Magic Man… + a little surprise

We had a silly chat with Magic Man’s Sam Lee about their sound, dream collaborations and found out which Fifth Harmony song was his favorite! Check out the hilarious interview below. 

Be sure to read to the bottom for a surprise! 

Who is Magic Man?
Sam Lee: Five professional burrito inspectors bumming around the country, occasionally playing songs and flailing around on stage.

How did you form?
SL: Alex and I started writing the first Magic Man songs the summer after our freshman year of college. Originally it was just the two of us, but we put together a full band because we weren’t loud enough with only two people.

What’s your writing process like? Has it different between the EP and the albums?
SL: Usually consists of varying combinations of the following: Netflix binge, aimless guitar noodling, manic bursts of productivity, humming gibberish lyrics, late nights on headphones. Alex and I wrote and recorded the majority of our album and EP this way, trapped in what our manager called the “sweat shop” aka our home studio, then we finished everything with producer Alex Aldi in New York. A lot of long days and late nights but we had a blast and couldn’t be happier with the final product.

Who are some of your influences? Could be musical or otherwise.
SL: I started making the instrumental demos that became the very first Magic Man songs late one night after coming home from an Animal Collective show in Paris — at the time, I just wanted to be them, but that quickly failed. When we were in high school, we were listening to a lot of Killers, Coldplay, Arcade Fire, the Postal Service, so a lot of that rubbed off onto our collective musical sensibilities. 

How would you describe your sound?
SL: Someone once called us “Glo-fi,” which might not be that accurate but sounds pretty cool.

You performed on Late Night w/ Seth Meyers– How was that?!
SL: Cold and terrifying but also AMAZING. Seth is a great dude and actually told a story about one of my relatives in his monologue at the beginning of the show.

Dream collab?
SL: I always say Kanye, but now I’ll say Beck just to stick it to him.

Outside of music, what are your other interests?
SL: Typography, dark TV shows, good young adult literature, products with lifetime warranties.

If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing?
SL: Dreaming about being in a band while at my graphic design day job.

If you had to build your own festival, who would be headlining?
SL: Ok Go performing all of their music videos live. Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Bruce Springsteen. Taylor Swift. Magic Man would attend but wouldn’t perform, we’d just ride around on golf carts.

If you had the celebrity “power” of Kanye West, what would your ultimate rider be?
SL: No one man should have all that power. (Sorry.)

First album ever purchased?
SL: Dookie by Green Day.

See also

INTERVIEWS

Alyssa Jirrels

Favorite song as a child?
SL: “Con Te Partiro” by Andrea Bocelli. Still a HUGE jam.

Current favorite song?
SL: “BO$$” by Fifth Harmony. Killer song.

Of the band, who is most likely to get arrested?
SL: That reminds me, I haven’t heard from Joey in a while…

What’s your go-to drink?
SL: Sodastream 4eva.

Lastly, what as your last Google search?
SL: “John Mayer pink jackson guitar” on my phone during the Grammys.

SURPRISE! We are giving away TWO tickets to see Magic Man on their Spring tour! All you have to do is follow us on Twitter and RT this tweet! 

The winner will be announced on March 1st.