Meet Magellan

Tell us about yourself and your music

My music is infinitely influenced by my life. I’m a trained pianist with a background in classical, jazz, and avant-garde, and I grew up listening to lots of folk music, baroque-pop, rock & roll, metal. You name it, my parents were spinning it. I took to strong melodies and interesting harmonic shifts; artists like Kate Bush and Harry Nilsson resonated with me deeply and still do. I love music that’s theatrical, earnest, or exploring the boundaries of form. Though I’m aware of my musical influences, I don’t try to fit into any particular genre with my work. I create it because I’m compelled to do so– the ghost of the light that moves me, all that–and the only songs I’m happy with are the ones that truly feel like organic manifestations of myself and my creative drive. If I had to box it in, I’d say it’s a bit folk, a bit pop, a bit experimental, but good art, as I hope mine could be called, is expansive, not reductive. It shifts and is malleable, and it captures a world within it.

Talk to us more about your latest release

My last EP, Clasped With Knuckles White The Backward Knives Of Loving Fools, started as a collection of recordings I didn’t know how to use. I decided to put them together into a release along with a couple of new songs I’d written, and the whole thing ended up being more cohesive than I expected. It’s a moody, murky, secretly intricate EP that tries to express the process of heartbreak and growth, darkness and light.

Any plans to hit the road?

I don’t play out often. I don’t own and can’t afford a keyboard of my own, so performances always depend on the kindness and trust of friends who lend me their gear. Financial stations don’t really allow me to consider a tour. But I’m used to working with what little I have, and the constraints are part of what I love about making and recording music. It forces me to be more imaginative than I’d need to be if I had access to high-quality keyboards and recording equipment.

As an indie artist, how do you brand yourself and your music to stand out from the rest of the artists out there?

I don’t concern myself with branding. I make music for the joy of that process, and I find that listeners respond to that joy. My art is different from other art for the sheer fact of being created by a wholly different set of experiences and perceptions; nobody else could do what I do. I couldn’t do what anyone else does. That’s enough for me.

Who have you been listening to lately?

This season I’ve had The Roches’ eponymous album practically on repeat! Their vocal arrangements and simple, poignant lyrics are to die for. Harry Nilsson, too. What a voice. I’ve also been revisiting Black Sabbath’s earlier albums, which are childhood favorites of mine.

Who are your biggest influences?

I’m obligated to mention Kate Bush. She’s the queen of freaky pop, unexpected key shifts, and experimental vocals. She always reminds me the voice doesn’t have to be strictly beautiful to be effective. Paul Simon was a big one for me growing up, too. A lot of classics like Grateful Dead, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan definitely helped shape my ideas about music and harmony. And of course, contemporary artists like Angel Olsen and Josh Tillman are big inspirations to me.

 

 

Thanks for an awesome interview, Magellan

 

 

Connect with Magellan

Website: http://magellanmusic.bandcamp.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/magellanmusic/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mmagellann/Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-18308803

Genres: Experimental

Source: ArtistPR Indie Artist Interview