From the fanzine Hero Worship, Issue No. 1
by Gillian Hardy
I remember it well. I was driving back home on a rainy July night, not particularly listening to 'Out on Blue Six' when out of the murky depths of obscure garage and punk came this....this immense 2 and a half minutes of blistering pop, sparkling and brimming with energy. Imagine hearing `Hanging On The Telephone' or `Our Lips Are Sealed' for the first time. Yeah - that good.
I later found out that this joyous piece of pop bliss was `Merry' by Magnapop, an Athens 4 piece whom I'd vaguely recalled reading about in Melody Maker just the other week. Since that day in July their album has never been out of my cd player so when I heard they were to tour the UK I took the opportunity to see them.
Linda Hopper jumped offstage to greet me as I made my way to the cozy backstage area of the Leadmill, laughing as I explained that the title of the fanzine was inspired by another of Athen's finest, the B-52's. Bagging the comfiest looking chair, I asked them why they thought the Dutch liked Magnapop (`Merry' reached the top 20 over there earlier in 1992).
"We don't know, we can't figure it out. It's great though" laughs bassist Shannon Mulvaney, Linda adding "I think it's because we're all secretly Dutch or something."
How did a small band like Magnapop come to the attention of Play It Again Sam?
"We did a sold out show and they saw us" Linda explains, "it was the usual thing. We did a tour of Holland and then one date in Belgium last January. We had our record out which was initially on Solid (the Dutch license for PIAS), so I guess to do that they got a little interested in who we were, and they loved us. It was real surprising that the single reached the top 20, real flattering."
Before Magnapop they were all in a band called Swell, a very popular choice of name....
"Yes, for that reason we had to change the band name" Ruthie Morris says, "so we kinda thought about it a bunch and just put a couple of words together that we liked."
"We were tired of being hassled so we tried to make it a name that nobody else would have" Linda adds.
So there's no significance to the pumpkins on the cover of the album? David McNair cries from the edge of the room "Halloween!!!"
Linda: "No. The only coincidence is that when we were going to put the record out it was only supposed to be something that was sold in Benelux and out of the back of our van. It's 2 demo tapes and it was put together real quickly. PIAS asked `do you have anything you could make artwork out of for the cover' and that's it, I just took this picture."
Journalists, always striving to pinpoint a band's sound accurately, have compared Magnapop's sound to, amongst other things, Throwing Muses, Blondie and PJ Harvey (!!!)...
Ruthie (singing) "Oh my lover...! PJ Harvey's weird! I wonder why PJ Harvey? Without sounding funny, I don't know of any other band that sounds similar to us."
Linda: "It doesn't seem very obvious, but then again Blondie isn't very obvious either."
"We've no keyboards, which was a strong part of their sound" argues Ruthie. David, however has the answer... "the only reason we were ever compared to Blondie is because Linda has blonde hair and that's it. That was purely a look thing."
Being an avid Blondie fan I'm rather glad that they agree when I say being compared to Blondie is, like, the ultimate compliment.
"Oh yeah, Blondie were a great band" says Ruthie, "it's just that you don't want to be compared to anybody really."
Shannon: "You never see it. Other people do but you don't. Y'know `you sound like....' whaaat! I do not! We've been told we sound like the B-52's! We don't sound a damn thing like them."
"We've been told we sound like Quarterflash" says Ruthie, "Quarterflash and the Motels, we've heard them all.!"
So you don't see yourselves as a Throwing Muses for the pop kids?
"No. I mean I don't get on that at all really because they have that weird rhythm thing going on and that is a pretty distinctive sound. We don't have that, we're pretty... "Straightforward?".... I don't know exactly straightforward" Ruthie continues, "but.. we don't have a Kristin Hersh in this band. In other words, not one person writes the songs and hands them to the band."
Linda adds "But you know, I think Kristin Hersh has a lovely voice so if they're comparing the tones...I mean, she might not like the comparison but I'm flattered."
What with 2 guys and 2 girls in the band, you never know, you could've been compared to Abba. There's been some pretty bizarre comparisons after all.
David laughs and says "I'm surprised we haven't been compared to Abba! If a comparison can make me laugh then I love it."
Having failed to find one band approved comparison, I ask them about their influences.
"They're pretty varied but surprisingly we can all put on a tape in the van and everyone will like it. We like everything pretty much" reckons Linda.
Someone voices a dislike for classical music but Linda reasons that though she quite likes it , it's not something you listen to in a van.
"Right now the machine in the van is really bad but whoever's driving gets to choose. Everyone listens to it and nobody complains" Ruthie says. "The new Mudhoney's good but we haven't jammed to that too much. We were really killing everybody with the new Screaming Trees tape but I think that got deep fried...."
Shannon announces that he doesn't drive without the Beastie Boys whilst Linda tells me her current Walkman essentials - The Jayhawks, dc Basehead, "and you know what, the new REM tape. It's really good."
Well, she mentioned them, not me. Because Magnapop are from Athens and 4 songs from their album were produced by a certain Michael Stipe, they must have been asked constantly about messers Berry, Buck, Mills, and Stipe. They have. When I tell them that the interview was planned as a Michael Stipe/REM freezone there are cheers and thank you's from at least 2 people in the room. However, Ruthie for one doesn't really mind that somewhat unimaginative line of questioning. "If he sucked then it would be a real drag be he's a good guy."
After much arguing and debate, Ruthie finally sums up the bands they groove to. "We like Masters of Reality and Metallica. Seriously." Metallica eh? HEAVY METAL!!! So they're planning on doing an L7 and play `Enter Sandman' live then?
"Do they play `Enter Sandman'?" Shannon asks. "Oh I love that. It's a great riff. That song ROCKS."
"Yeah, it's a great riff" Ruthie agrees, "I don't blame them for playing it. I mean, if we could've done it before they did then maybe, but I don't know if I can play that song anyway, ha ha."
Whilst on the subject of cover versions, we discuss the inclusion of Big Star's `13' on the album, originally recorded for a Big Star tribute compilation but kept because they liked it and it worked well, and whether they were planning any more in the near future.
"Yeah hundreds but we can't tell you because someone else will do them" Linda laughs.
"We do a Motorhead song, `Love Me Like A Reptile' and we even do a Fugazi song live" enthuses Ruthie.
"We'll do a Megadeth song" offers Shannon as the room embarks on a rousing rendition of `Peace Sells...But Who's Buying'.
So, after revealing themselves as closet headbangers, who do they regard as a kind of hero? Robert Plant perhaps? Does Ruthie stand in front of a mirror every night pretending to be Ritchie Blackmore? David announces that his hero is Hank Williams.
"Yeah but he was a kind of drunken slob and he died at 29 so...I mean, it's good stuff but I wouldn't call him a hero" says Ruthie.
"I think the best thing about Hank Williams was that he was in a limo and he went the whole way dead" says Linda.
People such as Woodie Guthrie, Neil Young, and Bob Dylan are banded around as being pretty cool. Then Linda, Ruthie and Shannon all announce simultaneously "Woody Allen."
"...is incredible and I don't hold any of that shit against him" continues Linda. Both David and Shannon believe Mia Farrow has at least one screw loose but Linda still likes her. Either way, loony or not, Mia Farrow is NOT going to appear in another Woody Allen film, is she?
"That's a good guess. No I don't think he's going to let her in any more either" agrees Linda.
Shannon announces that, surprise surprise, Diane Keaton's got Mia's role in the next film. Ruthie mischievously asks "when is Soon Yi going to appear in a movie?" As the room collapses in giggles, David darkly comments "hopefully never."
It is a known fact that the band has always wanted to play England. They had been playing a handful of dates around the country and were about to embark on a tour supporting Sugar so this led me to ask that old cliche of a question....how's the tour been going?
"Great. It was good at the Wah Wah Hut last night, except for bad equipment. We've been playing through practice amps so..." says Shannon.
Ahhh, Glasgow King Tuts Wah Wah Hut. Cool place, primarily because the bar opens at 12pm, the beer is pretty cheap and there's a highly recommended happy hour (5pm - 7pm as I recall). Great stuff. They arrived at the venue in time to witness it in full swing...Shannon remembers "Yeah, it was going on. People were happy, my god..."
"It was a happy hour to end all happy hours..." enthuses David.
What are British audiences like compared to other audiences they've encountered? Linda says they've been great but maybe it doesn't compare to the continent, simply because not many people have heard of them over here. Ruthie agrees.
"The kids in Europe...." realizing what she just said, "the kids, ha ha, I mean audiences in Europe seem to get a little more fanatical and stage dive, which I don't know is great but... their enthusiasm demonstrates more than English kids maybe but we seem to be going over OK."
Shannon continues "Yes, they can't get all that excited when we come on stage when they've never seen us or heard us before. They kind of wait and see what we're like so maybe next time they'll like us even more!"
How different is touring over in Britain as opposed to America?
"Bad roads!" shouts David (and they hadn't even been on the M62 yet!)
"Over there you have to tour constantly. Jesus Lizard, I mean they tour non stop and now sell out 1000 seat places."
"And so do Fugazi" says Ruthie. "but you really have to tour tour tour. It's different here, it's more condensed. It's really spread out in America. It takes 4 days to get from one side to the other."
"It's also different and interesting here because of the music press. In America there's like 2 publications that everybody can get - Rolling Stone and Spin - and they don't really touch much of underground music. That's the big thing I'd say about the music press here, they review everything."
"It's amazing what MTV will do for you in America" says Shannon "if you get a buzz clip. We've been on MTV once or twice in Europe but that's about it. In America they won't touch you until you get a huge, slick, ugly video...."
"Linda and Ruthie in G-strings..."
"No, we're gonna get Chippendale guys...." Ruthie insists, laughing.
"David and I are all oiled up, and shit like that...."
"And they put what they have left in a little ponytail at the back...."
Ruthie believes that this would be excellent...(The `Merry' video, I may point out, is nothing like the above imaginary scene. There's a couple of dark chimneys then cutting to the band playing in what looks like a very small bedroom).
"When you cut your hair in America you're just not legit anymore" says Shannon. Linda agrees. "Look at Bon Jovi. I'm glad Eric (tour manager) isn't here in the room anymore, he likes them, ha ha...."
"....We hate them" confides Shannon laughing.
Jon Bon Jovi looks like Daryl Hall with the new hair style, doesn't he?
Linda: "Ha ha. Yeah, you're right. I think that's what he's going for."
"Yeah, but you gotta Keep The Faith....They're going to hammer you with that song" sighs Ruthie in a voice that sounds like she's heard the song more than once too often.
"He gives lurrrve a bad name too!" laughs David.
"We went to Asbury Park where he's from...phew!" says Ruthie.
That good then?
"It was dismal."
"Actually the club we played was really packed and everything" remembers Linda, "but the town itself was just......"
"Like a ghost town. It closed about 15 years ago" (Oh, so it's like Brighouse then??!!??)
Changing the subject, Ruthie tells me "We love to play festivals, they're so fun. We've done some in Holland, Belgium, France and Germany. They're great because you get to play to a lot of people. You also get to see all the other rock stars and it's great, the feeling you've got a backstage pass. We got to `hang out', ha ha, with Public Enemy and Chuck D and Nick Cave. That was pretty cool."
"We're dying to play Japan and Australia, and Europe's always great. Prague would be cool too. And we just saw Scotland yesterday! Wherever there's people, that's a good place!"
On that note all that is left is for me to ask about their Christmas plans (Shannon: "I'm going to eat and drink till I puke") and to tell Shannon what moors are - why do Americans not know what moors are??? We briefly discuss Suede and are they overrated., and accents (oh, by the way, a Yorkshire accent is NOTHING LIKE a Scottish accent!), and bizarrely, Ruthie tells me that Gillian is on her baby name list!
Back in The Howard before the gig, MTV is blasting out. Ruthie Morris' Bon Jovi warning echoes in my ears as `Keep The Bloody Faith' is played not once, not twice but 3 times - arrrgh!!! It made me think, if we lived in a perfect world, Magnapop would be played on MTV 30 times a day. Wishful thinking.....