MADREPORE

"It was actually one of those meant to be things," says Kinski Gallo, vocalist of Los Angeles-based Madrepore. "You know, how things progress organically." Although the fate and evolution Kinski speaks of references the band's meeting and subsequent working with veteran rock producer Gavin MacKillop (Sugarcult, Goo Goo Dolls), the same statement could likely be applied to the band's career as a whole. At a time when certain rock bands are constantly trying to out-perform one another with a heavy reliance on gimmickry, the members of Madrepore have found a way to attract an audience's attention in the easiest, most direct manner — by simply being themselves. Effective decision-making, an unrelenting drive for refinement and a couple strokes of good fortune have quickly shaped Madrepore into an outfit that has skillfully blended intelligent, meaningful prose with a unique, eclectic melodic magnetism that's anything but overbearing and ostentatious. But arriving at such a point wasn't an easy task, as the band had to first step out of its own shoes in order to gain a fresh perspective on the music it had once been composing. Earlier in its career, one of the primary obstacles Madrepore faced was generating recordings that weren't necessarily translating to the stage. "Our CD was really produced," says Kinski of the quartet's earliest recordings, "and when we'd play, people would say we sounded like a different band." With the emphasis placed on making music that was technically proficient, Madrepore lost sight of its original foundation and feel. "That wasn't us," says Kinski. "That was the problem. If you put contact lenses on a person that has brown eyes so they could have blue eyes, it would never look good, you know?" Enlisting the assistance and guidance of MacKillop in 2004, Madrepore left the slick production at the door for something decidedly more natural, free-flowing and fundamental. The first evidence of the revamped Madrepore sound came with the band's second release, the six-song The Blues Armada EP in 2004...