How'd you get started in music?
We (MAKUTA - Jane, Aleata, Rose, and Doug) all grew up in a musical household, so music was always present. From growing up singing and playing in church (from the moment we could first make noise!), to studying classically, music has been one of the few constants in our lives. We don't remember a time when we weren't writing songs, singing, and playing music!
Who are your inspirations or influences?
We have so many inspirations and influences, and honestly, they grow by the day. But, for us as both a band, and as individuals, some tried and true ones are Queen, Prince, Cher, Elton John, Dolly Parton, Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Heart, Harry Nilsson, Danny Elfman, Louis Gottschalk, Twisted Sister, Alexander Scriabin, AC/DC, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, and My Chemical Romance. Beyond musicians, we are inspired and influenced by art work, films, and travel. We always strive to be open to our surroundings; to be present and inspired by what’s around us, at any given time.
What advice would offer aspiring performers?
Work hard and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. When you do, in response work hard to educate yourself on every aspect of what you do. Write, produce, and engineer your own music, book your own shows, make cold calls, direct your own music videos, load in and load out your gear at shows, design your merchandise, the list goes on. Educating yourself is basically free. It comes by doing. Beyond that, with the amount of information readily available from those around you, the Internet, the library - there’s no longer an excuse to not be able to take ownership of your art. We certainly don’t know everything, but we’re excited to never stop learning. Right alongside all of that, be grateful for every single person who takes the time to listen to your music and come to shows. They are THE most important people, so do everything to show them that and never let them forget it. Without them, there would be nothing.
How do you set yourselves apart from other bands or singers?
We just strive to always be our most authentic selves. As cliché as it may sound, it's the truth! We are passionate about what we do, which fuels us to work hard, and never settle until we have done the best we can. In terms of "our sound" or "style", we don't fight what comes out naturally. We embrace it - we let the song dictate what it is. We also put on blinders when we are in writing and recording mode. It's a very insular and immersive process, by choice. We don’t care for, or follow trends - if we love something, we do it, regardless if its popular at that current point in time or not. We follow our gut and heart, break the rules, and make up our own. Plus, we're more interested in the shelf life of a song, the long game. A great song is timeless, and that’s the benchmark we aim for always. So, shake all that up, and out comes who we are!
Any new gigs or albums in the future?
Yes! We have SO much music and touring planned for this year (and next year!). For starters, we will be performing at the Grammy Block Party in Washington, D.C., on May 10th, which will then kick off a summer + fall tour in support of our new, upcoming album. We recently released one of the songs from the album, called “Us”. We always want everyone to feel like they are a part of what we do, because... well... they are! They're 100% the reason we do what we do. So, for this first song, we invited everybody to send in a sentence to say something they never said before, out loud, with us, together. We were absolutely overwhelmed by the flood of beautiful and devastating messages we received. We compiled as many as we could, and featured them in the video (link: https://youtu.be/H_
Special thanks to them for this interview & I wish them luck n their music. So until then I'll catch you on the flipside! Stay awesome & rock n roll!
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