We catch up with Brian Feary from Christchurch band Magic Eye.
First of all, introduce yourselves & your bandmates
I'm Brian Feary. Ben Odering's over there on bass. Mike Ellis bangs the drums.
Tell us the epic tale of your creation...
Me, Mike and our friend Jono got together for the RDU Roundup competition back in August last year. Jono moved to Tauranga to become a Marine Biologist so we got Ben, who is okay. Sort of.
Do you think Christchurch has been a stimulating place to make music?
It's as stimulating as anywhere really. Lately it's been cold and wet. Boredom's pretty stimulating. As far as the music 'scene' down here goes it's pretty good if a bit incestuous right now (every member of Magic Eye has at least one other band), but the fact that most of our friends are in local bands is probably a good part of why Magic Eye exists.
Describe the defining moments that made you want to make music…
Ben: "Seeing Gaywyre at Camp A Low Hum"
Mike: "That one time I played bass for Green Day"
Brian: "Not getting out much"
Apart from music, what else do you guys get up to?
Mike smashes joints a lot. Ben goes to school and is working on becoming a homeowner. Brian listens to an air conditioning unit all day, as well as second-hand Basshunter and Lady Gaga from the dude he sits next to at work.
What aisle would you slot into at your local record store?
The super spaced out spack pop with a middle eastern twist, aisle.
What artists have really got you excited lately?
I really like a lot of local stuff that is happening at the moment, T-54 in particular. god bows to math. No Aloha. Piha Rescue were cool last night. The Tally Ho! Magazine compilation that came out a couple of months ago had some amazing tracks on it. Lately I've been listening to Krautrock bands like Neu! and Can, and last Sunday I drove to the West Coast listening to Public Image Limited's Metal Box on repeat. Today I’ve been listening to the Gordons.
Describe the collaboration/writing process….
I usually come up with the main idea and lyrics for songs, and Ben and Mike flesh it out as loudly as possible.
Dream collaboration?
Phil Selway from Radiohead on drums, Michael Rother from Neu! on guitar or whatever he does, David Kilgour on vocal duties and the dude that plays bass in the Seinfeld theme slappin' it like there's no tomorrow. Actually that would probably sound pretty crap.
What's the best thing about making music?
Smashing Joints & Smashing Pussy.
What gets you down about being in the music industry?
Sometimes Smashing All Those Joints & Smashing All That Pussy gets a bit tiring.
Craziest on-stage antics experienced thus far?
I break lots of strings so play feedback at the end of songs, that shit gets pretty wild.
Best concert you've ever been to?
Pixies in at Vector Arena in Auckland was pretty mindblowing, but Camp A Low Hum never fails to deliver. Mike's still pretty stoked about playing at that Green Day concert that time. Ben reckons a show he saw with The Shocking Pinks and Thought Creature last year while he was tripping was pretty "sick".
Who would you be willing to commit a serious offence for a chance to see live?
I'd happily hijack a jumbo jet to see Radiohead. They have some shitty environmental policy that means they'll probably not play in NZ again. Nirvana circa 1992 would be cool if I could steal someone’s time machine.
Name someone who's really overrated in music…
We’d rather not mention their name but they’ve got a hit song out and their guitarist is a bit of a hot head. They’re annoyingly ironic too, generally they wear clothes and they’re not really that well known.
And someone who's criminally underrated?
Mestar. They're on Arch Hill. Check them out if you get the chance.
The state of NZ music is:
Pretty good as far as independent music is concerned and I’m feeling pretty optimistic about the future. There’s lots of cool bands around at the moment. That said, commercial music in NZ is rubbish and always will be until the 60-year-old businessmen who run the major labels/NZOA/etc retire or go bankrupt. Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later.
If I wasn't doing this, I'd be:
Terraforming Mars.
What's next for Magic Eye?
Mike got a nice job, rejoined No Aloha and moved up to Wellington about a month ago, so me and Ben are stuck down here in Chch without a drummer right now so are effectively a two-piece. We've been focussing on demoing new songs but occasionally play shows with a fill-in drummer or when Mike's down.
We might release some recordings in the next few months, we’ll just have to see how things pan out.
This Thursday 29th July we're playing at Mighty Mighty with Sleepy Age and Mammal Airlines - if you're in Wellington be sure to come along!
