HARRISONBURG, Va.- For a local band, it takes great
dedication and patience to try and stay together while having fun or trying to
eventually make it big.
Harrisonburg’s very own Malatese is a quintessential model for how a
local band overcomes struggles to keep the cohesion and continue to entertain.
Malatese, made up of Jon Reed, Travis Legg, George Dodson,
and Graham Brouder, has been playing local shows together for about a year and
a half, while trying it juggle academics at James Madison and their day
jobs. With no record label, and
the only source of self promotion is through obscure fliers that either intrigue
or disgust the viewer, Malatese is a band that defines what it means to work
with what they got.
“It’s a slow and steady process,” says Brouder. “It’s just letting the word of mouth
trickle down.”
To Malatese, being a small, local band was a blessing and a
curse. On the plus side, they have
the possibilities to open for some cool acts, but on the downside, they feel
pigeonholed into a certain region.
Small bands face more struggles then just trying to get
their name out into the public.
With the lack of resources and funds, just putting an album together can
become a tedious task in the process of survival.
Currently, Malatese is in the process of working on and
finishing up their first full length LP.
Once the album is has been laid down and mixed, they plan on sending it
out and getting it pressed onto vinyl records for sales.
A roadblock that stands in their way is finding a way to pay
for this process. Getting a vinyl
album pressed can become very expensive and for local bands, the means are not
usually there.
“We are going to fund it and try and get some funds raised
through some patrons,” says Reed.
Hand in hand with the process of creating an album is the
process of promoting the album, mostly through touring. Malatese plans on going on tour later
on this winter and spring, trying to break out of the Harrisonburg area and
grow a more regional following.
Tour dates are not set in stone, but the boys plans on
contacting other bands that they have connections with to try and tour
alongside of. Malatese has
connections with bands in major cities such as Baltimore and Richmond.
With three of the four members still in college and two of
them scheduled to graduate in May, finding adequate time to tour around the
area seems to be an issue.
“We will basically try to be like weekend warriors, while we
all finish up graduating and doing our day jobs,” says Reed.
Besides the time constraints and financial issues that local
bands, like Malatese can face, there are definite upsides that makes performing
all the more pleasurable.
“I’d say one of the best things about being in a local band
is getting to meet some really cool, down to earth musicians that we never
would have met otherwise,” said Legg.
Earlier in
September, WXJM hosted musician Ty Segall in the Festival Ballroom and Malatese
got the privilege to open for him.
Malatese has also played with other bands that they were star struck by
such as Christmas, and the better-known band, War on Drugs.
With the ups and downs that Malatese faces on a daily basis,
in the end they are just content being able to get together and just jam. The band feels that they can be
successful and happy without being contracted to a record label.
“We like working together and we would be doing this anyway,
in some form or another,” said Dodson.
“It’s something we kind of have to do in order to blow off steam. We want to keep it organic.”
Reed, in a jokingly manner, says that he has bigger plans. “I’m
trying to go octo-platinum, I don’t know about you guys.”
-Meaghan MacDonald
-Meaghan MacDonald
