Maras singing the pain away in debut CD
Music means so much to so many. To brothers Eric and Matt Mara, it was lifechanging therapy.
The Waterloo-based ’80s indie-alt electro-goth punk-dance duo have devoted debut CD “Welcome to Wax Beach” as an ode to many in today’s generation who may be struggling with clinical depression.
The concept album is also a no-holds barred commentary about patients struggling with these illnesses and battles endured from improper treatment by the medical industry.
“When I was diagnosed with a panic disorder and depression, for a long time I thought the pills were working but then I realized that I was kind of on auto pilot,” notes Matt, adding he had core treatment as well before he discovered a different answer. “At first I thought I am not going to try yoga and any of this stuff. But it really changes things. My vocal coach actually taught me this breathing exercise that really calms you down. I found that playing the bass was really therapeutic. It was just very calming and that is where we started this new project.”
“I was also on (prescription product for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) Concerta when I was in high school because I felt like I had ADD,” adds Eric. “I definitely did have it but I guess it’s under control now. At the time I took Concerta I thought it was going to be the answer to making me fit in. I really did not like how it made me lose my appetite. I enjoy eating food. That is just how I am. It’s a personal thing. Then I saw the movie “Requiem for a Dream” (a psychological drama which deals with the effects and delusion of drug addiction) and that got me off pills entirely. When I stopped taking it, I just cut it off cold turkey. And I fell into a wicked depression,” says Eric.
“Basically we have had a lot of people in our lives with really bad anxiety attack disorder and depression. A lot of them were not getting treated well by the modern day medical industry. It is personal to me,” adds Matt. “The whole album is pure frustration about what happened and what happens.”
“I was talking with a friend of mine and we were discussing that it’s just become a thing where pills are generally answer like this will fix you. Their friend just started taking Concerta, not for mental use but for weight loss. It screws you up in more ways than one. It is sad. You think about pills, then therapy at the same time, then finding the right balance. I do not think it is thought out too well by a lot of medical professionals. It’s thrown out there and then people say take this you’ll be fine,” states Eric.
Hence “Welcome to Wax Beach” — a sonic requiem for a dream melded with dual primal screams. Matt plays the bass and synth, while Eric plays drums and synth. Set upon a rich bass/guitar synth tableau, both belt out electrifying, potent vocals which range in octave and tone from Alice Cooper to Green Day to Joy Division. The anger and frustration flows through every electro-dance-track from psychotic comment “MD,” “Muddy Susan” and “Stratos” to “Vermillion” and aurally chilling finale “Club Corrective.”
Matt says the brothers grew up trained differently. He took guitar lessons then gravitated to bass. He compares his “dial-itin-high-end” playing to the bass players of the ’80s or the ’90s No Wave phase.
At age 10, Eric liked “playing free” in jazz drums eventually moving into the heavier rock stuff when he discovered Alice Cooper, and Joy Division, revolving into Green Day. Sum 41 and Billy Talent, and the sounds of heavy metal and punk, were also his brother’s faves.
In 2014, the band released EP “The Maras Go To the Mall” with 2015 single “MD.” Fan fave songs from “Mall” were revamped and remixed for “Wax Beach.”
“I started noticing something personally, and I think Matt noticed it as well,” notes Eric. “For different parts in certain songs it almost felt like, over time, there was this extra infinitesimally small layer that fell on top of a lot of the tracks. It filled in these cracks and Eric D. made them sound much more interesting — “Vermillion,” for example. When I heard that second scream in the master version, I had never heard that come out of Matt’s lungs before! It was the same with “Club Corrective” when Matt screams “this generation is the psychiatric patient,” I do not even know where it came from. It still sends shivers down my spine.”