>> Having started out as a group of 15 year olds who just wanted to do something rad, Makeshift are making serious moves. Now a few years into being a band, this group is incredibly focused and more determined than ever, as seen through a slew of packed shows on Long Island and a performance at the 2016 Launch Music Conference. While buzz continues to build, the guys realized it was time to do something for their fans who eagerly await something new.
>> Today, team TMO has partnered with the band to unveil their brand new video for "Someone Like Me." The song is a total pop punk jam with an introspective edge: "The lyrics that I wrote and sing in the song reflect a time in my life that I’m not very proud of," notes vocalist/guitarist Andrew Musalo. "However, the lyrics also suggest that maybe we can make up for the bad things we’ve done in the past, and maybe we can learn from our mistakes to make us better people in the end, much like how positive things can sometimes come from catastrophes." Think that over while embracing the cool vibe of Long Island as you watch the "Someone Like Me" video below:
>> What's more exciting than a dope new video? New tunes, that's what! The Makeshift fellas are on a roll, and they're working up to releasing a new EP later this year. "We’re really excited to announce that we’re going to be recording a new record this June with Adam Cichocki at Timber Studios in New Jersey," said Dan Burke (bass / vocals). "We’re trying to make these songs sonically different, to an extent, from what we’ve done in the past. We love these songs and we hope everyone who hears them is going to love them just as much. I think I speak for all of us when I say that I’m very excited for the future of Makeshift and can’t wait to see what we can do with it."
Get stoked for the EP, and read more of my Q&A with the band below!
What inspired the song “Someone Like Me” ? What is the overall message addressed here?
Dan: If you listen to the lyrics in my verse and Andrew’s verse, you’ll probably notice that they’re not talking about entirely the same thing. We each wrote our own lyrics for this track which is something that I think is really cool about this song. I wrote my verse about a time that I experienced kind of recently where I had a lot of things going on in my life regarding relationships, school, friends, and a bunch of things. Things weren’t great and I felt like when I reached out for help from some of the people that I felt were closest to me I was blown off and told to kind of just get over it. That’s where the line of “everybody around me refused to help” came in and my verse kind of just captures that.
Andrew: The lyrics that I wrote and sing in the song reflect a time in my life that I’m not very proud of, a time when I had pushed away a lot of loved ones and friends and created a very negative environment for myself. The lyrics kind of touch on how I feel guilty about a lot of the choices I made during this brief period, and painted this very dark picture in my mind as to who I am and how I feel about myself. A lot of times when I think about that time in my life, I cant help but feel like I am just really terrible person and like I have to make up for that however I can. However, the lyrics also suggest that maybe we can make up for the bad things we’ve done in the past, and maybe we can learn from our mistakes to make us better people in the end, much like how positive things can sometimes come from catastrophes.
Where was the video filmed?
All of the full band shots were filmed in our friend Justin’s basement. (Thank you Justin.) Justin was actually also one of the guys on the crew for this video and helped out a bunch with filming. (Thank you Justin, again.) The skate park shots were done at Bethpage Skate Park. It’s our actor
Vin’s favorite park to go to.
How did you come up with the ideas / scenes in this video? Do the static and TV-smashing have any special significance?
Andrew: We got together with the band and crew and were brainstorming different ideas for kind of a theme to the video. We thought that the static would kind of represent how someone feels when they are facing a negative time in their life and everything seems to be in disarray.
Dan: I just thought it would look kinda cool.
What do you hope viewers get out of this video and your music in general?
Andrew: Most of our music kind of has a message of no matter how shitty things are, it all gets better as long as you work at it.
Dan: Yeah I agree especially with this song. A reoccurring theme in some of my parts is “And I just gotta keep on going, because I don’t know what else to do.” Keep on going, don’t give up.
How does this song fit into your plans moving forward? Does this address similar themes that will show up in your forthcoming EP?
Andrew: Yeah there are definitely a few reoccurring themes in the newer songs that can relate back to “Someone Like Me.” I’m especially into emphasizing the idea that you can and should always try to make the best of a bad situation no matter what the circumstances, and you’ll definitely be seeing some of those themes on the EP.
Dan: Based on what we’ve been writing I think that there are definitely going to be some similar themes coming out on the new record. I think that it’ll probably be a more positive writing style because I can speak for myself and say that I’m in a much better place than I was when we were writing “
Someone Like Me” back in the fall. We’re different people and we’ve grown and learned a lot from our experiences and I hope a lot of that comes through in the newer material.
Does your new EP have an overarching theme, or does each track stand on its own?
Andrew: Each of the songs are definitely going to be their own entity, with a kind of loose theme stringing them together much like many of the songs we’ve written in the past.
Dan: I think that more than just the themes of the songs, we’re trying to make these songs sonically different, to an extent, from what we’ve done in the past. We don’t know exactly what the final product is going to sound like yet but we have a relatively good idea and I’m very excited about it.
Now that this video is out, what’s next for Makeshift?
Dan: We’re really excited to announce that we’re going to be recording a new record this June with Adam Cichocki at Timber Studios in New Jersey. Nothing is set in stone yet but we’re also hoping to have another tour in the books by the end of this summer. Getting the EP done and trying to push that as hard as we can is really the focus now, though.
Andrew: I’m really excited to be writing new material that I think people listening to our band will really love. We’re really trying our hardest to put out the best music we can make right now and can’t express how ecstatic I am to be able to present that to our listeners.
Anything else you'd like to add?
Dan: This is going to be our first official release since September of 2014 and we’ve all changed a lot since then. The band has a different lineup, the songs are written differently, and we’re just overall much different people who know a lot more about themselves, but at the same time are just as clueless as the 15 year olds that we were when we started the band. We love these songs and we hope everyone who hears them is going to love them just as much. I think I speak for all of us when I say that I’m very excited for the future of Makeshift and can’t wait to see what we can do with it. **
insert rock and roll hand emoji here**
Andrew: I just want to say that I can’t thank everyone who’s ever helped us enough; every individual contribution small and large has helped bring us to this point and hopefully will get us far beyond. I want people to know that we’ve grown a ton since we were just some kids trying to play music in my basement, and I hope that growth is felt on this upcoming record. Thank you all and thank you again. We’re so grateful for everything you’ve done for us. We’ll try our best not to let you down. I wanted to say a definite “we won’t let you down,” but I guess that remains to be seen.
