Music is an extension of the soul, says BJ Stanley and Todd Boston from the local Tempe group Maruma. "Music transcends; music is healing and music is a gift," Boston says, adding that when Maruma creates music, they try to transfer positive messages and moods to their audience. "We want to extend friendship and warmth to our audience."
Stanley, a 29-year-old ASU graduate, and Boston, a 29-year-old, serve as the foundation of the trio and compose the Maruma sound, which incorporates mysterious facets of rock, jazz, funk, and even hints of exotic Middle Eastern composition. "Funky tribal trance/dance is the easiest way to describe our style of music," Stanley says.
According to Stanley, Maruma invests hours before each show building their ideal musical environment. Every component of Maruma's performance -- from the sounds, to the looks, to even the way it smells -- matters when creating the right atmosphere for the audience, they say.
Along with epic 15-minute jams, the distinctive Maruma ambiance includes exotic tapestries that consume the bare wall behind the stage area, and plant-life spots the performance platform, while the air saturates the audience with burning incense. "We are not trying to make the stage elaborate, but we want it to be 3-D," Stanley says. "When you enter the venue we're playing at, we want it to be a whole new world."
It's the kind of world Maruma hopes to create every Wednesday night at The Sail Inn in Tempe.
Maruma's unique sound and style began three years ago when the group was created in collaboration with a collection of local gypsies [and belly dancers], according to Boston. "The music was initially intended to [be played] with dancers," Stanley says. "And we still occasionally play with them."
Since then, Maruma--an Australian Aboriginal word which means healing and renewal--has experienced a continuing phase of evolution, says Boston, who has been playing music since he was 12. "We've had a rotating cycle of different musicians that play with us," he adds.
From guest violinists to percussionists, Maruma says they attempt to mix diverse styles of music. "We use music philosophies from around the world without being poseurs. There's as much of a rock 'n' roll style to our music as there is an Indian style," Stanley says. "[Our style] is the American way because America is about taking other cultures and mixing them together."
Maruma's exploratory methods of music are a reflection of how Boston and Stanley, the two ringleaders and roommates, found themselves involved in Maruma.
Boston, the lead guitarist, discovered himself in Arizona after a six-month road trip to some of the country's national parks. Boston says after the road trip he ended up in Flagstaff, where he lived among the Ponderosas in his van for six months. "I got to play music in the woods... It was great," Boston says. After four years in Flagstaff, Boston moved to Tempe where he found himself in Maruma two months later. "I'm the kind of guy that believes everything happens for a reason," Boston says. "[Maruma] has been huge for me. This experience has been my dream."
Stanley's voyage into Maruma proved to be as unpredictable. Stanley says he was a typical high school student who was interested in sports. "I didn't take my first music class until I was a freshman in college," Stanley says. A few weeks after buying his first bass guitar at Goodwill in California, he met up with Maruma in its earliest stages as a jam band. "The first time I ever played that bass was when I played it live with Maruma," Stanley says.
According to he and Stanley, the Maruma experience has been one of growth. During the past three years, members of Maruma have come and gone, but Boston and Stanley have approached each new change as an opportunity. "A lot of bands break up when a key member moves on, but I've looked at each change to Maruma as an opportunity to grow," Boston says.
The Maruma ensign, a butterfly, best illustrates the evolution of the group's growth, says longtime friend and fan of Maruma, Carolina Ferraudi. "A butterfly's growth, as it starts as a cocoon and matures into a butterfly is the Maruma experience," Ferraudi says.
Boston and Stanley say they want this metamorphosis to strike each person who ventures out to watch Maruma perform. "We allow people to get into our music and be a part of it," Stanley says.
While Maruma commits an abundance of time and energy into their sound, Stanley and Boston agree the primary purpose of their music is to respect the listener.
"We want experiencing Maruma to be a whole journey of intensity and happiness," Stanley says.
Reach the reporter at matthew.garcia3@asu.edu.
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Maruma at The Sail Inn, 26 S. Farmer Ave., Tempe. 9 p.m. Saturday. $5. 480-921-1775. |
