Makayan

The first time that Dennis, Zach, Elie, Simon, and Ben jammed together in the basement of Makayan, it was a dark and stormy night. As the song they were playing gently morphed itself into Journey's "Don't Stop Believing," the intensity and fusion of the sounds they were creating were continuously rising to uncharted territories of jamming. Suddenly they reached a peak that was terrifyingly beautiful with sounds so sacred that only the four humans who created them were allowed to hear them for a split second, and at that instant their house was struck by a bolt of lightning. The three guitarists were instantly shocked through their guitars, meanwhile Ben & Simon, not yet official members of Makayan were hit by a bolt of electricity which shot two feet between an unplugged guitar cable and the drum set, leaving Ben's foot with a burning sensation for a few days. realizing the abnormality of this occurrence, the five musicians stood watching the storm through the open garage door realizing that there must be some great message which the spirit of the earth was trying to relay to them. A few days later the decision was made to add Ben & Simon to the band, and this was Makayan.
The other three members, Elie, Zach, and Dennis, were high school friends from Durham who used to congregate most nights at Dennis's house since it was the only place they and their friends were allowed to play music at any time. A rare bond grew between many of the musicians who frequented that dwelling, which was unfortunately torn apart when they each went to college in different cities: Dennis in Greensboro, Zach in Delaware, and Elie in Asheville. The next chapter in their story is chronicled in their song "Barnold," which tells the story of a brave young man who could not fulfill the requirements of the evil Professor Barnold, and decided to give up school to play in a progressive rock band. So Zach moved to Greensboro, to start a band with Dennis and two other frequenters of Dennis's house in Durham. That band was called Dirty Feat, and was the foundation of what would eventually become Makayan. Meanwhile Elie was still in school in Asheville and had started the funk group Spicy Moustache and the Flavior Saviors with 9 of his friends, one of which happened to be Ben. Dirty Feat was looking to reach greater heights than could be met in Greensboro, so Dennis quit school and the band moved to Asheville, but the drummer and bassist decided to stay behind. So Dennis and Zach moved to Asheville and Elie, who had missed the high school jams with them so much, immediately agreed to join their band. For their first year the band played with drummer Jesse Skar. Their first show was for Dennis's birthday at a little dive bar called Mike's Side Pocket, as it was the only place which would book them one day in advance. They went in without a name, knowing that by the end of the night they would have a name. The band played two sets that night. At the end of the first set, they were very excitedly greeted by a mysterious member of the crowd named Frank. He approached they band as they were leaving the stage, and said to them, "Wow, while you were playing, I think you guys almost reached Makayan," to which the band replied, "thank you, what does that mean?" and Frank's response was "I don't know."
The band decided to name themselves Makayan, with the goal of manifesting that mystery state of musical madness. As Elie was giving Frank a ride home, Frank revealed the definition of the word Makayan to him, this definition is now kept as a secret between the band and close friends.
Makayan has been very lucky to play with many great bands around the area and to many beautiful fans. They continue to produce delicious jams and do not intend to stop until they have infected every living creature in the universe with the sound waves of universal happiness which they hold the secret key to creating. Makayan loves you.