Mako is on the brink of exploding into the dance music spotlight, 2013 was a good year, but 2014 looks to be even more promising. Together, Alex Seaver and Logan Light, carry the proper elements for success. Alex, a Juilliard graduate with a Classical music background, and Logan, a veteran DJ and Los Angeles insider, joined forces in 2012 to make thorough, high-quality productions. The two have their parents to thank for bringing them together. Coincidentally, both of their father’s were dorm-mates in college. Three decades later, Alex’s Dad passed him Logan’s email address and the rest is history.
WhiteRaverRafting reached out to Mako, they were kind enough to share of few words. Check out the interview below.
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What a story! Your father’s were roommates 3 decades before you two met?! If that’s not premonition, I don’t know what is. How did the coincidence effect Mako?
Ha yes! Apparently we met once we were 3 or 4. There is some picture evidence to prove it but we don’t have much of a recollection of it. We were both going completely different directions when we met. Alex came out to LA to pursue film scoring and I was treating DJing as a hobby and beginning full-time work post college. Right after dinner we started talking music and within a few days we were both going different directions again.
How would you define Mako’s “sound?”
Our goal is to work off of a musical palette that is sincerely emotional and a direct link to our own imagination and experiences. I think we’re still exploring many of the sounds and instruments that might start to define ‘Mako’, but we’re really interested in an environment that reaches for something underneath the surface. We’ve found a unique opportunity to build our music from the ground up, now that were composing, producing, writing, and singing the majority of our songs – we’re able to keep a really consistent vision through to the final product, so when you listen to our original music – every fiber of it is really woven within our musical dna….but we’re still exploring and I think we have a long way to go before any two tracks sound alike.
What is the most differentiating element that is birthed out of the veteran DJ/classically trained combination that makes up Mako?
It might be our range of influences and pretty unique approach to creating music. We haven’t really witnessed anybody make music the way we do in the edm space, it’s a pretty ‘acoustic’ process before it moves into electronic world. There’s an inherent difficulty in creating music that indulges too far into the creative side at the expense of a club sensitivity, and while we have every intention to make music that functions well in a club atmosphere, I think we’ll be riding with a little bit of friction between both worlds as we continue to try to sneak new ideas into the club format.
Do the several Mako orchestra remixes come from Seaver’s classical music influence or did the remix idea rise in a different way?
The orchestral remixes are an idea we wanted to implement from the start, fusing EDM and Orchestral elements.
Does Mako ever get confused for the UK Drum & Bass DJ/Producer under the same name?
Yes we do quite a bit. Searching on Beatport or ITunes his work pops up as well.
What vocalist and/or Producers are you dying to work with?
We just had a meeting about this today! There’s definitely a list of well-known guys and girls we’d be thrilled to spend time with in studio, but if we’ve learned anything after a few years in Los Angeles it’s that wonderful and talented people can pop up just about anywhere, and we’re game to work with anybody that brings an approach or set of skills that really inspire and redirect the music in ways we couldn’t access alone.
What’s Mako’s stance on purchasable vs. free music?
We just want to get music to fans and we’ve initially released everything free. We are toying with the idea of releasing something for free to our fans than releasing at as a purchase through a label so it gets some wider exposure. That way we feel we are giving something to the people who are supporting us on this journey for free as without their support we are nothing.
Do you find it difficult to maintain artistic integrity in the highly competitive industry of EDM?
I think we need a few more laps around the track before we’ll really be able to give this one an honest response. From a very ‘newcomer’ perspective, we can certainly witness how an artist might lose a bit of artistic vision in the process. All we can say is that making music were not in love with drains all the fun out of the experience, and we do our best to avoid those potential traps at all costs.
What is planned for the future? Will Mako tour outside LA? Maybe a new EP? Or will Make pump out a few more singles?
We have some crazy stuff planned for the future. We have a collaboration coming early next year with one of our favorite artists that’s being played out worldwide already. Beyond that we are close to signing an album deal to release a full body of work by the end of 2014. We wont keep people waiting that long though as we do plan to put some singles out prior. It really just changes everyday. As for shows we do have some big ones coming up and are looking to expand our touring schedule throughout the year.
Many thanks to Mako for chatting with us. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and SoundCloud.
This article was written by: Follow @ChadWRR
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