Sunburnt Country Music

Mak & Shar are brothers from Mudgee in New South Wales who released their debut single together in 2022 – but this was far from their first release as they were members of the band Brothers3 and as such played 12 Tamworth Country Music Festivals and appeared on X Factor in 2016. They released the single ‘Leap of Faith’ earlier this year and now have a new single, ‘Best Thing’ (watch the music video here).

During our recent interview the brothers talked about their writing and recording process – in which Mak takes the production lead and Shar the writing – and their easy collaborative dynamic was clear. They have been passionate about music since childhood and have not only maintained it but found new ways to create music together through this duo.

You can watch our chat on YouTube (below), watch a snippet (also below) or listen on the podcast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Shownotes can be found at the bottom of the page if that’s your thing.

https://www.makandshar.com | Listen to ‘Best Thing’ on Apple Music

Jayne Denham and her dynamite Moonshine

Shownotes

Introduction

– Mak and Shar are brothers and musical duo originally from Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia

– They were previously part of the band Brothers Three and appeared on The X Factor Australia in 2016

– Since then they have since released the singles ‘Highway’ and ‘Leap of Faith’ in 2022

– Mak & Shar have now released the single ‘Best Thing’

Writing and Recording ‘Best Thing’

– The brothers collaboratively wrote the song in their home studio in Mudgee  

– Mak came up with the main guitar riff and Shar wrote the chorus

– They built up the song bit-by-bit into its final form

– Shar tends to write most of the lyrics while Mak focuses more on production

– They provide each other helpful criticism and trust one another’s musical opinions

Early Musical Background

– They have made music together since childhood  

– Both formally trained by singing in a choir

– Later studied music further at university

– Emphasise the importance of their early music education in developing vocal harmony skills

Complete Artistic Control

– Have self-produced all their own material from past to present

– Take pride in overseeing all aspects of their music – songwriting, recording, mastering

Future Plans  

– Have several other already recorded songs planned for future release

– Goal is to release a full-length album rather than just occasional singles   

Live Performance

– Enjoy performing live most and connecting intimately with audiences

– Find it fun to playfully try to trip each other up on stage