The ever-mysterious Slow Magic, who specializes in a soaring strain of synthy, cut and paste electronica—and likes to call himself “your imaginary best friend”—is set to drop his sophomore album, How to Run Away, on 9/9 via Downtown Records. He recently completed a Stateside tour with the UK-born, Berlin-based dance dude Gold Panda and above is the premiere of a bunch of euphoric live footage from said tour, set to one of his biggest tunes, "Girls." All of which will definitely make you want to catch him on his upcoming headline tour next month (dates below). We talked to the artist about exactly what Slow Magic is, chasing dreams, and what can be communicated through purely instrumental music.
Noisey: Why do you choose to be anonymous?
Slow Magic: It all started as a way for me to keep the focus on the music and art surrounding the music, instead of on a person or place. From there it just began to evolve. It became something different too with the mask and the character.Do you consider Slow Magic to be a character, a project, or a sort of band?
It’s definitely all of the above. It wasn’t a character when I first started. It was more of an idea. I wanted the listener to be the judge of what it was exactly, and that’s where the idea of your “imaginary friend” comes in. I wanted the music to be from an unknown place but a familiar place. I think it’s slowly been developing, obviously after more shows, into a character. It’s just as much a part of me as it is not me at all.What’s the deal with your forthcoming album, How to Run Away?
It’s just describing the process of everything since I started the project two and a half years ago. It’s kind of an autobiographical name, even though the project is so separate from me, for a lot of different reasons. Like, chasing the dream of playing music and literally running away from home just to chase that dream. I guess the album is all about being far away from everyone you know but also finding a way of meeting people that are all across the world. There’s a lot of heartbreak and love involved in the travel itself.People might think that electronic music in general, specifically when there are no lyrics, doesn’t convey any particular message or theme. Do you disagree with this?
That’s definitely something I think a lot about. The music’s a little bit more lyrical on the new record. But I think I’d be okay if someone enjoyed it purely for the music. I enjoy the fact that there are messages hidden in everything that I’m making. It’s not as blatant; it’s more like a whisper. I’d be fine if someone just liked the way it sounds. I guess my main goal is for someone to feel the way that I felt when I made the music, or maybe just the total opposite of how I felt. Either way. I think some of the most powerful songs and messages are coming from music that is either instrumental or very minimal. It’s all about interpretation. It’s whatever the person listening to it thinks it is.
If you ever envision people listening to your music, where would they be doing it? At a club, at home, at the gym?
I would hope that it could be in a lot of different places. And it’s always cool to kind of hear from someone about his or her experience with the music. It could be something I never expected. But yeah, it’s definitely electronic music and hopefully people can dance to it, but I don’t want the musicality and technical aspects to suffer.What do you try to deliver to the audience with live performances?
Personally, I’ve seen a lot of electronic shows that have either blown me away or are not quite as exciting as I would have hoped for whatever reason. I wanted to change that. I have live drums on stage, and that is the main focus of the show. I also have a laptop and a drum-pad on the side. I always bring my drum into the crowd even if security might not expect it. I always try to do something crazy to try to surprise people that do think it’s just a DJ set.If you could incorporate your music into a movie or TV show soundtrack, what would it be?
I did actually one commercial for National Geographic where they took “Corvette Cassette” and wanted me to kind of rework it. It’s a funny experience working with a video editor and all that. I saw it on TV a few days ago in Denmark, just sitting in my hotel totally randomly. The commercial is just the track with a bunch of beautiful animals.Slow Magic Tour Dates
At Noisey we call Mathias Rosenzweig on dapper dude. He’s on Twitter - @lil_nervous.---Other electronic music that’ll make you feel super emo:Gold PandaKnows a Thing or Two About Penis Pumps and Other ThingsTourist Would Like You to Have Meaningful Sex to His MusicMeet SOHN: He's All About "Positive Nihilism"
Slow Magic: It all started as a way for me to keep the focus on the music and art surrounding the music, instead of on a person or place. From there it just began to evolve. It became something different too with the mask and the character.
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It’s definitely all of the above. It wasn’t a character when I first started. It was more of an idea. I wanted the listener to be the judge of what it was exactly, and that’s where the idea of your “imaginary friend” comes in. I wanted the music to be from an unknown place but a familiar place. I think it’s slowly been developing, obviously after more shows, into a character. It’s just as much a part of me as it is not me at all.What’s the deal with your forthcoming album, How to Run Away?
It’s just describing the process of everything since I started the project two and a half years ago. It’s kind of an autobiographical name, even though the project is so separate from me, for a lot of different reasons. Like, chasing the dream of playing music and literally running away from home just to chase that dream. I guess the album is all about being far away from everyone you know but also finding a way of meeting people that are all across the world. There’s a lot of heartbreak and love involved in the travel itself.People might think that electronic music in general, specifically when there are no lyrics, doesn’t convey any particular message or theme. Do you disagree with this?
That’s definitely something I think a lot about. The music’s a little bit more lyrical on the new record. But I think I’d be okay if someone enjoyed it purely for the music. I enjoy the fact that there are messages hidden in everything that I’m making. It’s not as blatant; it’s more like a whisper. I’d be fine if someone just liked the way it sounds. I guess my main goal is for someone to feel the way that I felt when I made the music, or maybe just the total opposite of how I felt. Either way. I think some of the most powerful songs and messages are coming from music that is either instrumental or very minimal. It’s all about interpretation. It’s whatever the person listening to it thinks it is.
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I would hope that it could be in a lot of different places. And it’s always cool to kind of hear from someone about his or her experience with the music. It could be something I never expected. But yeah, it’s definitely electronic music and hopefully people can dance to it, but I don’t want the musicality and technical aspects to suffer.What do you try to deliver to the audience with live performances?
Personally, I’ve seen a lot of electronic shows that have either blown me away or are not quite as exciting as I would have hoped for whatever reason. I wanted to change that. I have live drums on stage, and that is the main focus of the show. I also have a laptop and a drum-pad on the side. I always bring my drum into the crowd even if security might not expect it. I always try to do something crazy to try to surprise people that do think it’s just a DJ set.If you could incorporate your music into a movie or TV show soundtrack, what would it be?
I did actually one commercial for National Geographic where they took “Corvette Cassette” and wanted me to kind of rework it. It’s a funny experience working with a video editor and all that. I saw it on TV a few days ago in Denmark, just sitting in my hotel totally randomly. The commercial is just the track with a bunch of beautiful animals.
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