Magic Island
For the release of her new track „Bury me alive“ we’ve talked to @magicisland. In this very honest interview she tells us about the autonomy and freedom of living and creating in Berlin, where her creative alias comes from and about feeling useless during the pandemic. We love her new track – and her blunt truth that lies within her music and her candid soul.
Berlin - people love it, hype it or hate it. What does the city do for you and your creative process?
The freedom here is unparalleled to anywhere else I have lived in the world. Time and space seem to exist in their own context specific to the city. This makes it easy to create work, because you can exist as an individual and not be suffocated by the system. Rules here seem to make sense to me, and rules are not created JUST to oppress the people out of fear. I feel like people are given the autonomy to make their own decisions and lifestyle choices. This is just my opinion, others are entitled to their own.
Speaking growth: When you compare your early compositions from 2016 and your current drops now in 2021 - what kind of personal and musical development lies beneath it?
I guess a lot of personal growth. For this album I worked with a producer for the first time, Phong @phong.anh.h . I wanted this album to be a step out of the DIY / bedroom pop realm so thought it was time to collaborate with someone, and he makes SICK beats. We met one night when a rapper I know, @corssen_2030 asked me to do some vocals on one of his tracks. Phong was producing the beats and we went down to his studio on Weichselstrasse. There was a big crew there hanging out (shoutout to another brudi @yunggiani, but Phong and I had a special connection and right away found out we had similar inspirations, musical tastes, and interests in production. So the shoe fit perfectly and we moved forward with what became 'So Wrong'.
Tell us more about what inspired you for your new album 'So Wrong' and the track 'Bury Me Alive'. Where do you get your inspiration from these (Covid-19) days?
I'm actually having trouble to find inspiration these days. I haven't been writing much. I'm feeling pretty hopeless and useless. Waiting around, sleeping a lot. I think everyone is suffering right now in their own ways. But thankfully we've been working on the album's visual campaign for the last 6 months so doing music videos and creative projects that have at least been stimulating and kept me distracted. The album is inspired by personal experiences (as usual with my work), and So Wrong particularly was really inspired by Berlin as a city and the neighborhood where I have lived for 10 years, Neukölln, its rich textures and my experiences here. Instead of doing a classic 'tour' as usually expected when the album comes out, we will do virtual 'tour' that showcases unique collaborations with Berlin artists, all inspired by the music. Each track will have a location attached to it, where the track was conceived. An artist will then create a work either inspired by the track and a QR Code at that location will link to the piece.
If you had to describe your music to an old man in an retirement home, what five words would you use to translate the mood?
Soft kiss on heartbroken chest. The partner for your pain. You can pick which of these closer relates.
Tell us the story behind your artist alias magic island.
Magic Island comes from a few places. When I first moved to Berlin my room consisted of only a mattress on the middle of the floor, I called this my 'island' because everything happened there.. recording early demos, dinners with friends, love encounters, you get it . Then I moved into my current apartment, the ground floor hosted an old Kneipe called Zauber Insel, meaning Magic Island in German. Me and my friends would go there for cheap drinks and fell in love with the place. They had fake palm trees and tropical plants and was designed kind of like a wood hut you would find on a beach. The owners were an older Berlin couple and they took me in as if an adopted child. They had a pretty legit sound set up there and we started doing DIY shows there within the indie/pop community. The kneipe crowd also loved the music and we developed a special relationship with the locals from around the neighborhood, mixing these worlds that otherwise might not have collided. Around the music. Some beautiful friendships and exchanges.
Getting sensual: You often sing about love, feelings and sex - is there still such a thing as romanticism in our generation?
Unfortunately, I think that social media, dating apps and internet culture have disconnected people from romanticism. We are more used to behaviourisms like ghosting, 'fuckboi' behaviour, etc etc. - that have somehow become acceptable. We've normalised these behaviours and somehow normalised disrespecting people and being unreliable, which is pretty sad if you ask me. In general, I wonder, when did we stop caring about each other?
The future is ... (please finish the sentence)
A mystery … ride or die <3.
interview FRANCIS SALVATOR
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