A naked woman in a yoga position. Seven circles, each a different colour of the rainbow, are dotted straight down her body, her third finger up at the world and her steely black almond eyes are staring, daring the onlooker to comment.
A strange but interesting sight to be greeted with when looking at a CD cover for a new band. Manipura, a Buddhist name, is the title of The Chakras’ debut EP with every one of its five songs defining the talents of the band in its own way. The Chakras have been together for just over a year now and have played all the hot-spots in Dublin. After finishing as runners-up in the finals of last year’s Burning Man competition, they were asked to play at Hard Working Class Heroes, a three day event in Temple Bar, where they received rave reviews. It also meant playing alongside bands like The Frames and Republic of Loose. Now, after being holed up in a studio or at rehearsals nearly every night for a year, The Chakras plan to make the Irish public sit up and listen and appreciate some seriously good, funky rock music.
Fronted by Ross ‘Rocky’ Whitaker, The Chakras are Richie McArdle on guitar, Ian Kane on bass, Ro Regan on drums and Bryan Pepper on keyboard. The band tries to fuse many influences, from Radiohead and Sigur Ros to Elvis Costello and the Kings of Leon. The lyrics are raw and captivating. On the inside cover, lines of poetry are strewn about, illustrating what the listener can expect to hear. “A chink of radiance moves across the floor to find your face, stretch and smile a warmth moves up your spine like nostalgia spread on hot scones. Alive. Remember the reality of a kiss. You’re safe.”
Gordon Whitaker, the manager and the lead singer’s brother, says how it is so hard these days when so many bands are trying to make it to actually be taken seriously. A band has to give 100 per cent or it will never work. The five guys work hard and play hard — music, that is. Money earned almost always goes on their instruments, recording equipment or studio time, so in reality they are working to live their dream and anything else takes a back seat.
Being so young (the most senior a wizened 25), they could finf it difficult to maintain self-discipline when most people in their early twenties want to travel or blow their money on having a social life. Both Bryan Pepper and Gordon agree that for any band to achieve success or to stick around for a good many years, it is essential to make the sacrifice. “We know it will be difficult but if you want something bad enough then the work you put into getting it is nothing compared to what the reward will be at the end.”
Manipura is a delicate mix of excellent melodies appealing to every taste and will have the average rock fan queuing to buy it. The picture of the band members standing in the snow at the back of the EP is a bit Wham-esque, but it is the contents of the record which should speak better for them.