The official website for the band Aloft, and their debut album Closer To Nowhere, Billy Mrak - guitars and vocals, Todd Brasseur - drums, guitar, Closer To Nowhere, Aloft, Aloftband.com
Billy Mrak was born and raised in
Michigan .The principal songwriter
in the band Aloft, Billy has been a
practicing musician for the last
fifteen years, yet has never been
involved in a project as large in
scale as Aloft. “I have always
wanted to make music since a young
child, I was exposed to a lot of
great music growing up and can bet I
was the only kid who would listen to
Pink Floyd’s "Animals" album before
afternoon kindergarten began”
laughs Billy. “I have been aching to
get a project going for quite some
time and actually Aloft almost
didn’t happen. During the initial talk
with Todd I didn’t know if he knew
how serious I was about just the two
of us doing everything, and truth be
told I was a bit afraid of the huge
undertaking it would be. Once we had
a few jam sessions I realized there
was a spark, however, I wanted to
still make sure Todd was having the
same notion. You see it has nothing
to do with ego, music is about pure
bliss. If I don’t get the surge of
emotion and charge out of creation
it simply can’t move forward. As we
continued Todd could feel the same
emotions and was ready to form a
partnership. And so from that point
Aloft was born and the concept of
“Closer To Nowhere” emerged.
“Yeah, That was a difficult time in my
life, says Mrak, a lot stuff was out
there. My wife found out she was
pregnant
as we watched the
Towers fall on TV., all my friends
were moving into different
directions and I was dealing with the
effects that time has on people and
relationships. I was doing a lot of
observation like many were during
that period. So what was born out of
the questions was a postcard of how
I felt and I delivered it in song.”
Aloft: to be propelled into motion,
or to rise and float; and
“Closer To Nowhere”: to move in a
direction that may be uncertain, the
crossroads of life. “Billy has a
unique style about him,
(says Brasseur) we would be working
on a piece of music and he may
mention a feeling or action as
direction on how to play at that
part. “How do you play like a sunrise”
I say, and he will then try to explain
himself. As far as his lyrics and
ideas: I don’t think he honestly tried
to write a concept album, it just
happened that way with all the
questions he had.” Mrak” Yeah I’m
sure at times I can be quite directive,
it’s just my nature. Like the music I
wanted everything to flow like sand,
each grain embedding itself in ones’
psyche. I know this sounds cliché,
I wanted the listener to go on a
journey into something real". Much
of today’s music is about material
issues and sexual escapades. Can’t
pop music have a sense of
sophistication anymore?”
Of all the uncertainties that seem
to consume the thoughts of
Billy Mrak one thing is certain and
that is his pursuit in making Aloft as
real as the life that surrounds him.
