In 2005 The Magic Numbers seemed to tick every box a new band could hope to following the release of their self titled debut album; widespread critical praise, a dedicated fan base and reputation as an alluring live attraction following a string of rousing concert and festival appearances. Now preparing to release their second album ‘Those The Brokes’ on the waiting world, Fused managed to grab a few minutes with Angela, Percussionist and vocalist for The Magic Numbers.
How have the last few months been for the band recording the new album?
Its been really good but the whole time has been concentrated solely on getting the album finished. We’ve been in our own little world for a little while, which is good, but its nice to come back to the real world.
‘Take a Chance’ is the first single off the new album ‘Those the Brokes‘. Out of the tracks recorded for the album what made the band go for that song in particular?
I think when we first heard the song we all thought ‘that’s definitely a single’ and we all thought it was really catchy and really loved it.
Did you feel added pressure to record the new songs in such a short time span because of the success of the debut album?
I don’t think it was really that, I think it was more a case of whether we were going to be happy with the new songs. We had played all the songs on the last album so many times before the album was released. This time round it’s a lot different because we’ve played some of the songs but a lot of them we hadn’t even sang yet. It was a case of getting our heads around how we wanted them to sound and learning them at the same time. It was definitely a different process to recording the first album.
Is it a strange experience to start playing new songs after playing the same tracks over and over again?
In the studio it’s actually a lot of fun. All the doors are open to be creative and there’s no set thing. When we first started playing the songs it was like anything goes, everyone’s really free to do what they feel is necessary for the song.
The band has become renowned for their performances on the live circuit especially at the festivals. Does this have an impact when you’re writing the new songs? Do you select songs that are going to sound strongest live?
I don’t think that was in the back of our minds. I guess over the last two years though we’ve begun to play a little bit harder, which has possibly come out on the new album. We love to have fun when we play live so any song that we play in the studio that we have fun with we definitely think we’re going to put on the album. New tracks like ‘All I See’ we love to play. We love to play slow ones and I think the fact that we go down quite well at festivals probably gives off the idea we’re quite upbeat when a lot of the time we’re not. But we do love playing to loads of people and getting the crowd going is something we really enjoy. We don’t mind having that little tag.
The band supported The Flaming Lips on tour in America. What was that experience like for you?
I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a tour as much as that one. Every night we’d watch them from the side of the stage and it made me so happy. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a band before that felt so free in the way they play and the message they put across. It’s just amazing. They are such lovely, lovely people. Wayne [The Lips front man] puts so much into every show from the minute he gets up during the day, setting up the stage, blowing up balloons, getting the confetti canons ready. To think he’s still that humble, he’s such a great, great front man.
So who are The Magic Numbers inspirations? Are there any current bands that the band try and aspire to better?
I think we probably go back to the old kind of music - artists such as Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan has got such a great back catalogue that you always think ‘God I wish I could write a song like that or I wish I was around when that song was made’. There’s so much music out there that it’s hard to say just one person, there are just so many songs. It’s good to be part of something that you really believe, like playing in this band. On every single song, on every note played we totally believe on what we are putting out.
So a new album is soon to be released and an upcoming UK tour, what are the goals of The Magic Numbers going into 2007?
I guess just to carry on winning over fans and playing as much as possible because I think that’s when we’re most happy, on the road, playing good gigs. That’s what you get into a band for. We did a couple of shows in New York in August and they were tiny back to back shows and I read a couple of reviews of them and thought ‘yeah that’s exactly how I felt, that person in the audience got it straight away’, which is what, for however long, we want to keep on doing; to make everyone feel the same way.
Words: Gerrard Hartland