"We are a Democracy": Macondø Prep Their Debut Album Release at Yue Space, Jan 27

Well thought through instrumental music has a storyline, characters, and plot. Genre-fluid Beijing based instrumental band Macondø has been playing for over three years and are now busy putting the finishing touches on their debut album. Their music is a journey, and it surely sets the stage for a story. Macondø's music is vibrant, powerful, and fuming at times, and dreamy or mellow at others, letting the mind of the listener wander where it pleases.

We met Matthew (drums), Gerald (synth), Scott (guitar), and Fred (bass) right at the start of 2018 to talk about their debut album and their strong democratic band tradition.

TBJ: What is Macondø?
Matthew: The first thing that springs to mind is that people find it difficult to choose a genre for us. We move between louder and furious states and into more dreamscape, synth sound. I personally think it is what the audience find interesting about our band. It is instrumental rock, there is a certain rhythm that gets people moving but you can be taken away by its fury or by its gentleness. Our recent stuff is slightly heavier, it's a journey, it moves up and down.

Do you feel like there is some sort of pattern of your music making? Does the style change with time or can the journey happen in one song?
Scott: I think we've progressed as a band, playing together. Over the past few years, we learned to be more technical and more advanced. We definitely pushed ourselves out of our comfort zone to make something that is better than it was before, more complicated. 

Matthew: We definitely became more ambitious.

So you'd say the most exciting thing for you right now is definitely your album.
Matthew: Yes, it's the first one. It's a collection of more riff-based, rock'n'roll, instrumental rock music. The synth has been added after everything was recorded. This album has been a journey because Scott used to be the main songwriter and then Gerald came in with synth and also songwriting. Actually, the music on the album is the style that we want to say goodbye to. We are now continuing on a slightly different track. 

Fred: In a way, this album is an earlier stage of Macondø, but put in a conceptual way. All the songs flow into each other. We have six tracks but it sounds more like a continuous journey.

How long did it take you to record and finish everything up?
Gerald: We are finishing it up now [we met Macondø at the beginning of January]. But it took a lifetime.

Matt: The important parts are done. It's bits and bobs left. It actually looks great. The artwork is amazing. 

Scott: We've been taking our time with it. Someone was always gone for holidays and we didn't want to rush.

What has been the most challenging part of making this album?
Gerald: Mixing. 

Fred: Procrastination. We knew it was there and we could do it but before we set a proper deadline for January 27 we didn't take it seriously enough.

Gerald: We had to introduce some healthy pressure.

Matthew: I think if we did it again we would definitely do it much more meticulously. For instance, we recorded drums without an engineer and with an unsatisfactory kit. Now Gerald has to rework all the sounds separately to fix it. Now we know.

Gerald: Basically, we didn't really have a budget, this whole thing is DIY. The only thing we paid for is that one-day recording at the studio. 

But doing everything from scratch you got a chance to learn and see things you would not have been able to if there was someone hired to help you with all the technicalities.
Gerald: I've got a whole book of side notes of "don't do this again." Next time we record we will know that the drums have to be in time.

Matthew: I am often amazed by these guys because I am not a very technical person and when I take a look at the program they use there are about a thousand dials on it. 

Beijing is this peculiar music scene where musicians tend to play with more than one band at a time. You all have either solo projects or other bands. How is Macondø different compared to playing in other sets?
Fred: I think that Macondø is very special in a way that it's a real band. Playing with other musicians there is often one leader and others contribute to the music much less. We are all really passionate about this project and contribute equally. 

Matthew: As a drummer, people give me ideas but I know that if I felt strongly enough as to how I should respond to a riff I would get my way. As opposed to some bands where you are more or less told what to do. We are a democracy. 

Scott: Another thing about this city is that it's much easier to get started in a band. Back in Minnesota, if you want to play, you first have to buy all the equipment, drive all of that to the show, drive it back etc ... In Beijing, there is a place you can practice for RMB 60-70 an hour and venues have their own equipment.

Gerald: It's a great infrastructure for musicians.

What's your favorite place to play in Beijing?
All: Oh ...

Gerald: No comment. There are lots of different elements that make up a great venue.

Fred: We really like playing at DDC. Temple is also always crazy; we love it. 

Scott: Yeah, after our New Year show at Temple, beer was running out of my laptop when I tilted it.

Macondø will be launching their album on Jan 27, 9pm in Yue Space (RMB 60-80). More information and ticket links here.

Images: Courtesy of Macondø

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