Makeshift

2 separate performances in the Summer 2012 and Winter 2013, as well as interviews of upcoming releases and shows. - Radio DePaul

@Makeshift_IL thanks fellas! listened to it on the drive last night. y'all rock out on "silhouettes" - Chris Culos

I’m proud to present, Makeshift. A jam band hailing from Chicago. They have an impressively familiar sound thats like listening to O.A.R.’s the Wanderer.

Their first EP, These Days, gives a really strong island vibe. Makeshift features a two guitar, bass and drum kit setup with a keyboard and saxophone on top, giving them a lot to work with in terms of style. They have a really cool reggae side to them that they play with and blend in rock elements. They do this very well and a lot of the elements they introduce to each track have a really cool way of presenting the mood of the song and truly making the group stand out. The lyrics are very impressive on this EP. They are clear and they have a nice flow to each line, immediately noticeable in “One Day”

These Days was a really strong EP and after one full listen it is truly worth a second and third.

Their second EP is called On the Horizon and was just released on the 15th and with it they brought back the same sound and talent as they did on These Days only every track is fresh, new and well mixed. The quality of recording increased dramatically between the two EP’s and it only makes you like the band more.

In On the Horizon their style changes just slightly to include a Slightly Stoopid kind of guitar melody. It’s fantastic. They have elements from a lot of the greatest jam bands out there like Dispatch, O.A.R., Sublime and SOJA. In their track “Pure Imagination” they even feature a vocal style that sounds like a Mighty Mighty Bosstones tune. And then out of nowhere in On the Horizon, “Out of Control” sounds like early an early Dave Matthews Band. Bassist Joe Messersmith gives a real display of talent on this EP.

After just one track, you will want to listen to another, and then from there you gotta at least listen to a whole EP. They have a solid sound and a really chill quality to them. They are fresh and new and they are good. Tt will be really great to hear more from the up and coming band. Check them out on their Facebook fan page. They could be big. - Joe Mullin of Ambient Aftermath

Self-taught as a musician, Frankfort resident Chris Kezon now is teaching himself how to turn his band into a musical success story.
By Rachel Gilmore | Email the author | 5:55am


Before March 2008, Frankfort resident Chris Kezon had never touched a guitar. Then a friend came over one day and picked up one of his sister’s old kid guitars.

“He played 'Stairway to Heaven,' and when I heard it, that was it. That was all I wanted to do in high school from then on was play guitar,” Kezon said.

Undeterred by the fact that he couldn’t read music or play any other instruments, Kezon began to teach himself by working with online tutorials and guitar tabs. His friend (and guitar player) Pat Nagle also helped him along the way.

Two years later, Kezon was ready for bigger challenges. He and Nagle decided they should put a band together and compete in the 2010 Battle of the Bands, sponsored by Lincoln-Way High School District 210 in conjunction with the annual Asset Celebration.

The pieces quickly fell into place, a band assembled and two weeks later, Makeshift took second in the Battle of the Bands. A few months later, the group found themselves playing five 30-minute sets on one of the side stages at Great America. The band also sold 50 copies of its demo CD that day. Other performances followed over the summer. Not a bad start for a band whose lead singer and rhythm guitarist never did anything musical until his sophomore year of high school.

However, both Kezon and Nagle graduated in May 2010, which meant that in August, Kezon headed down to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, while Nagle went to Bradley University in Peoria. Bandmates Jake Wagstaff and Dave Gent were still at Lincoln-Way Central High School with bassist Joe Messersmith at Homewood-Flossmoor High School.

“The first couple of months of college were tough," Kezon said. "We took a short break from performing, but we actually wrote a lot of songs while we didn’t have any shows."

"We" being the key word, as collaborative is how Kezon describes the creative process that drives the band.

“Since I’m the vocalist, I like to write my own lyrics so I can feel the emotion,” he said. “Then I write a riff on the guitar. I play it until I’ve got it memorized. Then I play it for the band and everybody comes up with their own part.”

While one definition of their name means temporary, Makeshift is far from that. In the year that’s passed since their first performance, they have moved their original saxophone player back to keys and added Lincoln-Way East High School senior saxophonist John Smith to the group, solidifying their sound, which mixes rock, blues, reggae and pop rock.

“We were all connected by outside sources, and now we’re all really good friends,” Kezon said of his bandmates.

Makeshift also means do-it-yourself, which perhaps better defines the group. From Kezon’s self-taught roots to the band's collaborative songwriting to its independently produced demo CD to Kezon’s dedication to marketing the band, Makeshift clearly has no trouble doing what it takes to make a name for themselves in the Chicago band scene … and beyond.

“We’re definitely going to release our first full-length album at the start of the summer using a downtown recording studio,” said Kezon, who will be transferring to Columbia College in Chicago this fall.

He’s also created an electronic press kit and begun applying for various festivals and gigs through sonicbids.com, as well as signed up with CDBaby, which put Makeshift's demo on iTunes, Rhapsody and Amazon.

“We have our sights set high for the summer,” Kezon said, “and I think we’ll have a good one.”

To contact Kezon and Makeshift, find them on Facebook or email them at makeshiftchicago@gmail.com.

Upcoming Performances

Where: The Elbo Room, 2871 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago
When: 8-11 p.m. Friday, March 25
How much? Tickets are $9, and it's a 21-and-older show.

Where: MoJoes, 22 W. Cass St., Joliet
When: 10 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday, April 1. Makeshift opens for the Trippin’ Billies, a nationally known Dave Matthews cover band.
How much? Tickets are $8, and it's a 21-and-older show. - Frankfort Patch

Makeshift mixes musical genres to create unique style
Posted on 20 February 2011. Tags: band, Makeshift
Jennifer Prokop, Tempo Editor

For those who are looking for some new music to add to their iPods, definitely consider Makeshift, a local band with a unique style comparable to that of Dave Matthews Band. Their EP, “These Days,” is now available on iTunes as well as through other online music retailers such as Amazon and Rhapsody.
Vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Chris Kezon, stopped to chat with “The Flyer” about the band’s history and why they are worth checking out.
The band consists of Kezon (vocals, guitar), Pat Nagle (lead guitar), Jake Wagstaff (drums), Joe Messersmith (bass), Dave Gent (keyboard) and John Smith (saxophone). They got their start as a band exactly a year ago and have all become close friends since.
“We love playing music together because we have a great vibe at live shows on stage and greatly enjoy playing and creating music with one another,” Kezon said.
They decided to form the band last year around the time of the Lincoln-Way High School Battle of the Bands.
“Pat Nagle and I had played music together all throughout high school and really wanted to get a band together to see what we could do in the Battle of the Bands, play some shows and get a chance to create plenty of new music,” Kezon said.
The band’s lineup was finalized just weeks before they were set to perform at their first show.
“The show was about two weeks away when Jake Wagstaff joined,” Kezon said. “We had been told about him from close friends, gave him a text asking if he was interested, and his immediate response was ‘I’m in.’ He knew a bass player, and that’s when Joe Messersmith became a member. It’s always a great thing when bass players and drummers know each other well because they are the two that set the underlying beat to every song we write.”
The band then added the other members and made a few switches before settling on the current lineup.
“We then found out our close friend Dave Gent played the saxophone, which he had played for a while as a part of the band,” Kezon said. “Seeing that he was a very skilled keyboard player, we moved him to keys and found John Smith, a phenomenal saxophone player who I had seen and heard a few times at Lincoln Way East.”
Once the band had a stable lineup, they had to decide on a name, which Kezon explained was a difficult process.
“We started off going through plenty of different names, seeing that none of us could agree on one,” Kezon said. “While recording our first EP, we all decided that by the end of the process, we absolutely had to agree on a band name to start promoting ourselves.”
Toward the end of production on their debut EP, the band finally decided on a name that they felt suited them.
“We had some ideas, and nearing the end, still had no luck,” Kezon said. “Upon doing the final mixing of the album, our bass player Joe Messersmith simply said, ‘What about Makeshift?’ Ever since, we came to agree that that name was perfect for us. Makeshift is used to describe something that is kind of loosely thrown together, and that’s kind of how our band started. So, the name stuck.”
Kezon said that Makeshift considers themselves a jam band that has been influenced by several different genres of music. He said that the band thrives on improvisation during their live shows as well.
“Improvising is a great way to express yourself as a musician to an audience,” Kezon said. “Speaking on how we much we ‘get into’ our live shows, it’s hard to describe the sync we have at every show we play.”
The band cites Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson and Dispatch as artists that inspire them. They also combine different genres of music together to achieve their distinctive style.
“Blues and reggae are a heavy influence on all of the members as well, and it’s always great to incorporate so many different styles into one piece,” Kezon said. “I feel that the more diverse the music is, it can be that much more creative and have plenty of potential.”
Although it is a challenge for the band that both Kezon and Nagle are away at college, the band was able to work through that and keep advancing in the local music scene.
“With myself and Pat currently in college, that’s probably the hardest part,” said Kezon. “We always find our ways around it though, seeing that we are both pretty close to home. We come home often and coordinate well so that we can always make the most of rehearsing.”
The band has played shows at many local venues such as The Hub, Elbo Room, Six Flags Great America and the Congress Theater. The show at the Congress Theater was the biggest show the band has played so far.
“It was a great experience to play at a venue of that caliber,” said Kezon.
The band has performed with other artists such as Cedar and Kyle Maurisak. They are scheduled to be playing a show with a Dave Matthews Band cover band, Trippin’ Billies, at Mojoes of Joliet on April 1. They also have a show on March 19 at the Hub in New Lenox.
As far as upcoming plans, Makeshift hopes to record and release some of their unrecorded material and release their first full-length album at the beginning of summer. They will also be playing again this summer at Six Flags and are waiting to hear back from Summerfest in Milwaukee, Taste of Chicago and many other music festivals about getting a spot in their lineups.
“We are a band that has a passion for music that cannot even be described,” said Kezon. “We pride ourselves in playing, and it is something we love to do every day, and it will be a part of us for the rest of our lives.”
For more information about Makeshift or to check out their music, visit facebook.com/makeshiftchicago. - The Lewis Flyer