Page 20 - Poze Magazine Volume 41

The Perfumers

About

The Perfumers are a four-piece indie pop band from Indiana made up of Jordan
Kortenber, Sayge Kortenber, Noah Campodonico, and Malakai Bisel. Like many
bands, The Perfumers have a long history of interchanging band members and
names. At its core, the band began with brother and sister, Jordan and Sayge
Kortenber. Jordan played guitar and sang, but could never find a drummer. He asked
Sayge to temporarily fill the spot, but she quickly grew to love the instrument--10
years later and they still play together. With the addition of other band members,
they toured the American Midwest with their alternative rock music.
In 2012, Malakai joined the band as a guitarist and vocalist after their bands
performed together. Under a variety of monikers, they continued making alternative

rock music. After some shake-ups in the band and losing a member, Jordan, Sayge
and Malakai remained. They agreed their music wasn’t reaching the people they
had hoped and took a step back. After a long debate, the band went on hiatus in
2018 to reevaluate their musical and personal goals. They used this time to focus on
their education and careers outside music.
In 2019, the band reformed, this time laying out clear and defined goals for the
band. They took inspiration from bands like The 1975, Harry Styles, and The Killers
and realized they could keep their rock roots and make pop music. They took it upon
themselves to study and analyze modern pop music. They sought to build songs

piece by piece, as opposed to writing them in more traditional ways. They began
with catchy guitar parts and thick harmonies, while still retaining some of their
residual alternative-grit from the past. Despite having performed at rockapolooza,
been on the radio, and performed on television, they were only able to play 2 shows
before COVID-19 halted everything. During the quarantine, they pivoted their music
once again. This time, they
leaned into electronic and
synth elements they were
adding to their songs.
While continuing to write

music with their newly
revitalized synth-pop
sound in mind, they were
also hard at work mixing
and mastering one of the
original three songs,
“Automatic Girl.”