On their recently released album, Valerian Tea, the members of Magic Fig continue to explore the outer limits of creativity, just as they did last year on their self-titled EP. As the arrangements on the album unfold, they layer up sounds of drums, bass, piano, synthesizers, glockenspiel, organ, 12-string and six-string guitars, and more into an iridescent landscape.
With the help of their friend and producer, Joel Robinow, they added studio-generated effects that expanded the sounds into territory reminiscent of progressive rock outfits like Soft Machine, Pink Floyd and Genesis.
The band came together during the pandemic shutdown. With live music on hold, guitarist Muzzy Moskowitz (Froogy’s Groovies, Color Green, Almond Joy) reached out to keyboard player Jon Chaney (Healing Potpourri, Swayed) with the idea of breaking out of conventional musical structures.
The two began jamming, composing and auditioning drummers, and settled on Taylor Giffin, from Palomas and Air Surgeon. As the songs took shape, they invited Inna Showalter (Whitney’s Playland, Blades of Joy, Dissolve, Modern Charms) to sing lead and write lyrics, and asked Matthew Ferrara (the Umbrellas, Toyota, Land Line) to play bass.
“At practice, we jam on an idea someone has brought in, or something spawned in the moment,” Griffin said. “Once what we’re playing begins to take form, we capture a recording of it. Inna listens to it, solidifying her vocal melodies and drafting lyrics.”
As songs take shape, the band works on them, improving on what they have by playing through things over and over. The process involves workshopping, tweaking and refining.
“I record our practices on a field recorder and text it to the group, or put it in a shared internet folder,” Chaney said. “I listen and see what works and what doesn’t, to come up with new ideas.”
The process continued as the band headed into Santo Studios in Oakland with Robinow and, later, with engineer Jason Kick at Oakland’s Tunnel Vision Studio. “Joel was involved in all the stages of the making of the album, in and out of the studio,” Showalter said. “He helped arrange the instrumentation, choose guitar tones and [decide] where to employ the Space Echo. He also arranged certain vocal harmonies and made contributions to the editing and mixing process with our engineer, Jason Kick.”
The result of this process deepened the sound they began exploring on their debut, Magic Fig. While most of the songs are presented in a familiar verse/chorus structure, the multilayered instrumental work, with its changing tempos and unexpected shifts in tone, creates a cinematic effect. It’s best to listen to it with an open mind and let the sounds carry one away.
The album’s title track, “Valerian Tea,” rides a waltz-like rhythm, with Showalter singing softly about the contradictions of everyday life and the satisfaction of living in the moment with friends. The band alternates between lilting interludes and dark, clashing sounds. “Flammarion” is another meditation on the meaning of life. Shimmering instrumental parts and Showalter’s wordless asides give the music a flowing, dreamlike feel accented by the dub-like effects of the last verse.
“This process took a lot longer than the EP. We worked on the recordings over the course of a year. Inna recorded a lot of the vocals at her house. We converted one of her closets into a vocal booth with sound dampening,” Chaney said.
“This music came together through demos written by band members that were developed over many practice sessions. Inna usually wrote vocals and lyrics after most of the musical structure was established,” Moskowitz said.
“It’s hard for me to be vulnerable, expressing myself lyrically,” Showalter concluded. “It helps to know that my words and experiences resonate with people. For the most part, I accept that once you release something into the world, it no longer belongs to you, so I try not to dwell too much on something after it’s done.”
Magic Fig’s album release party will be at the 4 Star Theater on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 8pm, 2200 Clement St., San Francisco. 415.418.6712. 4-star-movies.com. Listen to ‘Valerian Tea’ at: magicfig.bandcamp.com/album/valerian-tea.
