Bothering the Band - Macseal

by RYAN BUYNAK

Macseal is one of the most exciting bands to emerge from the vibrant, historically thriving Long Island, New York music scene in recent memory. Their unique ability to craft hook-laden earworms that also feature relatable lyrical narratives is uncanny (and before the pandemic) impressively matched by their electrifying live shows. We got to sit down at a Rainforest Cafe and bother the inspired drummer, Francesca Impastato, and the badass bassist, Justin Canavaciol of the ever-evolving indie-rock/emo-pop outfit.

What is something you are super enthusiastic about?

Frankie: I’m watching The Sopranos for the first time and I’m almost done, so I’m super enthusiastic about finishing it.

Justin: Especially during quarantine, I’ve been super enthusiastic about my favorite TV shows and just the shows that I am currently watching. My favorite show ever is Community and I’m currently watching The Sopranos for the first time, but I always find myself trying to bring TV shows up in conversations as it relates to, or reminds me of, something that occurs in my daily life. I do this a lot with TV, as shows are always comical or dramatic caricatures of daily routine. Their job is to make you forget about your own problems in reality and make you more concerned with the characters on screen, and if the show achieves that, if it elicits an emotion out of the viewer that they might not feel throughout their own day, it will capture and hold their attention long after the episode ends.

Would you rather have a pet seal or a MacBook Pro that lasts forever?

Frankie: MacBook Pro for sure. I’m not sure if my dog Basil would like having a seal around and having a MacBook would make recording so much easier.

Justin: I’m going to have to go with the practical answer and say the MacBook Pro that lasts forever. A pet seal would be cool for a little bit, but then I would feel bad for the seal, because it’s only one seal and it would probably get lonely.

If aliens abducted you and made you explain the smell of a well air conditioned room, how would you do it?

Frankie: I would say, “you know your alien friend ET? Well, he’s actually pretty famous here on Earth and he has this ride in Florida called “ET’s Adventure” which smells unreal when you’re on it. People have made the smell into candles, that’s how good it smells.”

Justin: I should admit, this for me was the hardest question to answer, and I don’t know why. But, after thinking about it for a while, and talking with friends and family, I have arrived at an answer. Assuming the aliens understood the English language, I would tell them it should smell like nothing. You should be able to walk in the room and smell absolutely nothing. The texture of the air may be heavier, the air could be dry, but it should smell like nothing. Standing in the room could feel like standing on the edge of a lake, at the base of a mountain on a nice spring day, it could feel like reaching nirvana, but it should, like I said before, smell like nothing.

Where is the weirdest place you’ve fallen asleep?

Frankie: I fell asleep in an IMAX theatre that was showing one of the newer Batman movies. It wasn’t my fault though because I had to sit in the front row and couldn’t see anything and I went to six flags earlier that day so I was beat.

Justin: You would think that since we are a touring band we would have fallen asleep in all these weird places, but the oddest place I have fallen asleep is on the floor right next to my own bed.

Have you ever gotten something stuck in your ear?

Frankie: I think I got the fuzzy end of a Q-Tip stuck in my ear a few months ago but I’m not sure; if I did it’s still up there.

Justin: Luckily, no.

If you had to pick one, what fast food chain would you get married in?

Frankie: Burger King is pretty fancy, so I’ll say Burger King. Plus, it’s the most vegetarian friendly now that Taco Bell got rid of potatoes.

Justin: White Castle. First of all, technically I’d be getting married in a castle, which would be awesome. Secondly, I know that on Valentine’s Day, White Castle becomes a sit down restaurant, and you have to call and make reservations for a table. I know this because my Dad surprised my mom one year by taking her to White Castle, and they ended up having a really good time. So I’m going to go with White Castle just because they seem to have it all together already.

What was the last live show you attended as a fan before the pandemic?

Frankie: I honestly think it was seeing the Jonas Brothers at TD Garden last July which is wild to think about. After July, I pretty much toured nonstop until the pandemic started, so I didn’t really have a lot of time to see other shows unfortunately. But the Jonas Brothers’ reunion tour was EPIC.

Justin: I think it was January 6th; I saw Motion City Soundtrack, The Sidekicks, and Pronoun at the Paramount on Long Island. Really good show. I was there to see every band, and it made me very excited for our upcoming tour with Chris Farren and Retirement Party.

American Eagle or Abercrombie & Fitch?

Frankie: American Eagle all the way! They have a really nice MLB line going on right now that has some cute Mets clothes, and their joggers are comfy and pretty cheap.

Justin: American Eagle. I am a big American Eagle fan. They have really good, reasonably priced jeans. Also, if you know me in real life, you know that I kind of stick to three brands of clothing: Adidas, Carhartt, and American Eagle.

What is the last super emo emotion you felt?

Frankie: A few days ago was the first cooler day of Autumn and I felt like I was waiting for the bus to pick me up from school again. I got real emo thinking about how this will be my third Autumn after graduating and how eventually there will be more Falls where I’m not going to school anymore than Falls where I was going to school. So, I was just getting a little bummed thinking about how one day probably soon I’ll start associating the changing seasons with something different.

Justin: Again, my mind immediately went to TV shows. The last time I felt emo, or emotional, was when I recently finished Bojack Horseman for the third time. The second to last episode in the series, “The View From Halfway Down”, sums up a lot of the characters feelings and emotions, and combined with the series as a whole coming to a close, it always takes me a day or two to get over it. This happens to me with most TV shows though, I will watch a show from beginning to end, attach myself and relate to certain characters emotionally, and when the show ends I have to work my way back to reality.

Do you believe in luck?

Frankie: Yes, definitely, but I mostly believe in good timing and the ability to manifest luck, if that makes sense. I think a great deal can be achieved via hard work, but at the end of the day, being in the right place at the right time can just be lucky as hell sometimes.

Justin: Absolutely. I define luck as a set of circumstances and actions, often uncontrolled, which then lead to an unforeseen outcome. I feel like the counter argument, not believing in luck, centers around the fact that people control their own actions and outcomes. So, for example, if a baseball player comes to the plate in a tie game and hits a home run, they’re not lucky for doing that, they obviously have the skill of being a baseball player and being confident in themselves to hit a home run in a stressful situation. However, if I walk down the street and find 20 dollars on the ground, then I consider it luck because so many little uncontrolled actions needed to happen for me to get there. So yes, I believe in luck.