EMQ’s With Lake Mar/E
EMQ’s With Lake Mar/E
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with USA Psychedelic Progressive Rock/ Metal band, Lake Mar/E. Huge thanks to their bassist, Kris Bashaw, for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Hello, thank you so much for your time. I’m Kris Bashaw, bass player for Lake Mar/E. In our earliest conception we started when Stephen Bialkowski (guitars) and Eric Howerton (vocals) spent a month working on a few songs in 2017. Shortly thereafter, Eric took a job several states away; rendering the project low priority (at best). Fast forward 5 years: Stephen started working with me, Kris Bashaw (bassist) in another dead-end local band. I was super excited about the Lake Mar/E material. We looked and looked and looked for the right drummer for over a year. When we finally flew Nick (drummer) out to UT, we had exactly 2 days to rehearse before our first show. Nick killed it! That’s when we knew Nick was the right fit! We have experimented with bringing on various support roles. But it seems like the 4 of us are the core… at least for now.
Stephen Bialkowski – shredding guitars since ‘92 in various local
jazz/blues/metal/classical/(experi)mental bands
Eric Howerton – Sang in several metal bands in UT and TX prior to LM
Kris Bashaw – bass in multiple bands
Nicholas Sibley – obsessively dedicated drummer with over 30,000 hours of practice under his
belt
How did you come up with your band name?
Eric came up with it. Lake Mar/E It’s brilliant for several reasons. For one, it lends so much for imagery whether it be the horse, or a lake surface on the moon or mars. Second, we get hit all the time with the question… how is it pronounced? Also, it’s kind of hilarious when some one says “mer… that’s French for sea or lake, your band name is lake lake?” Hahaha. My favorite though is just how well it rolls off the tongue: Lake Mar/E.
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
We are from the Western Face of the Rocky Mountains in North Utah. The scene is really pretty good. I think bands do well here, great turnouts… lots of band tees everywhere. People here are pretty sincere about their lives, and this lends to people really opening up, getting vulnerable with bands they are fans of… makes for great live shows.
What is your latest release?
We just released “Reanimatrix”, this past September, a song inspired by ‘on again, off again relationships’. It was the first time we’d worked with Kfir Gov of Evil Snail Studios for the mix, we’re thrilled with his work. Also, we’d previously worked with Maor Applebaum Mastering on Faded Gray, released in 2024, so we were definitely excited to put “Reanimatrix” in his hands again, which of course turned out great. We’re psyched to have our team built to help finish our LP, which would be a dream come true if we could release it in entirety in 2026.
Who have been your greatest influences?
As a band, we’re always talking about how excited we are about the latest music from Megadeth, Jerry Cantrell, and Between the Buried and Me. A big influence for me is Billy Gould and Jim Marin of Faith No More. Their song structures of Billy’s bassline holding the song and Jim’s playing over the top of it… I never get sick of listening to those late 80’s early 90’s songs by FNM.
What first got you into music?
My dad sitting me on the couch with a guitar teaching me the G, C, and D… it was fun being connected to him with the guitar. The next step was through middle school and high school learning how to piece Metallica songs together. I started playing guitar in my 8th grade band Blind Immersion… we played our end of year, last day of school concert, let me remember the setlist: Crazy Train, Enter Sandman, I hate Everything About You, and Paranoid, haha… a 4 song set of bangers, so fun. Wow, I haven’t thought about that in a long long time. I switched over to bass in High School because, well, as the story goes, there was a shortage of bass players… and it stuck. I’ve played bass ever since.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
Undoubtedly Page Hamilton, I really like the Helmet records… Meantime, Betty, all of them. Such a consistency in the sound. I think he’s a unique musician. I think my band has a unique sound. I would love to hear that collab: Lake Mar/E with special guest Page Hamilton. We focus so much on rhythm… that appears to be a world Page is very strong in. A Lake Mar/E song with co-writing credits by Page Hamilton… and to have him track rhythm guitars, even leads, you’d know right off the bat it had Page’s DNA in it, would be sick!
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Bloodstock Open Air! We are festival bound, hope to see you there one day.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Combat boots with bedazzled gems hot glued on… still wear them from time to time on stage.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
I’m a big believer in the world becoming a better place one person at a time with compassion, kindness, and just general decency… So from my soap box I say get out there, see and participate in live music, enjoy yourselves, help each other enjoy the experience… and just day to day be good to one another, look out for each other, care.
The music and art of Lake Mar/E should help take a person to another place, transcend the norm to experience something different, unique, if even for a moment.
So, maybe when blending these two things together… Lake Mar/E is caring about people, and helping improve lives and make the world a better place.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Bowie. I need to know more.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
Playing live. The funnest experiences of my life are seeing bands perform live, and being on the stage performing with my band live.
I’m generally ok with the business side of things… I perform most of our tour manager duties and handle a lot of our bookings. The thing that drives me up the wall most is when I don’t hear back from someone. Just tell me no, or buzz off… or whatever it is, but to go weeks without contact, when I think the positive news could be just around the corner, it sucks.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
My band strives every day to remove barriers… most shows we play are mixed genre, no genre if you ask us. It’s all art, music, entertainment… must I wear skinny jeans and a bullet belt? I will, just say so! Now I’m in a Metal band… yaaaaayyyy 😊
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
“Somewhere In Time”, Iron Maiden. It has my favorite song of all time ‘Wasted Years’ also it has one of the best bass melodies under beautiful guitar work of Adrian Smith and Steve Harris in ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’. I had the chance to see Maiden live last year in 2024 in Salt Lake City, perform these songs and it was really memorable, fun!
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
Vinyl sounds great. But you can’t play them in your car. I love a grip of CDs in my truck! I shop for CD’s while traveling. My biggest collection of physical media is CDs.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Our friend Greg Downs of Pale Horse Sound (Logan, UT) brought out a huge sound, light, and video system for a home show. The sound was amazing as was the packed house, the energy of the crowd was amazing!
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Writing, Reading, Guitaring, Biking, Skating, Cooking, Camping, Fishing, Hiking, Backpacking, Friending, YouTubing, Road Tripping.
I love combining those things together… I took a really fun backpacking trip into the Uintas this summer. I caught fish, wrote in my journal, camped, really an incredible trip.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Gary Busy, Herman Melville, William Gibson, Gerhard Richter, and my Grandma Bettie, she’s passed away, but she has such a great personality. I love her so much, miss her.
What’s next for the band?
We are mostly focused on preparing for our upcoming shows. We prioritize making each show better as we learn the lessons from the previous. We have 3 shows scheduled:
Dec 17 – Cobra Nashville (you guessed it: Nashville, TN)
Dec 19 – Growlers (Memphis, TN)
Dec 20 – The Shed DIY (Tuscumbia, AL)
We are also making some progress on the LP. We are struggling with how to make this a priority at the moment. But, we will hit it hard after our December shows!
There has also been semi-formal discussions of a video on the side. We have several great story boards at the moment.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
Facebook and YouTube are the socials we put most of our energy into. That said, take your pick https://linktr.ee/lak_e.mare
Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun, a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll or a Tea Cake?
Doughnut.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
We couldn’t be happier for our time together as a band and to be creating such energetic music. Hope to see everyone out there on the road and please, check us out… find us on all streaming platforms. Thank You!
Kris Bashaw/Bass Lake Mar/E
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