Jason Magicks
He's mysterious like the haunting whisper of the wind softly blowing against your ear while excitedly pumping an eclectic rhythmic sounds of hip hop, percussions and more amongst his church followers at his "magick" shows. Hey, blogspot readers, come meet the man and artist behind the persona Magicks - Jason Magicks. Recently, SouthSide was lucky enough to be granted intimate access with this local artist behind the sacred counter of Record Breakers (located upstairs inside Reggie's Music Joint) where she learned more about what's it like being dubbed the High Minister of the Church of What's Happening Now, his appreciation for The Beatles and role model - his father, what turns on the "magick" within his music and much more. Be prepared to be dazzled and amazed by his slight of trickery as this reviewer opens you to his world of Magicks.
After being honored with the privilege of sitting behind the sacred counter of Record Breakers, SouthSide opened by asking Jason to describe himself in five words or less to which she not stumped him but he had to sit and write the words down to envision as he sees himself. In the end, he chose the following words, blogspot readers: "...imbalanced ...obsessed ...passionate ...out-spoken ...reclusive..." Now, you may be wondering why Jason would use such words to describe himself. "...I don't [like] dealing with people who aren't passionate [especially] the more time I spend with them..." also adding "...I'm learning more about myself..." He stated that his songwriting process helps him thing about his experiences to which he draws from them and it's a well-thought out process as he puts together an album. "...all songs are personal..." to him, blogspot readers, so don't expect him to do a rush job by slapping together songs or tracks. Each song/track, according this artist, has a special meaning that connects him to the sender of the music that he bestows to his followers. When asking him about being the High Minister of the Church of What's Happening Now, Jason gave credit to the publicist in New York for writing his Magicks bio and it seems that gospel of Magick has been spreading because he has seen his symbols at other venues and place around town. According to the artist, "...it's a strange scene..." now that he's witnessing the revival of the underground "cult fever" and its presence is even making waves within the pop/rock scene too. And Chicago isn't immune from this "fever" either, blogspot readers. Jason feels he has started the return of the goth scene but not to its original dark and dreary scene that SouthSide grew up to back in the 80s. This goth revival "...it's more spiritual now than before..." says Jason, "...people are looking for something to connect..." Believe it or not, this is not only effecting the music but the fashion as well to where the original goth fashion is toned down and brought out of its dark moodiness for a bit of color.
So how does one who's the High Minister of the Church of What's Happening Now gain new followers to join his "magick" movement? Well, don't this minister to use the usually tactics of handing out flyers or posting posters around town, blogspot readers. No ...Jason goes for the unusual route with offbeat marking techniques to attract the curiosity in people to come talk to him. For example, he walked around Pitchfork carrying a box that read "Free Kittens" which seemed to work because people were curious and approached him about the "free kittens" to end up learning more about him, his music and upcoming shows. "...personally I would like to say my music is good [but] rather would do something different..." to attract people to me also adding "...most [people] are desensitized to that [ie posters and flyers] ...I watch what people are doing to know what not to do ...there are other options out there ...ways of getting people to come to your shows..." Jason likes it better when curious people come talk to him instead of him going to them. Now, blogspot readers, SouthSide would like to add a special interesting note about this interview. Throughout the time she was chatting with Jason Magicks, the phone keep ringing in between questions and or anwers of people callling for food orders. There were some hungry people out there not wanting to venture outside on the slippery pavement that Jason suggested Reggie's start delivering but with sexy barechested delivery guys. What a way to not only spice up food revenues but an "out of the box" type of venue promotion as well.
So what makes Magicks music pop? You need to check out Jason influences, blogspot readers, from where he draws some magickal inspiration like Nine Inch Nails (his favorite group), My Bloody Valentine (for the band's sound texture and influence) and 90s Hip Hop as well as other rhythms and percussions. Yet, he also an eclectic and appreciation for other genres and music groups for example like TLC that he will listen to for a couple of hours if writing a track with some 90s rhythms in it. His appreciation for The Beatles stems from his father because, according to Jason, it's his dad's favorite band and he (Jason) likes their pop structure. SouthSide and Jason spent a good deal of time appreciating how The Beatles created a wide range of music that may have seemed meshed together or incohesive but magically made it sound very listenable especially when they got very psychedelic. That's when music changed and music history was made because it laid the ground work for other bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and others after them to start experimenting with sounds, texture and rhythms. SouthSide then asked him what he has heard from others about his music and he replied stating some have compared him to MGMT while others have found him to be Animal Collective-ish (from their early years when the music was a little "weird" and sounds were slapped together) sometimes. And sometimes he has fooled people into thinking it's his music playing when they enter Record Breakers. Sadly, it's not but for the moment, he'll take the credit. Jason does have a goal in which he shares with every local/indie artist - to make money with his Magicks persona. He can see himself on the Billboard Top 40 making revenue but still remain independent. "...there are ways of marketing yourself compared to how it was done 10 to 20 years ago ...[you have] YouTube, iTunes, Facebook, etc ...you can connect with others around the world..."
But there's one personal reason why Jason wants to make a profit off his persona, blgospot readers. He wants to buy his father a house. This artist shared how his father raised him and his two brothers on his own after the death of his mother teaching his sons important values like being self-reliant. "...he's a really good father ...learned a lot from him..." that Jason now see how he was raised has an impact on him and would like to pay him back for all that his father did for him. Recently, this artist began looking into and researching information about licensing and ASCAP (which he never thought of doing before) while mentioning that (record) labels are also learning and researching more about indie/local music and how to tap into the indie music market. Plus he noted that independent artists are learning how to take more creative and originiality control of their music when under a label. Jason did mention to SouthSide that his next album will be centered around nature yet cautioned it would be for people ...but centered on the theme of oneness to whatever we believe in or connect to. "...I believe there are energies ...forces that drive and inspire us..." stating that he's simply the receiver of the message coming from something around him. He said "...imagine a star busting in the key of G or F millions of years ago..." and it's brought to life today, blogspot readers. Perhaps (and it could be a possiblity) that Bach's compositions were thought of and/or written by someone else a thousand of years ago. "...can't say you created the melody when it was probably created or heard before you penned it to paper..." to paraphrase Jason. In the meantime, Jason highly suggests listening to his current release Solstice Lullaby, a follow up to his Equinox but he may or not do tracks about the summer solstice and spring equinox since he's not really into doing what's typical.
Like all good things, the interview had to come an end, blogspot readers, but not before leaving SouthSide with his final thoughts: "...I thought I could do this entitrely on my own ...I can't ...I need people to want it as much as I do ...it could be as small as sharing [my] music with your friends ...expose it if you like ...it only takes three seconds to share on Facebook..." He's not asking for donations since he knows everyone is broke but all he's asking for is a little love for his magick music. Also, Jason would like to add that he has started a live video series where he has bands performing behind the Record Breakers counter. You can find the action and fun here at http://www.youtube.com/breakerrecordsvideos.
For more information about this artist, visit Magicks at http://www.magick.bandcamp.com or http://www.facebook.com/magicks.
Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide
So what makes Magicks music pop? You need to check out Jason influences, blogspot readers, from where he draws some magickal inspiration like Nine Inch Nails (his favorite group), My Bloody Valentine (for the band's sound texture and influence) and 90s Hip Hop as well as other rhythms and percussions. Yet, he also an eclectic and appreciation for other genres and music groups for example like TLC that he will listen to for a couple of hours if writing a track with some 90s rhythms in it. His appreciation for The Beatles stems from his father because, according to Jason, it's his dad's favorite band and he (Jason) likes their pop structure. SouthSide and Jason spent a good deal of time appreciating how The Beatles created a wide range of music that may have seemed meshed together or incohesive but magically made it sound very listenable especially when they got very psychedelic. That's when music changed and music history was made because it laid the ground work for other bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and others after them to start experimenting with sounds, texture and rhythms. SouthSide then asked him what he has heard from others about his music and he replied stating some have compared him to MGMT while others have found him to be Animal Collective-ish (from their early years when the music was a little "weird" and sounds were slapped together) sometimes. And sometimes he has fooled people into thinking it's his music playing when they enter Record Breakers. Sadly, it's not but for the moment, he'll take the credit. Jason does have a goal in which he shares with every local/indie artist - to make money with his Magicks persona. He can see himself on the Billboard Top 40 making revenue but still remain independent. "...there are ways of marketing yourself compared to how it was done 10 to 20 years ago ...[you have] YouTube, iTunes, Facebook, etc ...you can connect with others around the world..."
But there's one personal reason why Jason wants to make a profit off his persona, blgospot readers. He wants to buy his father a house. This artist shared how his father raised him and his two brothers on his own after the death of his mother teaching his sons important values like being self-reliant. "...he's a really good father ...learned a lot from him..." that Jason now see how he was raised has an impact on him and would like to pay him back for all that his father did for him. Recently, this artist began looking into and researching information about licensing and ASCAP (which he never thought of doing before) while mentioning that (record) labels are also learning and researching more about indie/local music and how to tap into the indie music market. Plus he noted that independent artists are learning how to take more creative and originiality control of their music when under a label. Jason did mention to SouthSide that his next album will be centered around nature yet cautioned it would be for people ...but centered on the theme of oneness to whatever we believe in or connect to. "...I believe there are energies ...forces that drive and inspire us..." stating that he's simply the receiver of the message coming from something around him. He said "...imagine a star busting in the key of G or F millions of years ago..." and it's brought to life today, blogspot readers. Perhaps (and it could be a possiblity) that Bach's compositions were thought of and/or written by someone else a thousand of years ago. "...can't say you created the melody when it was probably created or heard before you penned it to paper..." to paraphrase Jason. In the meantime, Jason highly suggests listening to his current release Solstice Lullaby, a follow up to his Equinox but he may or not do tracks about the summer solstice and spring equinox since he's not really into doing what's typical.
Like all good things, the interview had to come an end, blogspot readers, but not before leaving SouthSide with his final thoughts: "...I thought I could do this entitrely on my own ...I can't ...I need people to want it as much as I do ...it could be as small as sharing [my] music with your friends ...expose it if you like ...it only takes three seconds to share on Facebook..." He's not asking for donations since he knows everyone is broke but all he's asking for is a little love for his magick music. Also, Jason would like to add that he has started a live video series where he has bands performing behind the Record Breakers counter. You can find the action and fun here at http://www.youtube.com/breakerrecordsvideos.
For more information about this artist, visit Magicks at http://www.magick.bandcamp.com or http://www.facebook.com/magicks.
Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide
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