Austin – The artist known as Slow Magic has so far kept his name and personal life hidden beneath his neon zebra mask and tattered scarf. The costume has gotten a lot of attention in the last three years, while he’s worked almost non-stop between tours and two album releases—his latest, How to Disappear (on Downtown Records), came out on September 9. But his goal isn’t to be aloof, and to call it a matter of image is too simple. Luckily he’s been pretty vocal in interviews about the point to his secrecy. “I just think sometimes people make their face the most important part of their music.”
I got a chance to sit down with the producer before his show at Holy Mountain in Austin, and talk about electronic music, live performance, encounters with unsuspecting fans, as well as his new record.
WJ: So, the first thing I wanted to say is that when I started listening to your new record I didn’t realize I had seen you a year ago when you were touring with Gold Panda.
SM: Oh, nice!
WJ: My roommate and I got there late, and we kept looking at each other and saying: “Does Gold Panda wear a mask? Have you heard about this?” That was only a year ago, and you’ve just released a new record, you had a record come out just a little before that [the tour with Gold Panda]. It seems like a lot.
SM: To me it feels like it’s been way longer. The first record came out 2012, Then I started working on the new record right after that. It feels good to finally get the new record out. I’ve been touring a lot on the first record. And yeah, the tour with Gold Panda was super fun; it’s crazy that it was already a year ago.
WJ: Do you feel fatigued, or like you’ll need a little bit of a break?
SM: I’ve been touring pretty consistently for a long time. I always figure out how to find the moments of relaxation. But yeah, I could definitely use a break, and sometimes the break is just getting to sit down and make music. When you’re on the road and traveling all the time, it’s kind of hard to sit down with your computer and really make some music, even when it’s all on the laptop.
WJ: In a lot of other interviews you’ve been called a DJ and producer, and one thing that stood out to me about your set was the way you mixed it up. You’re hunched over the knobs, you’re checking levels, but you’re playing drums, too, and getting out on the floor.
SM: Yeah, I kind of wanted to get as far away from a DJ set as I could while still doing electronic music. When I was going to shows growing up I loved that feeling you get of being part of it. I think that’s really cool, and I think it’s a challenge for electronic music to try to get something like that. But I don’t consider myself much of a DJ, I play mostly my own tracks.
WJ: Yeah, I think producer is more accurate. I’ve been admonished before for calling a producer a DJ.
SM: I don’t know what I would call myself. I think when people are a little too uptight about those labels it’s just—someone can call me whatever they want, but I just hope they enjoy the show.
WJ: So it’s a compromise that allows you to have the live show you want?
SM: Yeah, it’s about what’s going on on-stage. It’s mostly just music I can’t play all by myself live, so it’s electronic.
WJ: Yeah. I started getting more into electronic music because—I grew up really loving punk rock, and stuff like New Order, but I got tired of standing around at shows. And I think you’ve expressed similar feelings in other interviews. Do you think that’s something that moved you toward the music you’re making now?
SM: I also grew up going to punk rock shows, and playing in bands. I always loved when the audience felt like a part of the show, and I think that influences my current music even when I’m not thinking about it. I always want to break down the barrier between the stage and the crowd. I guess I just have a better time getting people to dance. It makes me feel like people are all there and excited.
WJ: So in terms of electronic music, where did you start?
SM: I was into a lot of probably cheesy techno hits back in whenever. The first band that got me into producing this kind of music though was Múm. Their first few albums were these intricate clicks and programming. You couldn’t tell what was electronic and what was analog. I love listening to music and not knowing how it’s made. When I was younger I would go on the computer just thinking “maybe I can make something that sounds like this.”
WJ: I want to jump back to the live thing real quick. Do you think that the way a venue is set up changes the way people approach the music? If you’re up on stage are people more likely to be focused on you instead of the music? And how does that fit in with your persona, and your desire to keep the focus on the music?
SM: It makes sense how they’ve set up the crowd and the stage since, I guess whenever they started playing live music (laughs). But I do want to change that up a little bit, to let people know that something different is going on. The mask is a part of that, and so is keeping my name and face anonymous. To be honest I could see myself playing completely behind a curtain and really minimizing my presence on stage, but that’d be a little boring.
WJ: That would be interesting though, playing behind a curtain.
SM: For me there’s a balance between hiding and wanting to connect as closely as I can with people. I think there’s a balance between being as open and raw as I can be when I’m on-stage, but also keeping whatever distracts from the music under wraps.
WJ: Do you think it helps you be more honest?
SM: I think so, and I think if I could have a stranger know one thing about me, they would know more from my music than if I told them where I lived and worked and what my name was.
Part two of Will Jukes’ interview, including answers to questions about the new album, the three artists Slow Magic would like to work with, and more, will appear later this week.
Slow Magic’s North American tour continues through October 18. You can listen to the whole album HERE. Here’s our review of Slow Magic’s recent Austin performance.
Will Jukes
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