Space Magic
Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States
Music
Press
Hailing from Green Bay, four charismatic rockers performed a reunion show March 7 at Liquid 8. Space Magic’s reunion performance was the highest grossing Local and Loud Thursday event Liquid 8 has hosted, according to owner Andy Calhoun.
Known for its allure and on-stage enthusiasm, Space Magic predicts furthering its music career with future performances.
Described as dynamic minor-key rock with moments of shoegaze and psychedelia, Space Magic solidified its reputation of visually and audibly sexy at all times.
Many artists hinge on tension between two styles, but tension is not found in Space Magic’s surprising collaboration of hooks. Its studio productions flesh out personal demons, resulting in remarkably fluid beats and added instrumentation.
Messages of persistence are encapsulated in Space Magic’s music. Creativity and empathy is required from the listener to fully experience each song.
Space Magic performed original material, including “The Knife,” “Your Wicked Ways,” “She Scrapes the Sky,” “Help Me to Understand” and “We are All Refugees.” Space Magic also played an encore song by request of the audience.
After the show, members distributed complimentary CDs of their top songs to fans.
Songwriting improved with the new line-up of Space Magic, and its new material is accessible to a wide range of listeners.
Formally a three-piece set and locally known as D.O.W., The Darkest of White, the group hit the music scene in 2005. The band changed its name to Space Magic in 2009 as its music progressed from stanzas and improvisations.
“We used to use the phrase space magic as a way to describe our sound,” said Codey Gerarden vocalist and songwriter. “As our sound continued to evolve, we changed our name with it.”
In 2009, Space Magic’s then guitarist, Gerarden, underwent plastic reconstructive hand surgery.
After a year of recovery and a lot of in-house electronic studio production, new material started to be written and recorded.
“Keep going, in music or life or whatever,” said Ryne Roulette drums. “If you are a creative force in this world, you have a responsibility to those who love your craft to continue to create. Space Magic is determined to never allow another lapse in performing to occur.”
The band sought a fourth member to enhance its fresh sound and found refuge in multi-instrumentalist John Illgen.
“There is no concern about performing live while John is in the band,” Gerarden said. “He’s just so spot-on every time.”
Space Magic’s upstanding repertoire is now Ryne Roulette, drums; Corey Allen bass; John Illgen, guitars, engineering and production; and Gerarden, vocals and songwriting.
The current line-up of Space Magic shifted to experimental lines comparable to 30 Seconds to Mars, Dredg, Deftones, minus the metal aspects and Circa Survive guitars with gangster bass and beats.
“Codey writes and records themusic and teaches Space Magic the songs,” Illgen said. “We all work with the outline of a song and color it in piece by piece until it works for all of us.”
As musicians, Space Magic doesn’t avoid incorporating different genres, realizing that it would be counterproductive.
Piano, church organs, Hammond’s B3s, concert cellos, Glockenspiels and toy pianos are consistently added after production. Moogs and other synths are featured in some recordings as well.
“Each song requires each part to be done a certain way during a specific time with a definite intensity or lack of it,” Allen said. “Live, we have a certain swag and gangster charisma that isn’t normally seen locally.”
Gerarden writes virtually every song acoustically and simultaneously creates the composition in his mind. When the sound is discovered, he records drums to a simple metronome and layers guitars, bass and vocals.
“I find a guitar line that says something to me and feels good in my hands,” Gerarden said. “I then develop a vocal melody and lay down lines on top. I try to make it all sing the guitars have to sing. I then work out a driving bass line, using the bass as a vehicle to move the song. The whole time, I’ve got beats picked out. I like beats that move and breathe. I have a beat going through my head every waking hour.”
Past the acoustic guitar and main vocal development, everything happens in the studio. When the song is fully written, the production phase begins. All members familiarize themselves using the recordings, and the song evolves during the full practice phase. Eventually everyone records their parts for the final cut.
Space Magic is home-grown on networking sites, trying to limit soliciting its product. Space Magic has numerous sites, all of which are being organized. Space Magic hopes to make its product available to people without appearing too common. In addition, its network is filled with photos from area photographers.
“We want people to listen to the recordings from start to finish and to think that it is unlike anything they have - Fourth Estate News
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
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Bio
For nearly a decade, Space Magic has perfected its craft while establishing a reputation as one of the premier original acts in their area. After an extended break, their comeback show was one of the highest grossing events in the venues history, beating out national acts in profitable revenue.
Space Magic is locally known for its allure and live charisma, and intends to spread its brand regionally by way of live performance following the release of their upcoming EP. It is nearly impossible to attach the sound of Space Magic to those of other nationally known acts, they are truly original yet widely accessible to a broad audience, transcending genre barriers.
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