New Zealand-based four-piece band Mako Road is set to help make your summer, the perfect, relaxing time it could be, with the release of their debut EP Local Safari. Loaded with music stylings that are set to turn the hottest of nights into the chill-est hangout, Mako Road utilise their relaxed indie vibe that’ll be the perfect score for every beach-side gathering.
Looking back over the process making their EP, Mako Road have relayed the time pressure as the push they needed. “For this one, we sort of looked at the calendar and realised we booked ourselves a studio so we better get stuck in. We took a few jams we had and also some old songs we’d been playing for a while and refined them down the finished product. We cut a lot of stuff that we might use later during the process.”
“Usually music first, and some kind of melody gets worked in as it grows. But sometimes it starts with a melody.”
As the group talk about their how they and when they prefer to put together a song, they’ve realised that there’s a certain time of day they tend to put together a song. “Rhian, who puts together the melody and the chords is definitely a late-night creative, betcha it showed at work in the morning.”
“The Local Safari EP was written with more focus on where we want to go with our live sound. Happiness & Misery and Open Plan Living are a step in a different direction, we wanted to show off what we can do musically.”
Mako Road haven’t gone by without their fair share of challenges while putting together Local Safari, stating that their greatest road blocks have “…revolved around trying to discover our sound. It’s not something we are going to force so we tried a couple of different directions with this EP. There’s still heaps of room for development so we are excited to see where our next creative bender takes us on this front.”
“The previous tunes we’ve released have been quite raw and impulsive. We wanted to take a bit of time with this one and put some more thought into it, with the aim of refining our music.”
On their forthcoming EP, Mako Road describe Local Safari as “Care-free and warm”. Their greatest hope being that it becomes something of which people can gather around with their mates and enjoy. Now on the eve of their tour, Mako Road will open a haven for everyone to come chill with friends and enjoy a night out.
Mako Road Tour Dates
Friday, 7th– December – With Creature Fear and Zac Slater atThe Penny Black in Melbourne– Free Entry
Saturday, 8th– December – Heritage Hotel in Wollongong – click here for tickets
Sunday, December 9th – The Brass Monkey in Sydney – click here for tickets
Thursday, December 13th – With Vintage Slims and Dande and the Lion at The Marlborough Hotel in Sydney– Free Entry
Friday, December 14th– Byron Bay Brewery in Byron Bay – Free Entry
Sunday, December 16th – Heya Bar in Brisbane – click here for tickets
Thursday, December 27th – Water Bar in Wanaka
Saturday, December 29th – Yonder in Queenstown
Monday, December 31st – Tides NYE Festival in Tauranga
Wednesday, January 2nd – Spring & Fern in Nelson
Thursday, January 10th – The Butter Factory in Whangarei
Friday, January 11th – Neck of the Woods in Auckland
Friday, January 18th – Soundsplash Festival in Raglan
Saturday, January 19th – Tora Bombora Festival in Tora
Friday, February 1st – Totara St in Mount Maunganui
Saturday, February 2nd – The Cabana in Napier
Friday, February 8th – Waterfront Bar in Kapiti Coast
Saturday, February 9th – Meow in Wellington
Friday, February 15th – Winnie Bagoes in Christchurch
Saturday, February 16th – Venue TBC in Dunedin
You can follow Mako Road on Facebook, Spotify, and Instagram.
