Magic Dirt - Unleashing The Beasts

After taking a year off to recover from burn out, Magic Dirt is back with not one but two killer albums. Roky’s Room is 11 tracks of intense screaming and manic guitar. It’s noise at it’s greatest and certainly isn’t for the faint hearted. Beast is the accompanying mini album composed of seven roar, dark and grungy Magic Dirt tracks. It’s said to be the more adjusted of the two releases, but if the truth be known, they’ll both take you to places you’ve never been before.

The Dwarf sat down with vocalist and guitarist Adalita Srsen and found out a little bit more about the new albums and how the band knew when it was the perfect time to release them.

Srsen explained after releasing and touring on the back of Snow White, the band took a year off to regain their sanity and momentum, and it seems to have worked a treat. Magic Dirt gathered their ideas and inspirations and headed into Birdland studios to more or less experiment with an odd bunch of noise. Presumably, it was a risk only the more established bands could take, but it undoubtedly paid off.

“We took a year off last year. We were really tired, a little bit burnt out from touring. So we took ourselves off the road and during that time we just wrote a lot and had this mountain of material and just decided let’s get something out.”

The band was able to separate the piles and piles of songs into two categories. One was a more experimental brand of noise and the other was a bit more tuneful. Slightly closer to what you might have come to expect from a Magic Dirt release over the years.

“There were a bunch of songs that had a similar mood, very flat out rock ‘n’ roll, quite dark and we wanted to put them all together on one release. We had about seven songs that ended up on the mini album and it’s called Beast so you know, it wraps it up…what the songs are kind of on about. Then Dean…out of the blue…said do you want to come in and make some noise at Birdland studios? And we said ok, cool because we kind of didn’t know if it was going to work or if it was going to happen or what it was all about. Dean just had this idea that was based loosely around Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music.”

“We basically just piled into the studio and did a noise album. It worked out but we were kind of taking a risk not knowing if it would work out, spending this money on a studio…so yeah it worked out and we got a few other guitarists in there and we just made noise. Completely spontaneous, no planning whatsoever. We just let our hair down and cut loose. We had the noise as well, that’s got 11 tracks, so we thought lets just put them both out…why just sit around and wait for the perfect time? So we thought lets just put them out and lets tour!”

The idea of the perfect time for a release is a little abstract, but Srsen informed The Dwarf that record companies do follow formulas when planning the release of albums. Whilst you wouldn’t think the market is that predictable…well, it turns out it is sometimes.

“I think the perfect time is a bit of an illusion…the mainstream formula and all the industry there has…a machine. It clicks over and has these formulas and dates. You know, so that is out there, but you can definitely run to your own timetable.”

It’s an interesting concept having to live your life and plan your albums to the formula of a machine. A life that would undoubtedly be difficult to adjust to but Srsen has come to believe it’s just part and parcel with the surreal world of the Australian music industry.

“It depends how long you’ve been in the game really or been part of that scene. I think it affects you. It affects me in subtle ways but nothing I can’t shake off. I guess you’re just in a different world and you learn their ways…you kind of get into a bit of a momentum with how the machine works and it’s cool. I had a great time learning the new ropes and how it all works. It’s really interesting. But not all of me as an artist can fit into that. It’s probably a little bit difficult sometimes but not most of the time…but you do sort of get yourself into a habit when you’re in that mainstream machine. You have to unlearn a few things.”

If living by the mainstream formula required a major overhaul of everything the band had come to know and had become a central part of planning their every move, it has probably been worth it.

Magic Dirt have been gigging and releasing music since 1992. They’ve had a long and prosperous career and still remain fiery and engaging fifteen years on. They’re one of the few bands that have successfully made music their career. The four members can support need not have day jobs, and Srsen says she’s fortunate to find herself in this position.

“It’s been an achievement but you can do it. We’re lucky but we’ve worked hard to do it. You know, if you’ve got free time up your sleeve, which we do…then you have the opportunity to write and rehearse but if you’re a musician who has to have a day job, I can’t imagine how hard that would be and there are a lot out there. We possibly will have to do that one day as well. But you just have to do what you have to do to do your art. We’re lucky.”

It’s been hard work not that luck that has got Magic Dirt where it is today. The band will continue their hard work throughout July while embarking on a tour across the nation.

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