“Motion and Picture,” the debut album by Chicago indie rock band Miirrors released in late March, was a work-in-progress for many years — 22 years to be exact. Yet, for band leaders Brian McSweeney and Shawn Rios, the decades spent collaborating and perfecting their sound — as well as the forced social isolation of the pandemic — was well worth it creatively.
The two met rather serendipitously. Strangers at the time, Rios and McSweeney sat near each other on the same plane headed to Atlanta 22 years ago. While on their flight’s descent, McSweeney, who was listening to music on a Sony Discman, shared a Sigur Rós song with Rios. He said, “‘Hey man, listen to this.’ And that was literally the first thing he ever said to me. And I did,” Rios recalled. He did listen that day, and after exchanging information, the two kept in touch throughout the years — whether in line at shows or through the city’s eclectic music scene — until McSweeney moved back to Chicago in 2014.
“I always wanted to be in a band with him. I always wanted to do something with him, but the timing was never right,” said Rios. As their friendship grew over time (and after the two eventually left their respective previous bands), their time making music together became a reality.
McSweeney recalled their first get-together, a pseudo rehearsal. Without an agenda in mind, the two found room to experiment and trust their instincts, producing something unique. Described as “unique and special,” those same sonic elements would become the foundation for the signature Miirrors sound.
“We didn’t know what to do with it, we didn’t know who to do it with, we didn’t know what to call it, but we were really excited about the stuff that was on our phones. And it grew from there,” said Rios.
Many of those initial ideas can be heard on their debut album, “Motion and Picture” which dropped on March 24 on Pravda Records. The 10-track record, clocking in at a little over 40 minutes, is a strong introduction to Miirrors’s math-y, energetic sound.
“I’m proud that we hung on that long, that those songs were that good, that they didn’t get lost in demo purgatory, that they actually had a life to them that we still believe in today. That’s fun,” Rios added.
Working together, the two crafted the bulk of the work on the album’s songs, from percussion and chords to vocal melodies. Later, as they added more band members and collaborators (Dmitri Rakhuba, Andre Miller and Patrick Riley) to Miirrors, their music became richer, more textured and complex.
This can be heard on some of the record’s earliest singles, like the track “Where Do We Go?” Released last month, “Where Do We Go?” is a dynamic, propulsive song gradually building with new layers of synth, percussion and sonic dissonance. According to Rios, this sound was intentional.
“You know, without sounding pretentious, I think that we’ve sort of dismissed your verse-chorus, verse-chorus formula,” Rios noted. “I think that we are really into textures, meeting repetition, meeting something that sort of opens the envelope along the way.”
They do this now by writing and creating all in the same room together. One person or the group will come up with a part, then others ask what they can do to make it more interesting. How can they create a greater emotional impact? How can they embrace less traditional lyrical and instrumental structures in their music?
“I think there’s freedom in that. We’re not really considering that right now. Maybe that will change down the road; maybe we’ll make a whole record of 3-minute bangers. That could happen. That could be really fun. Maybe that’s a challenge in itself. I don’t know,” Rios claimed. “But I like where it’s at right now.”
8 p.m. April 8 at the Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia Ave.; tickets are $12-$15, 21+ at hideoutchicago.com
Britt Julious is a freelance critic.