Carlos A Machado and Madeline Herdeman met back in 2012 in Houston Texas at an open mic session, where Carlos was testing out new material, and Maddy was performing with a friend – “as a lark”. Carlos was instantly taken by her incredible cello skills, and approached her with the aim to collaborate on original music. Soon they bonded over their deeply felt ideas about human struggle, safety, worth, and equality – and chamber rock duo Mystery Loves Company was born.
Maddy and Carlos come from vastly different backgrounds, with Maddy a conservatory-trained cellist, and Carlos a self-taught songwriter from Venezuela who with his family moved to the US after his father escaped with his life during a carjacking.
The duo are set to release ‘Revolutions’, a 3 song EP which is an extension of their socially conscious work. Lead track, ‘If Heaven’, has so far elicited a fantastic response, Carlos says:
“People from vastly different religious and non-religious backgrounds have told us we are capturing ‘exactly how they feel.’
“We are living in a time where human emotion is being mobilised and we are responding to this movement through song.”
‘If Heaven’ was inspired by the pair’s respective experiences of Sunday school – both had interesting experiences of Sunday School and came away terrified with the idea that being good meant they’d be sent to a place in the sky forever. In speaking of the lyrics, the duo say,
“Some listeners have wondered if this is an anti-heaven song, which is an interesting concept in itself because it shows how we sometimes approach our spirituality as a pro or con proposition.”
