(Credit: Katharine Sidelnik)
The members of pop-punk band Makyo Star are ready to walk down the aisle.
In the past 12 months, they've gone from guys who once referred to their band as a "girlfriend you're 100-percent committed with" to showing that they may be ready to take the next step.
Makyo Star (named for a fictional energy source in the Japanese anime cartoon Dragonball Z) recently became the flagship act for local upstart label Green Means Go Records. And the debut album that drummer Jon Garcia and his bandmates have been talking about for six months is set for a June release.
"I think the potential that was always there is finally starting to come out," Garcia says. "We still have a lot more to accomplish, but I think it's developing as we go."
Makyo Star's newfound focus is helped by the fact that the band members now all live in the same area (the green pastures of Churchville). Bassist Mike Landers returned home after graduating from college in May 2008, and the group recently added guitarists Dan Kwiatkowski (a former member of Makyo Star who just moved back from California) and Mike Pan, who replaced former guitarist Paul Rankin. The band says the additions have sparked a new creative synergy.
"Before ... it was mostly Tim (Landers, lead singer) driving the band," says keyboardist Cory Miller. "Now we're all sort of transforming the music and putting more into it."
Makyo Star's newest song, "Waiting," puts that evolution on full display, with well-placed synth sounds, precise duel guitars and a radio-friendly structure. "Waiting" far surpasses anything the band's done before and has Makyo Star sounding like a younger version of Fall Out Boy or The Academy Is ...
"Before when (we) would write songs, it was with a mentality of 'doing it just to do it,'" says Mike Landers, Tim's older brother. "Lately the writing seems more focused, and there's more of an understanding of what we're trying to do."
Now, Makyo Star is looking to get its music to anyone who will listen. The band members are Internet fiends who constantly interact with fans via MySpace and work on promotions with their street team.
And this past December Makyo Star stepped out of its comfort zone by playing the Holiday Havok show, in front of fans looking to rock out to heavier headliners like Shelflyfe and Cry To The Blind. But as the elder Landers tells it, Makyo Star doesn't discriminate when it comes to reaching out to potential fans.
"We just want to play," Mike Landers says. "I don't care where or who with. Put us on a bill with Korn or someone like that. I don't care."
The next big ... band
Name: Makyo Star
Members: Pictured, from left: Mike Pan (guitar), 19; Jon Garcia (drums), 18; Tim Landers (lead vocals), 21; Mike Landers (bass), 23; Dan Kwiatkowski (guitar), 20; Cory Miller (keyboards), 21.
Residence: Churchville
Web site: www.makyostar.net
