by Donte Kirby
“We’re interested in creating music that fans can create their own stories to,” says Thomas Mullarney III, the vocals half of the electronic sultry tones that is Beacon. Jacob Gossett, the electronic sultry tones half, met Mullarney at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, playing shows every weekend together. That soon turned into shows every night and the rest was history.
Beacon is rounding out their first headlining tour across North America for their EP L1 at South Philly’s Boot and Saddle this Friday. An EP Gossett explains was “constructed on the road. Taking all the experiences from that and bringing the record into a more energetic space.” Since their start at the end of 2010, the band has gained a lot of experience through touring.
“We’ve become a technically better band. In the back of our minds we’re thinking these songs have to translate live,” says Gossett. With all the work they’ve put into the record they just “want the live show to do the record justice,” says Mullarney. The duo’s visual arts background at Pratt informs their live performance and is something Beacon takes as seriously as the music.
“Our live show is really immersive,” says Mullarney, “our way to tell our story live through the music.” Gossett elaborates on the live show, “everything is really linked. In sync together visually and sonically. We been working on that the last couple years.”
Over the last couple years the duo has also gained insight on the dynamics of the live show. “There’s a certain live energy you can feed off of,” explains Gossett about the crowd at a show. “Around half or midway through the show you can feel yourself getting stronger. When it’s not going so well you can feel the inverse. The show can start to lag.”
“We felt most comfortable as a live band,” recalls Mullarney about their formative years in Brooklyn back in 2011. “What was harder and took more time was writing and making songs that lives as themselves,” Mullarney continues to explains. “We happened to be lucky enough to be around in Brooklyn when it’s really happening,” Gossett adds.
As Beacon reflects on their past and how they got to headlining their first tour, Gossett also reflects that “it’s a good thing for bands starting out to build a community around yourself. I would try to meet as many like-minded musicians, artists as possible.” As they progress through the New Year and continue their journey as musicians, “the hope is to have a steady upward slope.”
