The Magic Gang are championing a strong work ethic in
You guys have been together for ages! Why has it taken
music and sticking at something long enough to improve
so long to release an album?
beyond what you thought was possible. 4 or 5 years in the making, the once ‘slacker rock’ labelled foursome’s debut
Jack: Part of the reason is because we didn’t get signed for
album is upon us. Jack Kaye, Kristian Smith, Angus Taylor
a long time
and Paeris Giles talk us through staying true to themselves and their stadium filling intentions…
Angus: For three years we were too alternative to sign to a major and too pop to sign to an indie. Then luckily with
When we first interviewed you, you said something like,
Warner and Yala! They came along and were up for it.
“ we keep getting called slacker rock, but can you stop because we work really hard on these songs guys…”
Jack: And by then we’d already gained a live following, so it was less of a risk for a label to take.
Kristian: Yeah it should have been called, ‘Tries really hard If you listen to your new record it’s very pop heavy,
rock’.
track after track, you can play this at any time and dip Jack: Yeah, we never tried to claim that, we always wanted
in and out of it.
people to know that we were trying to be professionals…
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Words by Sam Ford and Josh Whettingsteel, illustration by Valat Ampavat