Story by Ezra Wheeler
Cover Photo: Justin Friesen
Mak Ro–the soulful duo of Filipino-American cousins Eric Makapugay and Kristoffer Ruaro–have been self-releasing music since 2019, winning over a dedicated local fanbase in the process. Now, the group is finally prepared to release their debut album, a beautiful and emotionally honest 8-song LP entitled Love in the Dark. Set to release on Friday, October 18, the duo have already released the first single from the album, a sensual slow-burner called “Hero.”
We caught up with Mak Ro to discuss their origins as a group, the process of creating the album, and what fans can expect over the next few weeks.
Before we get into the new album, let’s talk about your musical journey so far. Tell me a bit about how you both first got into music and when you began working together.
Kris: Being cousins, we’ve been around each other our whole lives since our families grew up super tight. But I’ve been singing my whole life and at some point – after trying a ton of different hobbies – Eric’s parents gave him a guitar and he ended up dropping everything else. Prior to becoming Mak Ro though, we both had our own separate music projects – I was doing some solo stuff and Eric played guitar in a couple bands. It wasn’t until 2016 when we accidentally wrote “Elevator” from a seemingly inconsequential guitar riff that Eric improvised during a jam session. After that, we just kind of kept accidentally making more and more songs and we haven’t been able to stop since.
Eric: I still remember before I did music going to Kris’s singing performances watching him do his thing. He has always had that performance energy and movement that you just can’t forget. At the time, we had different musical tastes in terms of the artists we listened to, so when I started playing guitar at 13, we didn’t really play too much music together. We both took our own musical journeys around the 2010’s, but eventually our worlds linked when one of my bands needed a singer for a show. I called up Kris, and that was honestly the start of it all. We kept jamming together at family gatherings and that eventually led us to accidentally writing songs.
Photo by Kris Ruaro
Although you have been releasing music for years now, “Love in the Dark” will be your first full-length album. How did the process of crafting an album differ from making singles, and what was each of your roles in that process?
Kris: What’s funny is, when we make music, we’re not thinking, “Let’s create a hit single” or “We need to make an album.” Like with our singles, we just ride the waves of inspiration whenever they come, without the pressure to release something. That’s really important to us—it keeps our creative intentions pure and lets us be fearless in what we create. Over the past five years, we’ve written over a hundred songs, and at some point, we realized these eight tracks felt connected. From there, we just kept building the world and figuring things out as we went. Honestly, we’re still in the thick of it, so we’re not even sure where this whole process of presenting the album will take us. We’re letting the wind guide us and experiencing it all along with everyone else.
Eric: For us, it’s just whatever we’re feeling at the time. Writing the singles, we just threw a bunch of paint at the wall and shared songs once they felt really good to us. For the album, I feel like we threw a bunch of songs or diary pages on a table, and out of the pages that seemed to connect, those are the ones that ended up forming the book. Our creative process is always collaborative. We both have different technical skill sets but overall our vision is combined in every part of the process from the songwriting, producing, mixing, video editing, marketing, etc.
You continue to blend a variety of different musical genres on this project, which has become a calling card for ya’ll. Who and/or what were some of your sonic inspirations for this particular project?
Kris: I’m not the most knowledgeable when it comes to pinpointing musical styles or linking techniques to specific artists, but I’ve always loved a wide variety of music, and I think that naturally influences what I create. For example, the first album I ever bought was a Destiny’s Child CD from a gas station in the Philippines, which I obsessed over for a while. I was also hooked on Mariah Carey, Brian McKnight, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, and tons of R&B growing up. My dad introduced me to classics like Jackson 5, Nat King Cole, and Donny Hathaway. Then, when the iPod came along, it was game over—I went through phases of country, EDM, singer-songwriters, pop, rock, Lady Gaga (and that one I’m still going through tbh).
Looking back, though, I’ve always been drawn to music that feels good, and having such a broad range of influences gives me more emotional shades to work with. Ultimately, when I’m writing lyrics or producing vocals, my goal is to create something that feels as good as the music I connect with.
Eric: I’m trying to remember the art that I was experiencing at the time, but in terms of sonic inspirations, I think I was listening to a lot of Rosalia, Men I Trust, Khruangbin, The Doors, Sam Gellaitry, Billie Holiday, Jordan Ward, and others at the time. I didn’t really think about listening to artists for inspiration on our album, although I’m sure a part of that came out from within my subconscious during the writing process. Usually, I unknowingly take inspiration from non-music related art as well, so it all just kind of blends together like a boiling stew. I don’t really think about genres too much, because in my head I’m like “ooh what if I combine this 808 bass sound with light-hearted drums on top of fluttering guitars, but with a twist of dissonant synth chords while making it all feel like it’s coming out of a broken speaker.” I listen to a lot of different kinds of music, so I take inspiration from it all, put it in a boiling pot, stir it, and taste it until it feels good – because why not!
Photo by Justin Friesen
Of course making an album takes a whole team of people. Tell us about some of the people you worked with and what the recording process was like.
Kris: Yes, shoutout to our team—though it’s just the two of us! We’re really hands-on with our creative process and handle almost everything ourselves. Even when recording vocals, I prefer to be alone to fully dive into the moment without outside influences. From writing and production to marketing, press releases, and booking, it’s just Eric and me at the moment. However, we do collaborate with some amazing people. Specifically for Love in the Dark, Dr. Ford Music, our long-time friend and engineer, has mixed most of our tracks, and Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound mastered the album and pretty much our entire discography – and though we’re all in different cities, they always nail our vision. As for visuals, Jamie Harmon (Amurica Photo) really helped bring the album cover to life, and Morgan Bell (Belltoll Media) captures our videos with a unique, cinematic touch. Our team is small but mighty, and we love it that way.
Eric: We love the people we collaborate with, and we especially are appreciative of how open they are to our ideas. Our recording process is very minimal. We make the music at our home studio, and I’ll usually create the music with a combination of recording instruments, samples, and mixing. Kris records himself and writes the entire vocal production and lyrics. We combine the instrumentals, vocals, and lyrics that feel the best to us and filter out the ideas that we don’t fully resonate with. It’s a back and forth process that gives us a lot of flexibility, and we both are collaborating throughout every part of it.
Photo by Jamie Harmon
I imagine that you will have a few events and live performances to celebrate the album’s release. What are some things that fans should be on the look-out for?
Kris: In tandem with the album releasing, we are holding a few special events in October in Memphis because hometown eats first! On Thursday, October 3rd, we’re hosting a secret listening party at the Memphis Listening Lab at 7:00 PM. Very limited seats are available, so we ask that folks RSVP via our website. Also, on Saturday, October 19th, we’re holding our album release show at Crosstown Arts’ The Green Room at 7:30 PM. That night, we’ll be playing some of our discography favorites, as well as the full album! We have another cool thing planned for the end of October, but we’ll save that for another interview. Folks can get tickets at www.makromusicofficial.com or the links on our instagram bio.
