Avant-garde mainstays Magma and drone-metal legends Sunn O))) (pronounced 'sun') join forces to co-headline a show for the Adelaide Festival Of Arts.
Formed in Paris in 1969, Magma is lead by composer/ drummer Christian Vander whose futuristic visions of doomed civilisations have provided the basis for much of their work.
How did Magma and Sunn O))) come to collaborate on this show?
Greg Anderson and Steven O’Malley are big Magma fans. They’re also running a record label, Southernlord, where they release only LPs [vinyl] in luxurious presentation. They got in touch with us about the possibility of licensing some Magma albums. They invited us to share the stage for the first time at Le Guess Who festival in Holland last month.
Will you be singing in your self-constructed language of Kobaïan?
Absolutely. French wasn’t expressive enough for the sound of the music I had in my head. Kobaïan is a language that is constantly evolving and the sounds/ words come organically when I am composing. However, some sounds/ words come back and after a while we can decipher their meaning. The words are written to fit to the music, to make it sound right.
Magma has its own legacy; for you, what defines the band?
There is obviously a spiritual dimension in Magma’s music, but I think every musician can feel it differently depending on his personal need and state of mind. The intense energy is demanded by this music – you cannot play it any other way, it will not sound [sic]. I've always maintained the same direction in our work, without concessions, without giving in to any of the trends we found along the way. To a lot of young musicians all around the world, Magma is the ultimate in terms of musical skill and also in the way a musician has to dedicate his life to music.
Can you highlight your proudest moment as part of Magma?
Reading Festival in 1973 was one of the highlights of Magma on stage. But there were many many others… I hope I’ll be even prouder of the next ones.
After 25 albums, countless shows and gaining fans in Johnny Rotten, Paul McCartney and Robert Trujillo to name a few, what's next for Magma?
Try and play where we never had the chance to go: Eastern Europe, South America and Asia. We’re lucky enough to have fans all over the world, they all deserve to see the band live! We’re also very interested in our project: Magma Metalik Orkestra, which is basically playing with music school students.
Do you have a message for your fans ahead of Adelaide Festival Of Arts?
For people who have never seen Magma before I'd like to say that, first of all, there is a tendency when we hear, watch a concert, different music or different movie, different style, something unique, we try to interpret it through our brain.
We try to look at point of reference: what does it make me think of? With Magma, it's better to forget all of that. It's not music to be experienced from the intellect. It's music to be felt. It's music to be experienced from heart, soul, and the gut. For those who are more acquainted with our music, we’ll try and surprise them.
Magma join Sunn O))) at the Thebarton Theatre as part of the Adelaide Festival Of Arts 12 March.
