MagellanMusic is one of those bands who have been around so long that some people don't remember when there wasn't a MagellanMusic. It was the Beatles and the dawning of Prog Rock that 'lit the fuse', but it wasn't until 1975 when they started giggin’ regularly and recording their music. Their recordings were so bad that even the bugs and critters were driven in mass exodus out of any building in which it was played, better than Blackguard insect spray. MagellanMusic ignored the conservation protest marches outside their studio. Maybe this was why such unforgettable artists like Tony Orlando & Dawn, KC & the Sunshine Band, Barry Manilow, and Abba flourished.
Well, MagellanMusic definitely has a colorful history. After the humbling initiation into the Music Biz, things changed quickly and drastically. Besides taking the opportunity to play anywhere at anytime, their writing and recording was as rampant as Mushrooms on a hot morning after a steady rain. MagellanMusic ate, drank, breathed, and dreamt music 24 hours a day. Between '75 and '78 they recorded 9 albums, two of them live performances, which is the time when they turned 'pro'. This was almost a joke since that part of the country was 95% Country music, but they did it anyway. Unfortunately, it was musical 'boot camp' - the trying times that all young bands have to survive. The stories of submerging into the reality of White Beans and Cornbread (with White Beans and Cornbread on the side), White Bean Stew, White Bean Sandwiches, Bread Sandwiches, Rice sandwiches, Rice stew, Rice Parfait, Baked/Boiled/Broiled/Fried/Steamed & Smoked Rice, all topped off with endless boxes of Macaroni and Cheese, was enough to become legend. But as grim as it sounds, they still carried on. They tried everything they could think of to get ahead somehow, including selling or giving away cassettes of their albums, unheard of at the time but what is now Standard Operating Procedure by all Indie artists. But, by 1984 they woke up one day wondering if all those years had been spent living Edgar Allan Poe’s “Descent Into the Maelstrom”. (Was Ed a musician too???)
They decided to hang up their musical gear and actually join the world. Each fellow went their own way, and in many different directions, with no plan to re-unite. Luckily, and thanks to Tascam, home recording technology began to develop. Home recording today is the very heart of the Indie Revolution, and it was what allowed MagellanMusic to re-group even though they were located all over the country. Per Jensen would usually do basic tracks, the recordings would be sent to each member so they could add their parts, the digital transcriptions would be returned to Jensen and he would finalize/produce the master discs for release. It worked like a charm, and it is how they function to this day.
It is now 30 years after their beginning and they are still going strong. MagellanMusic long ago pursued unique, varying styles that resembled Classic Rock/Pop with a Probressive Rock edge. Their idea of ‘progressive’ wasn’t the mind-bending efforts of Zappa, Yes, or King Crimson, it was the idea that the Beatles exampled on the White Album - MagellanMusic likes exploring nearly every kind of genre, anything to just be creative and not lock themselves into one specific sub-genre. Rock, Pop, Blues, Electronica, Folk, Funk, Satire, and Comedy are all included. Some of their music is so bizarre that there isn’t an ‘official’ genre for it.
Because their catalog of albums is 30 titles, only the 4 most recent have been released on CD. “A Strange Traffic of Dreams” (1997), “Ghost of a Living Twilight” (2001), “Phanus Phallus Phobias – Greatest Sh!ts!” (2004), and "Yesterday's Children" (2005) are a wide range of styles that rock bands aren't supposed to do any more. MagellanMusic is as explorative now as they were in the old days and just as refreshing. If you enjoy well-taylored, professional quality music with plenty of humor thrown in and no bounds to confine them, MagellanMusic is superb. |
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