Rhythm meets riffage

Marcos Garcia considers himself a student of music. This proved pretty accurate during my recent interview with him, which at times felt more oratorical than conversational.

It’s been only a few years since the singer-guitarist made the shift to heavy rock with his project Here Lies Man, which takes Garcia’s Afrobeat proclivities of the past decade and a half as a member of Brooklyn collective Antibalas, and retransmits them through volume and fried riffs. The band’s self-titled debut came seemingly out of nowhere last year, and got record nerds’ and critics’ hearts all aflutter.

Garcia’s vision is clear: Here Lies Man plays heavy psych that’s based around the clave rhythm, which is the center of Afro-Cuban and African music (as well as a number of other non-Western musical styles). He says what he does is mostly in service of the music and tradition, but also what he refers to as “the muse.”

“I don’t know what it is,” said Garcia, when asked exactly what this muse was. “But it’s my job to listen. The muse likes to be visited often.”

That may sound a little esoteric, but you can’t argue with the results. This month, Here Lies Man released You Will Know Nothing, the band’s second record in just over a year. It’s a natural progression from the debut, with songs like “Fighting” and “Taking the Blame” showing leaner riffs and more taught arrangements. If listeners liked the debut, they’ll really get down with the new material.

Garcia is riding a creative wave right now, although it took a while to get the band going. The kernel for Here Lies Man has actually been rattling around his head since 2005, when Garcia recalls rehearsing a cover of Fela Kuti’s “Yellow Fever” with Antibalas. “All of a sudden I heard it as if Tony Iommi were playing it,” he said.

It wasn’t until 2015 that the band—which also includes drummer and core member Geoff Mann (also a member of Antibalas)—began recording demos for what would become the debut.

“The first record was more a proof of concept,” said Garcia. “I was tired of trying to explain what I wanted to do.”

Garcia says bringing in Mann was instrumental in getting his vision off the ground. Both “speak the language,” as Garcia puts it. They were both surrounded by Afro-Cuban and West African music growing up in Brooklyn. Mann’s father is the late jazz flautist Herbie Mann, who toured Africa and afterward recorded one of his definitive records, Flautista!, in 1959. And Garcia’s father produced merengue records throughout the genre’s golden era in the 1970s (which led to him meeting Garcia’s mother at the Spanish-language radio station she deejayed at).

“I’m really blessed to have been exposed to all these types of music,” Garcia said. “I found my voice through this syncopated West African style of music.”

Here Lies Man gives Garcia a chance to continue exploring those rhythms while also experiencing the simple catharsis of punk and heavy rock. (He says Dead Kennedys and Minor Threat also remain hugely influential to him.) Here Lies Man, along with bands like Fumaça Preta and Goat, is actively trying to expand the language of rock music.

There’s no slowing down for Garcia, either. Here Lies Man has plans to release an EP toward the end of the year, and Garcia says he’s already working on demos for the next full-length, which he anticipates being completed in 2019. The future of rock may be uncertain (some would say its death rattle is sounding), but the future of Here Lies Man is clear. And Garcia’s respect for the music is undeniable.

“I’m committed to these traditions, and being innovative,” he said. “Not that I’m an innovator, but I do speak the language.”