would you describe your sound?” (A
journalist has to be somewhat original, eh?) Why ask the obvious?
Joshua McKay, the principal songwriter, says it best: “We
are free.” Succinct, yet mysterious, it makes perfect sense.
Macha formed in
late 1996, by brothers Joshua McKay and Mischo McKay. They
completed the band’s lineup, with Kai Reidl and Wes Martin,
in 1998, in the indie capital of the world: Athens, GA. The
McKays actually began playing together in Gainesville, FL.
“I had a band with Mischo and two other friends that was
definitely at the high point, the pinnacle of my band experience
up to that point. It got split up prematurely because of some
school opportunities of a couple of the guys in the band. And so
yeah, there was nobody else in the town that I knew I could
collaborate with. So I had to move, and I knew some people in
Athens,” explains Joshua McKay.
It was the move to
Athens that found the McKay brothers ready to play songs again.
“Macha hadn’t formed until after we moved to Athens, so
the band hadn’t existed until Mischo and I moved [here].
Mischo and I had a band in Florida previous, but we hadn’t
played together for about three years. So Macha is definitely
Athens born and bred,” explains Joshua McKay. It was in this
formative period that Joshua and Kai had made two trips to
Southeast Asia/Indonesia, where they knew the direction they
wanted to take with their music. They brought back traditional
instruments, and set out to make Asian music in America.
Athens proved to be
the perfect place for an ambitious band playing such an eclectic
brand of music. They admit to fitting in “comfortably.”
“[In] Athens, everybody helps everybody fit in. This town is
so laid back. It is a real inspired time; everybody is devoted,
and very creative people are doing stuff all the time. There are
so many good records coming out of this town. Basically, it is an
honor to be here right now. It is an exciting time right now, and
an honor to be a part of it,” says Joshua with respect and
admiration.
Joshua was exposed
to Indonesian gamelan music in his teens, which led to him doing
a term paper on the arts and history of Southeast Asian culture
in college. Add to that his travels in the region, his
songwriting began to take on the sounds he had grown to love. Kai
says with a warm laugh, “To be honest, it is just
cool.” Joshua agrees, “Initially, it was just great
music, great art, fascinating history, beautiful setting. And
then you get there and it is so many other things.” Joshua
feels that his exposure growing up also contributed to where he
is musically. He explains, “Luckily, along the way in my
songwriting development I’ve managed to be exposed to more
stuff than just the wasteland of normal media. Luckily, I had a
good guide in my mother’s presentation of music. I also
happened to land in the right city. Every couple of years we
moved. I would always end up in a good situation where there was
a brief flowering of free spirited radio happening in the city I
lived in. Being exposed to all the DIY spirit and movements that
have happened, you know the punk rock revolution.”
While traditional
Asian music is an undeniable influence, the band also gets
modern. Both Kai and Joshua acknowledge the impact of the
krautrock movement, specifically Can, made a huge impression.
Another, somewhat unlikely, source of inspiration is Polvo.
“Polvo is a band we have listened to for years. Six years
ago, we gravitated to them. They seemed like they were a guitar
driven band that was still trying to abandon visions of that.
They are sort of a kindred spirit,” explains Kai.
Still, it all comes
back to Southeast Asia. “It just became a place for me, just
to have a freedom. The temperament is different, the state of
mind. There is less formality in certain ways,” states
Joshua. While his voice is quiet and deliberate, an excitement
comes through as he describes traditional gamelan music that is
often comprised of ten to twenty players playing specific parts
that interlock seamlessly. “It is actually very communal.
What seems like very refined and exacting, at the same time, it
is treated naturally. It is such an inherent part of people,
everybody can play and everybody can dance. It is a very
culturally rich people,” Joshua adds.
When Joshua speaks
about the music, he feels a “kindred spirit” with the
culture, a connection with music that “you can never
preconceive”, and a passion about the majestic beauty
inherent in the sound. “What really matters about music is
what, hopefully, anybody who cares about music, people can just
stop thinking about it and just feel it. That’s why music is
so important to us. If there is one thing guiding us it is
definitely the feeling,” explains Joshua, “We
consciously avoided being too cerebral about it. I would prefer
primitivism and tension.”
See It Another
Way is laid out in such a way that the listener cannot help
but be drawn in. Each track evokes emotion and feeling. The
record opens with a minute and a half instrumental piece that
slides gently into the outstanding “Salty.” Punching
percussion drives this track, as the instruments are layered,
creating rich textures. Joshua’s vocals are raspy and
sultry. The bass line throbs in repetition. Joshua on
“Salty”: “It was an instrumental for a long time.
It reminded of this port town in Indonesia. Like being in this
place where all these palm trees are and all this fucking grinding
metal from the factories everywhere. And that this beauty was
jumbled, butted up against all this industry.” From the
melody come squeals and squawks that aren’t normally heard
in “indie rock.”
The record
continues with the instrumental and intense “Until Your
Temples Are Pounding.” The title couldn’t be more
appropriate. The song swells with the primitive drums, and Far
Eastern melodic squeals. As the song revolves, Macha won’t
allow you to recover. The track begins driving harder and harder,
until it ends abruptly. Another short instrumental, “Man
Wants to Be Bird,” is an odd ditty. This is followed by the
gem of the record, a track called, “The Nipplegong.”
While equally traditional, it is utterly modern. The
verse-chorus-verse structure is intact, but the instruments
create lush textures, and exude a tension. The lyrics are also
printed in the CD booklet. Joshua carefully explains why he chose
to print these lyrics and no other, “I just felt that …
I think I printed them so that people could take … to hear
the song, to take … it’s like a chance to elucidate
what I feel like is pretty obscure. What I am really saying,
something very simple, it is an opportunity to be honest, to say
something that evokes a lot of feelings. It is very much about
the struggles of love.” The textures on this track pull you
into the song, and the sultry vocals climb inside you, creating a
nearly meditative or trance-like feeling.
“’Nipplegong’ has a great depth,” adds Joshua
in a quiet voice.
From the
“Nipplegong”, the record winds down nicely. Sort of a
come down from the tension that builds throughout the first five
tracks. From an ambient electronic piece (“Come Close”)
to ethereal Asian sounds (“Submarine Lover”) to slo-core (“Mirror” which is a very early Macha song).
The record ends on the quietly intense melancholy of
“Between Stranded Sonars.” One can tell that the band
deliberately ordered the record to create an overall feeling.
While Macha’s music could be just background noise, the
textures and layers require attention.
Macha recently
returned from a mini-tour of Taiwan, which they describe as
“incredible.” Kai says with a sincere laugh, “It
feels like the pinnacle of our career right now.” Not only
having a chance to play their brand of Asian music for people
from that part of world, but here in America they have made
waves. They spent several weeks atop the CMJ Charts (for college
and independent radio airplay). Not only did they go number One,
but they knocked indie champions, Guided by Voices from the top.
“It is inspiring for some abstract particular reason. It was
a shock. It’s really invigorating, basically in one year, we
have been around for a couple years but anonymous to most the
public,” says Joshua.
Macha is taking a
break after touring the country and the trip to Taiwan, but they
are still working on music. They intend to record new music that
may or may not end up on a Macha release. They spoke of potential
projects that are under consideration that may involve other
Athens musicians (members of Macha did appear on the last Olivia
Tremor Control record). But their desire is to continue making
their excellent blend of Asian and indie rock, and try to bring
it to as many people who will listen.
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