MAGICK MOUNTAIN WHO ARE YOU?
We’re Magick Mountain, more specifically I’m Lins (guitar/vox) making noise with Nestor Matthews (drums) and Tom Hudson (bass/vox). We’re a garage rock band hailing from Leeds, with a love of fuzzy rock ‘n’ roll.
without really comparing to other people - I’ve always wanted to have a band where I’m playing guitar and also the lead writer, having been a right-hand woman to many talented friends over the years. I think it’s so important in life to keep hold of that thing you’ve always loved, whether doing it professionally or not.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
When we’re not jamming bad cover versions of random songs at practise, we’re writing/recording/ playing shows as Magick Mountain and spending our time split between this band and others, recording and playing shows (Tom is in Pulled Apart by Horses and Nestor is in Menace Beach, I’m currently just in the one band, which is new for me!). We also all have various jobs and projects so we’re a pretty busy lot. Living life as a creative jigsaw puzzle isn’t boring at least.
WHY DO YOU DO WHAT YOU DO?
After years of collectively working our arses off in various bands, we started talking about putting this band together, for a few reasons. Magick Mountain gives us each a certain amount of freedom and creative input that’s different to our other bands, which is what makes it so exciting to us. I think it’s refreshing, fun and easygoing for all 3 of us and a total release on stage / in the practise room. It’s taken me a long time personally to have confidence to do exactly what I want
“IT’S BEING SPOKEN ABOUT IN NATIONAL PRESS, BUT I THINK THERE’S STILL A LONG WAY TO GO...” WHAT IS HAPPENING IN YOUR WORLD RIGHT NOW?
We’ve just done a week in the studio working towards our debut album, at Czar Street Studios with a great producer called Margo Broom who’s worked with Fat White Family, Calva Louise and Black Helium amongst others. It went really well and we had a lot of fun...We’re planning do another chunk of recording in the next few weeks to get it finished off, then will look at releasing it sometime soon! We’re playing a few shows here and there but at the moment don’t have a full tour booked in, again something we’re aiming for next year.
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TELL US WHAT YOU THINK IS THE HOT TOPIC IN MUSIC IS RIGHT NOW AND WHAT MEANS TO YOU?
Maybe a bit obvious to pick this, but women in music is a hot topic. It’s a tricky one because whilst it’s great to be a part of a programme called Rebalance (which gave us the recording time and looks to address the issue of an imbalance of women in the industry), it still feels like a long road and only small measures are starting to be taken. It’s awesome to see more women getting recognition, more women in alternative bands and that it’s being spoken about in national press, but I think there’s still a long way to go... There is so much that audiences, the industry and people working in venues can do to help - every single person, attitude and comment makes a difference. I still get the ‘I’ve not seen a girl play guitar like that before’ and ‘are you the bassist?’ comments pretty regularly in venues! Also I think the women who perhaps go under the radar should be the ones we need to shout about - along with myself I know many women who have been playing, writing, performing, producing, tour managing etc for years, but because they perhaps are just cracking on with the job and not seeking attention for it they go unnoticed. If I can continue to do my bit to help challenge presumptions, inspire younger women, create safe live shows, support women or talk publicly about this then I will. Photography by Andrew Benge
