Flight From Below

March 25, 2010

Genre: Alternative, Hardcore, Christian

http://myspace.com/flightfrombelow

What started as a praise band for three high school friends who didn’t even know how to play their instruments is now an alternative hardcore band with a legitimate chance to perform at this year’s Cornerstone Festival in Bushnell, Illinois. Vocalist Marshall McKeller, bassist Daniel Maqueda, drummer Mark Wheat, and guitarist Trey Pierce make up Hattiesburg’s Flight From Below. Fresh off the release of their first EP “The Reconcile to Home,” the band has stayed busy playing nearly every week, in both real and “made-up” venues. See them performing tomorrow night at The Bottling Co. in support of the She Dances benefit.





The band came first, and the instruments came later?

Mark: When we started, none of us knew how to play our instruments. I had been playing the drums for about four months before the band, and Marshall didn’t even know he could sing.

Daniel: We all just kind of picked which instrument we wanted to play.



How did everyone meet?

Marshall: Mark, Daniel, and I went to school together. We wanted to start our own band that was originally called Dumpster Mermaids. (laughter)



Trey, so you’re the only one that had any previous musical experience?

Trey: Yeah. I started playing for fun when I was 13. I was really into technical progressive metal. I would sit in my room for hours and practice some really stupid stuff. The whole band thing is new to me though.



Are there any themes that keep appearing in the songs?

Marshall: My songwriting always seems to have something to do with going home. I have a knack for the “prodigal son” type story. “The Reconcile to Home” is about mending broken relationships and going back to your roots. In my situation, it’s about going back to God from running away all the time.



What are your favorite venues to play?

Marshall: We play all kinds of places but mostly “made-up” places – backyards, community centers, football fields, back porches, and we have even played a Sonic. We started out in gyms (laughter). The Hill City Warehouse out in Columbia is one of our most favorite places to play now.



There must be a good story from one of those “made up” places.

Mark: This past January, we were going to the huge metropolis of Iuka, Miss., and we had typed into our GPS the street that we were supposed to turn on. We went down this road and it turned into what we thought was the driveway. We drove for a half a mile and it turned into a 4-wheeler trail, and I’m not sure why we kept driving because the venue never appeared.



Any guilty pleasures?

Trey: I legitimately enjoyed listening to Japanese pop music at one time, and I still do a little.

Mark: When nobody is in the car with me, I will listen to Good Charlotte.

Marshall: I have two full Cradle of Filth albums on my Mac.

Daniel: I like Katy Perry. A lot.



Either dead or living, who would you like to ride the river with?

Mark: Taylor Swift. It would be like one of those canoes in Italy.

Trey: Probably Hermione Granger.

Daniel: Maybe some Pokemon.

Marshall: Gandalf the White, but not the Grey. The White is much cooler. - Blue Healer Music