Magnapop

VOX Magazine
Lisa Verrico
April 1994

"The shopping malls, the chain stores, *everything* in my life made me want to be in a band," claims Magnapop guitarist Ruthie Morris. "But in Florida, where I come from, there are only metal bands and cover bands. Jimmy Bufett's huge there. He did that song 'Cheeseburger In Paradise' and 'Wasted Away In Margaritaville'. He just tours and makes a ton of money. Very Florida-style."

Fleeing the horrors of beach life in Florida, Morris ended up in Atlanta, Georgia where she formed Magnapop with singer Linda Hopper, bass player Shannon Mulvaney and drummer David McNair. In the audience at the band's very first gig was an old school friend of Linda's called Michael Stipe. That night, he offered to help them record some demos. A year later, in 1992, the sessions came out as Magnapop's eponymously titled debut album.

"Those songs were our first attempt at recording," recalls Linda Hopper. "They should mever have been heard like that by the public. We just needed to release something and we never got the chance to re-record them. That's why we think of 'Hot Boxing' as our proper debut."

Stipe doesn't appear on the new album, but the control desk was manned by another famous figure, Sugar's Bob Mould. "Bob is incredibly organised with things like budgets and studio time", says Ruth. "He's also an excellent engineer, so he always gets precisely what he wants. Michael was a lot more laid back. His energy is all enthusiasm. He'd encourage us by jumping around and making faces through the studio window. They're both artists I really respect but, as far as production goes, I don't think Michael knows much about it."

Mould's production has given the band's power-pop a harder, rockier edge, better suited to their Breeders-style songs and far closer to their aggresive but melodic live sound. It was at a live show last year that Magnapop gained their latest famous fan - Juliana Hatfield.

"It's nice meeting other women in bands," says Linda, "unless of course it's 4 Non-Blondes. We became pretty much instant friends with Juliana." Juliana has even written and recorded a song called 'Ruthless' about Ruth Morris's guitar playing.

"I was incredibly flattered," admits Ruth. "No-one has ever written a song about me before - certainly no boyfriend I had ever did."