By: Ryan Caldwell
For The Perfect Storm, success has never been simply about chart positions, radio spins or industry accolades. Those milestones certainly matter, and the Albany, New York trio has accumulated its share of them. But when James Krakat, Matty Kirtoglou and Ethan Lynch talk about what Maiden Voyage has accomplished, they keep returning to something considerably more personal: people recognizing themselves in the songs.
That connection has been particularly meaningful for James.
“What is surprising is how people come up to us and start saying, ‘I really feel and relate to the songs,’” he says. Listeners have told him that “Magic Feeling” resurrected memories from their own lives, while others have responded to the emotional directness of “Lucky Guy.”
“I always knew that music was powerful,” James says, “but to see your own music connecting with people and becoming the soundtrack of their lives is amazing.”
Matty’s reaction is characteristically more measured. The response didn’t entirely surprise him because the trio had labored over Maiden Voyage until it met their collective standards. What couldn’t have been predicted was the commercial payoff.
“The three number ones really couldn’t have been planned,” he says.
That combination of optimism and pragmatism says plenty about The Perfect Storm. The three musicians aren’t carbon copies of one another, and their differences have become an essential ingredient in the band’s identity.
Ethan describes James as the eternal positive force, someone who regularly checks on his bandmates and maintains a “glass-half-full outlook.” Matty, meanwhile, supplies an infectious social energy.
Matty sees the dynamic similarly, although he describes Ethan as the group’s skeptic and himself as occupying the territory somewhere between the two.
“James’ personality is never say die, an eternal optimist,” Matty says. “Ethan is much more a skeptic. I try to be somewhere in the middle to balance that out.”
It’s an appropriate arrangement for a band called The Perfect Storm: three distinct forces colliding and somehow producing something stronger together.
The collaborative approach carries directly into songwriting. Ethan might arrive with an idea he needs to get out immediately. James may bring something to the group before everyone begins reshaping it. Other songs develop collectively.
“It’s always a work in progress,” Matty explains. “A song can be born in many ways, and like a newborn, you nurture it and see that uniqueness shine.”
James puts it more simply: “It really is a team effort.”
The themes emerging from that process aren’t particularly exotic. They’re about love, heartbreak, perseverance, loyalty, family and hope. These are the enormous emotions hiding inside ordinary lives.
That’s precisely the point.
“Who hasn’t had a rough go, been in love, or fallen out of love?” Matty asks. “Life is complicated, and I feel whatever resonates with me, if done right, will resonate with the masses.”
James agrees.
“Matty, Ethan and I are just everyday guys who want those things too.”
Perhaps that everyday quality explains why Maiden Voyage has connected. The Perfect Storm isn’t writing from some carefully constructed rock-star mythology. Its members have jobs to do, families to consider and real-world complications capable of interrupting even the best-laid musical plans.
Matty doesn’t describe those complications as major obstacles so much as life happening. An injury, an operation or a family emergency can suddenly derail a schedule.
The trick is continuing anyway.
Even increasing recognition hasn’t fundamentally altered the band’s approach. According to Matty, success hasn’t changed how The Perfect Storm writes songs because the band established its ambitions from the beginning. Recording against deadlines can present new challenges, while performing remains something the trio continually wants to improve.
Now, having demonstrated what it can do with Maiden Voyage, The Perfect Storm is preparing to stretch.
The band’s second album promises to expand its musical boundaries, including an instrumental track, new equipment and ideas that move beyond the template of its debut.
“You can’t rest on your laurels,” Matty says. “To keep it fresh, you have to push.”
That philosophy could prove particularly important for a group whose first album established an identifiable balance between accessibility and personality. Rather than attempting to reproduce what worked, The Perfect Storm appears determined to use that foundation as permission to explore.
And if the band’s members are thinking about what comes next, they’re also beginning to consider what might remain long after the charts and release campaigns have ended.
James wants the songs to be considered relatable and timeless. More importantly, he hopes people will remember that the music touched their lives.
Matty’s ambitions are equally straightforward.
“In music as in life, you just want to be remembered for doing something good in this world,” he says. “No matter what, this music is out there forever, so if you truly care about it, then hopefully that will shine through.”
For Ethan, the desired legacy begins with the relationship at the center of the band.
“I love working with James and Matty, and I hope that shines through in the music we do,” he says. “The Perfect Storm is good, and the music will stand the test of time.”
That’s a considerable ambition, but perhaps longevity begins with something much simpler.
Three friends made an album. People heard themselves in it. Now those three friends are heading back into the studio determined to make something even better.
Maiden Voyage may have launched The Perfect Storm, but judging by the band’s determination to keep pushing forward, the real journey is only beginning.
