"Harvey, there's someone at the door."
"Who is it?"
"Don't know," replied Robin. "I just saw some guy walk up the path."
"Hang on. I'll finish this track and see what he wants."
Harvey de-tuned the Europa and plucked a rubbery A sharp note, letting it ring out until the tape ended. He took his headphones off, placed them on the green and brown pouffe and walked down the spiral staircase, grabbing a handful of Blissbombs on the way. Opening the front door, he was confronted by a man in a dark green cape, clutching a Kalimba.
"I'd like to join your band," announced the man.
Harvey, turned and looked quizzically at Robin, who had followed him to the door, and said "I don't know...but we do need a Kalimba on some of our songs."
It was while I was cutting up spinach for a pie that I decided to pack a bag, book a train and head up to a town I'd never heard of - Wingello, in NSW's Southern Tablelands. I'd been listening to a band called The Magus and thought they were so good that - fuck it - I would drop everything and ask if they needed another band member. Besides, I needed another chapter for my book 50 Bands in 50 years (due out in 2014). I needed something new in my life. Something refreshing. And The Magus are exactly that - refreshing. 'The City' is easily one of the best songs I've heard in a long time. The other three songs are fantastic, too. "I hope they let me join The Magus!" I screamed to the spinach.
The Magus are Robin Stone and Harvey O'Sullivan and reside in Wingello (population 600). From their bio: The Magus first came together in July 2003, making music and recording onto an old fashioned 4 track helped beat small town boredom. They derive their name from the 1965 novel by John Fowles that Timothy Leary described as "the first great psychedelic novel." These young musicians want to make psychedelic music (and John Fowles) cool again. "We play for the trees, or anyone else who cares to listen. We enjoy the sound of water in our songs."
Robin indicated for me to start playing and pressed the record button on their 8 track machine. I looked up at him, then over to Harvey who was holding up a bark chord chart, then down at my instrument. "I don't think I can tune the Kalimba to A sharp." -ND
harveyosullivan@gmail.com
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