The Mack Brothers-Southern Skies
The Mack Brothers bring you the essence of live music with their performances. Already accomplished as the principal creators/songwriters for "The 1940s," and successful podcasters-they foray into this genre, proud. Something natural resonates with the kind of compositions they put together. This one is called Southern Skies. Southern Skies is your debut album as a musician sibling duo. How has this experience been for you so far? The support has been great, and the reactions have been overwhelmingly positive. This was a weird, kind of out of place first album for us to put out, since we’re not a “country act” perse, but the people who have heard it are really digging it. If the Righteous Brothers could resonate in the same frequency for their music, The Mack Brothers do so in a whole new genre. When the acoustic strings ring out and their vocals come together, it is a wave of emotion. Perhaps it is the similar timbre they sing in, and how they’re able to connect to the lyrics that are so simple. Take the opening song Dottie for example. As much as it is a tale of love and admiration, there is a personal touch that can only come from a singing poet’s perspective. Taylor Taylor and The Phyllis Sisters join hands for this number. Composing music through realism In terms of themes, the songs relate to the dynamisms you see before your eyes, regularly. How did you go about writing these lyrics? Some of these songs we’re written from a characters perspective, with a sprinkle of realism from our day to day. Other songs are very personal and from exact moments in our lives. It really depends on our mood, and the song really. When they reach Country Woman, they explore a fun, pub hop groove, creating a memorable rhythm section. You can have my word that the crowd will be singing this one with all the soul they have. When they design their tones, they are looking for authenticity. No extra filters and frills, just how a clean guitar sounds with great melodic harmonies throughout the song. Demons and Desires has a marching flow, along with crafted ambiences that might take you back to the 70s. The Mack Brothers compose music that inspires them, to inspire others who will tell the same tale. It is a refreshing look at live music, complete respect and awe for a genre that relies on true musicianship. Through the melodies that remind you Smooth, soft transitions are keystone to your arrangements. Do you focus on creating this ambience or is it natural? On this record, we tried to be as structured as possible, while still adding our own spin on the “Americana” classic type of song. We also spent hours upon hours creating a bed of ambient sound in the background of a lot of these songs (IE “Live Times,” “Take a Ride” “Dottie”.) To me it’s almost like a little treat to the repeated listener, and ourselves. The slower Take a Ride inspires you to grab the wheel. Not with purpose, just for the act of experiencing the wheels kiss the tar, while you sit back. The music they make brings tears to your eyes, gives a cinematic projection of the kind of place they write and bring their music from. It is all a musician ever needs, to be able to pay homage to the land that brought them up. Sometimes Love Isn’t All You Need comes next. This was released as a single earlier, and is a truly emotive and melancholy filled song. To play with fellow musicians Collaborations with The Phyllis Sisters and Taylor Taylor are featured on this album. How has this experience been? First off, the Phyllis Sisters were incredible. They’re a sister duo that Matthew met at an open mic in North Carolina. They loved “Dottie” and asked to do some background vox on it. They sent their vocals on a voice memo, they’re a bit older, and we were so happy to add it to the track. Can’t wait to work with them again. Taylor Taylor is a slightly different situation. He’s a friend of ours that we would love to have around and involved in the music more, but he can’t really get his act together. We wrote Uber Car with him and he seemed very excited to do more. After we recorded vocals for Dottie and Uber Car, he said he was tired, up and left. He has no social media, barely answers his phone and sometimes will disappear for months at a time. That being said, he’s a world class sax player (didn’t want to play it on any songs) and has such a distinct voice, as you’ve heard. We’d love to work with him more in the future if he’s still alive. Which song really shines a light on your chemistry as musicians, especially given the complexity? All of them have their own stories to them, but “Country Woman” was the first written and made both of us realize we wanted to do a full album of country pop songs. It encapsulates the whole objective of the album, which was light-hearted country pop music with creative integrity. Writing an important chapter Are the Mack Brothers soon to tour? What's on the plate for now? Right now, we’re in the process of getting a live band to learn the songs and start doing some gigs, while also starting to record our second album. If “Southern Skies” is the Sun, the next one will be the moon. After that, the sky is the limit. The roller coaster of emotions that The Mack Brothers bring is truly spellbinding. This is why music is made, to feel extensions of the heart that might not naturally occur. It is another realm, and the brothers design it perfectly to have your haven in it, if only for a couple of moments. It is brilliant songwriting, straight from the heart-and it rings true. This album would have great impact in the movie Wild Rose (2018), especially the scenes where the protagonist is in between spotlights. Listen to the siblings above and follow them for more music!
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