A Conversation with: Mako Road

Kiwi indie-rock four-piece Mako Road are making huge waves with their hazy summer psych grooves! They’ve reached over 60 million streams and performed at numerous sold-out Australasian tours, with their name appearing on festival line-ups including Splendour In The Grass, Electric Avenue, Sound Splash, Bay Dreams and Rhythm & Vines. With multiple Gold and Platinum certifications, they’ve also supported acts including Rudimental, L.A.B, LEISURE, Shapeshifter and Ziggy Alberts.

We caught up with band members Rhian Ward and Connor McErlich to dive into their journey so far, their latest single, and their long-awaited debut album “Stranger Days”.

So first off, we saw you guys play at R&V at the end of last year. That was massive and such an incredible set! It was wild to see the energy there - EVERYONE was there to see you guys!

CONNOR: Did we look nervous? (laughs) Oh we were shocked aye.

RHIAN: Yeah, we were so stoked with the turnout.

CONNOR: Yeah, that was pretty wild. It was definitely the biggest we’d done. It just was like a blur. It felt like chaos - being up on stage and when you're being introduced to like a new scale of show. And we haven't quite got the dance moves down to fill that space just yet but we’ll work on it (laughs).

HUGE congrats on that. So, how did you guys meet and when did you start making music together?

RHIAN: Yeah, we met in Christchurch at uni together. We had a mutual friend Phoebe who had her older brother in her band “The Flannel Gambler’s”. When they graduated, I came in and then we played covers for a year and at the end of that year it came into the kind of form that is now. So it was initially covers, and then we wanted to write originals and sort of see where we could take it. Then from there it’s always been like a DIY approach, build it ourselves and find out ways to be able to get our music up online. I guess at the start there was just our mates and those sort of circles that got behind it.

CONNOR: Yeah, massive community support - Christchurch was a great place to be doing it because we were seeing bands come out of Dunedin, like Marlin’s Dreaming, Mild Orange, and Gromz. Yeah, real inspirational - they showed it could be done.

RHIAN: Yeah, I listened to the Gromz album on repeat one whole summer. I think it was in the space of a summer they put out an album and then got real good pick up and started playing at festivals, and for us as a band, it was quite inspiring to see that. 

CONNOR: Yeah, it’s quite funny because I remember I was like first year uni, still like really wet behind the ears, and Phoebe, who had been singing with Rhian, she asked me one night as we were drinking at some kind of university event, she was just like “come join my band”, and I was just like “no” (laughs). I got really hammered with her on the free wines and then she came to pick me up a couple days later and I’d completely forgotten. I rocked up to this band practice and we jammed for like half an hour and then we looked at each other like “sweet, got a band!”. I didn't know any of these other guys - intimidating older gents (laughs).

And what was the next step from there?

CONNOR: Yeah, we were all on real different routines before we left Christchurch. Robbie, the drummer, and I were still studying and CJ and Rhian had jobs. And then we were kind of like “let's actually really give this a crack” because Rhian was doing accounting, and he came home every day miserable (laughs). And then we moved to Wellington just because you know like, new scene, why not?

RHIAN: It was kind of a symbolic step of like taking the step together.

CONNOR: Yeah, commitment like getting married (laughs). But yeah, we lived together, and it kind of sucked a little bit because there was no separation between home, social and work. And so like you kind of felt either constantly working or constantly getting nothing done so we were like “okay this isn't really working” because when COVID hit we were all kind of locked up. So we were like “NOW we'll be able to get an album done” and it was the opposite. We had take a step back, and think about what’s not really working for us. Then we came back a couple of weeks later, and then just hashed out an album that we've been attempting to do for like 18 months prior in what was like 4 weeks - all written and recorded.

RHIAN: Yeah it’s all about perspective as well. I think when we sort of went away, and could kind of just have the space and look at it with fresh eyes. We had actually done heaps in the time that we had been together. And really had some direction with where the music was going. It needed that fresh perspective to see how it would all fit together. So that’s what helped this album to where it came to be.

That’s amazing! So onto the new music - congrats on your latest single “Stranger Days”. We absolutely love the track and the psychedelic video! Can you tell us a little bit about the concept of this track and what inspired you to write it?

CONNOR: Thank you! So, I guess like, because it's the title track of the album, they kind of tie in together. “Stranger Days” is a two word summary of what it’s been like going from being like a garage band to sort of thrown into what is now like a never ending music machine pretty much. And then also throwing COVID in the mix and real interesting times around the world, it was our sort of outlet of how interesting the past 18 months has been on a personal level, but also as a group and then also, just like the whole world as well. So it was a manifestation of all that, those experiences.

Awesome! What can you tell us about what we can expect from this album that you’re dropping at the end of the month?

CONNOR: It’s a bit different from our previous stuff. We've written pretty boppy tunes in the past, but these ones are a little more on the psychedelic end, and there's some elements that are a bit heavier as well. I think it's like a step in the direction to where we feel most natural in our music, because it turns out that psychedelic kind of music is actually not too hard to write (laughs). You've just gotta do like some random chords and chuck some crazy effects on and it kind of works out. So I think we're playing into that a little more.

It'll be interesting to see how the fans react because, I guess, we've been known for a certain type of music for wee bit but from our perspective, we're still really finding our feet and finding our sound. And it’s still going to take another couple of goes at writing to find something that we're fully comfortable with, but it's a good step in the right direction.

And then lyrically, what are the main themes you’ve written about in the album?

RHIAN: Yeah I guess we set out to write around a concept, and I think the concept we came out with, being through COVID and that, was the theme of uncertainty and how we deal with times of uncertainty. So each song represents part of that process, like getting faced with a challenge with a fight or flight response, learning to be okay with not being in control and trusting yourself and those around you, and being okay with change really.

Nice! What would you say were your main highlights working on this album?

CONNOR: We set up in a wee bach just outside of Turangi - we were there for like 10 days. My highlights were probably just jumping in the spa after a long hard day. It was winter so it was pretty cold. View of the lake, stars - so we would just park up in the spa and mellow out aye. It was pretty epic. Definitely didn't smoke any cigarettes or drink any beers in the spa at all (laughs). We got five stars for that BnB use, apart from, was it a hole in the wall? Where we ripped the paint off? Don’t let us into your house (laughs).

RHIAN: (Laughs) I think it was really cool to work with James Goldsmith - he mixed the album and he brought a lot of experience with trying new things, looking for different tones and playing around with stereo effects. Having access to all that gear and James’ experience, we were really able to experiment with different things. 

CONNOR: Yeah, it can be a daunting experience in a studio as well. I think we learn a lot every time we go in there about how much more prepared we actually need to be before we go in (laughs). Each time we've gone to do something, it's always been like a massive learning curve for us, so it will be interesting to see the next round of writing we do and how much we've refined the process and things like that.

So, you're gonna go on a New Zealand tour next month which is super exciting, and you’re also going to Aussie in September which I’ve seen is already sold-out! What’s your favourite part about going on tour and what are you looking forward to most for it?

CONNOR: I like meeting people. We’ve had less opportunity to do that now that things are a little more serious. Because like back in the day, it used to be us four boys, and we might bring a mate with us, and we just hired a van. Just do it completely at our own pace. So like when you're on tour with the big crew, you want to shorten it. So you wanna do as many shows as you can and in like a two week space. A few summers ago, we just spent like two months on the road and did two shows on the weekend and just mucked around the rest of the time.

RHIAN: Yeah, the people are super friendly. Especially in the summer, like in New Zealand and Australia, and people are just having a mean time.

CONNOR: Yeah, they’d be like “yo, come hang” so that was always fun. But yeah, playing in new places is always epic. It's really nice being able to play big shows but the smaller ones are the ones that are really intimate. You feel like you can let loose a whole lot more and you can actually see everyone in the crowd - it's way easier to engage. So like it'll be good to go back to Oz. I think we're doing venues that are a little bit bigger than we have done in the past. So I'm really looking forward to that, that will be lots of fun.

Yeah the connection with the crowd is definitely a bit harder in those bigger shows. Just a general music question, who are your biggest inspirations in music?

CONNOR: Can we guess each others? One of yours is Stevie Wonder.

RHIAN: Oh yeah I love a bit of Stevie Wonder (laughs)

CONNOR: And that's all I've got (laughs)

RHIAN: Yeah I reckon the other one would be Red Hot Chilli Peppers. I mean, who doesn’t love the Chilli’s? I think also Black Keys I’ve listened to quite a bit of. I guess we kind of vibe with their approach of being quite independent and just writing for themselves and their own passion in terms of the sound that they're trying to get.

CONNOR: For CJ - Vulfpeck, sick baselines. Robbie is a huge fan of BENEE (laughs). I don't know if she's a musical inspiration but I think he's in love with her (laughs). 

Also there’s a big conspiracy that Stevie Wonder isn’t blind. There’s a video of him knocking over a mic stand and catching it. And people are like “how can he do that?!” (laughs). He probably would have felt he knocked it over, he’s probably done that more than once. But yeah, we’ll have to disprove it - I want footage of him walking into a doorway, and then we'll know.

RHIAN: That’s a terrible thing to say (laughs).

CONNOR: That is a terrible thing to say (laughs).

Hahaha we’ll have to look into it! Okay so apart from BENEE, who are some of your favourite New Zealand artists right now and are there any songs in particular that you especially love or connect with?

RHIAN: I love Fat Freddy’s Drop - they are super cool.

CONNOR: Yeah, I love The Black Seeds - I was practically raised on The Black Seeds. It was epic being able to share the stage with them. A new New Zealand artist who’s doing quite well at the moment is Muroki - I really like him, he’s epic. We’ve done a few shows with him. He’s a good dude, check him out.

RHIAN: And Dolphin Friendly, they’re guys that we know from Christchurch that we played with early on. They’re making mean as, hard heavy rock.

Nice! If there was anything you’d change about the current music industry, what would it be and why?

CONNOR: I feel like the industry could, in a myriad of ways, offer better support to its artists. New Zealand's built on this DIY culture and I guess we've got that approach to music as well. It's good that New Zealand On Air puts out funding and things like that, but there should be some more support from other areas. We're seeing a lot of smaller venues start to close down, which is the gateway for someone who's writing music to be able to present it to other people. I think the lack of support there or diminishing options for new starters is making it really hard to crack a more mainstream appeal. So I think if there was anything we could fix, I think it would be the decline of small venues. Because in the end, it's just gonna harm the music community at large because there's less music entering the industry and stuff like that. I think that's a trend worth reversing in any way possible.

RHIAN: Yeah, touring and playing live is the only way to get any cut-through - just by actually getting in front of people. So yeah, small venues are a huge part of that. 

CONNOR: Yeah, and that’s how you build a grassroots movement. We were lucky enough to experience that because Christchurch uni was a great place for that and Dunedin uni is similar because it's so student organised - it’s events by the students for the students. It’s a great place for local bands to establish a bit of a following because first of all it's your mates, and then it's your mate’s mates and then it's like the rest of university, and then everyone goes home and it’s sports and music all over the country. So, that’s us. Yeah, we were quite lucky to benefit from that sort of wave.

Absolutely! Alright last question - what are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learnt in your career so far, and what advice do you have for new artists out there?

RHIAN: I think a big lesson is just to back yourself by taking that step to put yourself out there. It's like the hardest thing to do, but it’s so rewarding. People want to support it, people want to see self-expression and get behind it so, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.

CONNOR: Yeah, and you’ve kind of got to do it yourself in initially, because you might get people who come along and tell you “oh, you should do this, you should do that, let me help you with this” and it's always important to have help from friends in the industry who can talk to you and teach you to do stuff, but there's also the flip side of the coin, which is you can't let them take what is something new and you don't quite understand yourself and get them forcing you to turn into something that it's not. So I think for new artists that have seen some sort of success, not giving away your golden goose too early. Really find out who you are and what you want before you decide to receive help from someone outside of your thing. The more you do by yourself, the stronger your position is, to like negotiate a kind of relationship. 

RHIAN: Yeah, the more that you do something that’s unique to you, you’re getting more fulfilment from it.

Awesome! Anything else you want to mention before we wrap it up?

RHIAN: Album’s out July 30th!

CONNOR: You’ll like it. You’ll like it a lot (laughs). Light a scented candle, put on a salt lamp, chuck some headphones on, treat yourself and listen to Mako Road. 

Thanks lads! Make sure you keep up with Mako Road on Instagram, Facebook, Spotify or Apple Music. Plus, don’t miss them on their tour - check out all the dates at makoroad.co.nz.