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The Mavericks: Paul Deakin, Jerry Dale McFadden, Raul Malo, and Eddie Perez ~ Photo by David McClister

10/11/2017

Mavericks relish a brand new day: Play Revolution Hall Thursday

By SCOTT CUNNINGHAM // Guitarist Eddie Perez of the Mavericks reflects on the evolution of the band and the decision to create their own record label.

Being successful in music can have a certain Peter Pan quality: The temptation to never grow up is strong.

"When you're at the top, the waters can get really muddy in terms of how you carry yourself and keep your wits about you in this business," says Eddie Perez, guitarist for the Mavericks.

Having staying-power in the business requires a tremendous amount of dedication, perseverance, and good fortune. And a great deal of maturity.

"It has taken us a long time to get to this point, but this is one of the most fruitful, not just creatively, but spiritual times this band has ever had," Perez told me in a recent phone conversation. "I think it has taken us a long time to get to this point, in all sincerity and honesty. A point of maturity."

The band appears Thursday evening at Revolution Hall in Portland. Consider yourself fortunate if you have tickets, as the date has been sold out for quite some time.

After a seven-year hiatus, the band reformed in 2012 to much fanfare and critical acclaim. In that time period, they have released three studio albums plus an additional album of live recordings. Their most recent album, "Brand New Day", came out earlier this year on their own label, Mono Mundo Recordings.

The title is a spot-on reflection of where this band is at the moment. The Mavericks have never been ones to follow convention and their music cannot be pinned into any single, tidy genre.

"When we're doing songs, we're not really thinking about genres or how it's gong to play. We're just thinking about is this song communicating and is this something we find really cool. Everything from the Mavericks emanates from that point down."

Creating their own label is only the most recent manifestation of the band's approach to their craft. "We didn't want to be restricted by certain processes you have to go through when you have major label deals," Perez explains.

"We wanted to be able to freely release music when we want, freely do shows, or different projects. I think it was a long time coming. We've been at it so long, if we don't have this thing down by now we should probably do something else."

Forming a label, however, is a major decision and one that would be out of reach for most bands. Not because of the mechanics, per se, but because of the foundation that has to exist to make such an endeavor successful.

As we were talking about the inner workings of bands, Perez laughed and agreed when I made the observation that getting a band to simply agree on a time for a conference call is a major achievement.

"It's a tightrope you have to walk when you're in a democracy like this," he explained. "Getting four guys to agree on one thing is quite a challenge."

For the Mavericks, the key ingredient in their evolution has been maturity.

"With some maturity and some time going away I think it made us all realize how special this thing really is when we come together. We're at the point now where we're celebrating the success of just actually coming together as friends again and being connected in a real genuine wholehearted way.

"Over time i think we've all learned how to trust each other a lot more. I know that something as simple as that can be transforming."

Transformational, indeed. Expect Mavericks Version 2.0 to be around for a long time, which is a very good thing for music lovers.

ON TOUR: The Mavericks appear at Revolution Hall in Portland on Thursday, October 12. Doors 7:00PM / Show 8:00PM. The show is sold out.

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