Here We Go Magic

The debut Here We Go Magic album is reminiscent of a more haunted Eno-era Talking Heads. But Luke Temple recorded it all but entirely by himself using instruments and the technology at hand mixed with a heap of creative flair in the songwriting. When Temple wrote the album, it had the name already and when he decided to take the show on the road, he named the band after his collection of songs and assembled a group of musicians who could not only execute Temple’s idiosyncratic sounds but take the songs further. Touring in advance of the band’s new album, Pigeons, Here We Go Magic is bringing its uniquely eclectic sound to a wider range of audiences while travelling with the like-minded experimental pop band, White Rabbits. We had a chat with Temple while he was on tour and learned about the recording of the first Here We Go Magic album and the role of fate in bringing the band together.

Why did you decide to tour with a full band behind Here We Go Magic and did the band have any songwriting input for your upcoming album, Pigeons?

For the last record I wanted to go on tour with a band. I’m the principal songwriter and everyone has a lot to do with the arrangements. It’s a band in that way. The first album was me except for the last track. The rest of the record is just me.

How has the songwriting changed from the first record to Pigeons?

Sonically? It’s a bit clearer and there has been more attention paid to detail in terms of production. It still [has] a kind of 70s lo fi vibe to it. It’s different by virtue of having a full band including a bass and drums and all of that combined with the collaborative effort makes for a larger sound. The first record was very personal sounding. I have a prediction, a lot of people who are very attached to the lo fi aesthetic may consider this new record over produced. But if you let it be what it is, it’s a strong record on its own.

When you recorded that first record on four-track, what kind of set-up did you use?

I had a Tascam 424, an SM-57 mic and I just went into the 4-track with it. And I just used mic trees into the four-track. I had a little Juno 1, a sort of cheaper, more consumer-friendly version of a Juno. I had a tom and some percussive stuff. I have a piano in my place. Recording on the four-track, I would take the tracks and mix them down to one track and then I continued looping that way and I didn’t leave a lot of clarity with the sound because re-recording to tape depreciates the quality.

What sort of supernatural occurrences brought you together with one or more of your bandmates?

It was just kind of a “right place right time” in terms of how we all met. Specifically Jen Turner, our bass player. She had seen us play our first show with our original bass player. She wasn’t really working out. Jen would come to our shows and talk to us afterward. We eventually decided to let go of the other bass player. We didn’t really know what we were going to do. I went to a party that night and Jen was there and she asked, “Do you ever want to jam or do you want a new bass player. I would love to audition.” And we were like, “Well, funny enough, we need one tomorrow.” So she came in the next day and the second she started playing it was clear the band had become fully formed.

Was that first Here We Go Magic release inspired in any way by the Talking Heads’ work with Brian Eno?

Yeah, that’s in there. I like that music a lot. I’d been listening to Music For Film a lot before recording that so that’s probably in there. As for Talking Heads, I wasn’t listening to them specifically at that moment but I had in the past a lot. I don’t try to reference anything literally, I let it be there and if it pops up or pokes itself out naturally, that’s fine. Sometimes I’ll think, “Oh! That’s when I was listening to John Fahey!” or something years ago and I can hear that and it’s interesting when that happens.

How did you end up painting murals in New York for a living and do you still do that sort of painting today?

LI paint and draw for fun. I designed our record cover. I went to art school and I specialized in figurative realism so that was kind of my bag. When I moved to New York I did it to supplement myself by getting into painting in some capacity. I only did it for a very short while. I painted plaster – Venetian plaster. It’s marble-like plaster that rich people pay a lot of money for.

What has been your most interesting experience on tour so far?

So much of it is so mundane. I think last year going to Paris was pretty exciting. If we were a bunch of drug addicts we’d have more interesting stories but we all try to get good sleep and exercise and eat our vegetables. We’re not a young band and we’re not in our early 20s.