Written by: Cait Elizabeth - August 2018
Edited by: Travis Ryan
Introductions:
CALLS is a melodic, entrancing escape from whatever anxiety is sitting on your shoulders. The layers of sound sweep over you and manage to tell a story without using a single word. I’d never lost myself so much in instrumental music before I found CALLS’ album Refloating. It’s mesmerizing and hypnotic, a place to reflect. CALLS is a loop-based post-rock band with math rock influences. The music is a combination of catchy upbeat arrangements and more moody, dynamic pieces.
CALLS is comprised of founding member Josh McKinley (guitar) alongside Mike Messina (drums) and Joseph Conserva (bass). In the beginning Josh wrote the music alone with just a guitar and loop station. Mike, originally a guitarist, joined on drums, and CALLS started playing shows in 2010. Joe, a close friend of Josh’s brother, filled out the band on bass guitar. Now they share in the writing process and are working on new music and their live performance.
Each member, in his own way, uses the process of writing and producing music to reflect on emotion and his place in the world. It shows through in the tapestry they weave for each song.
CALLS has a full album available to stream and purchase titled Refloating. They recently released a single called Clouds in the Caves, accompanied by a stunning music video filmed and produced by fellow Long Island local Andrew Zaijic of Each Tomorrow.
TOURS & Shows
CALLS has been playing shows since 2010. They have played with a variety of bands, often opening for other acts in Brooklyn. They've shared the stage with many talented bands such as Signal Hill, Time Columns, Vasudeva, PerhapsI, and Labirinto. Recently, the group did a short tour of the Northeast to promote their new single "Clouds in The Caves". They played seven shows in eight days, hitting the stage in Philly, Baltimore, New Haven, Providence, and Lowell as well as some local spots in New York. They kicked that tour off with a packed house at 89 North in Patchogue, sharing the stage with It Came From Space, Necter, and MJT. The tour kicked off with hugs and road trip gifts from friends and family, and everyone left the show that night with a huge grin.
SUBSCRIBE & SUPPORT
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
SPOTIFY
CALLS' WEBSITE
callstheband@gmail.com
Inspiration & Influences
Josh: You.May.Die.In.The.Desert, Caspian, The Mercury Program, Mogwai, Maserati, Do Make Say Think, Japandi,
Explosions in the Sky and Scott Joplin
Mike: Caspian, Cloudkicker, You.May.Die.In.The.Desert, Gifts From Enola, Deftones
Joe: Wait and Shackle, It Came From Space, El Ten Eleven, Toe, Caspian, Necter
“We would like to give a shout out to the people who helped me book our first tour and the people around it. Every band we played with on tour was amazing and I could pour over the details for days. So many strangers offered us help through messages or outreach or a floor to sleep on and we will never forget that experience.
A huge thanks to Andrew Zaijic for filming and producing our first music video. You put up with my anxiety and put up with me cutting half your visuals from the video but that video is something I know we are all proud of.
Thank you to the members of Dhara for all of your help. You’ve loaned us gear, restrung our instruments when our strings gave out on stage and helped us in general with our gear and set ups.
We want to also thank Wait and Shackle for inviting us to their house party and tour send off shows where we met so many dope local bands like It Came From Space, Reunite Pangea, Fon Ghoul, Necter and more. We really feel like this was the start of a growing scene for math / post rock on the Island and the touring bands are starting to notice.
The scene of course is huge and there are too many people to thank, but the people who helped us get a leg up know who they are. We hope we can excite you with our new music in the future.
And of course, thanks to Cait for having us and for supporting us. Thanks for the feature fam!”