MAGIC DIRT’S ADALITA

Thirteen years ago a fiercely independent four piece band named Magic Dirt burst out Geelong and into the hearts and minds of the angst ridden, the distortion loving, and those who looked with disdain at anything resembling commerciality. Several major record company backed albums later, while still a thousand miles from Ray Martin heartland, the band has certainly picked up the skills required to play the survival game. Strip back the fuzz pedals and feedback on "Snow White", the bands newly released fifth album and you’ll find a swag of cleverly constructed pure pop tunes standing naked in all their glory. This is the band’s strongest pop statement yet, revealing a maturity and a willingness to step outside the band’s comfort zone. Australian Musician’s Greg Phillips spoke to front person Adalita about the making of Snow White and the mindset of Magic Dirt at this point in their career.

Why the title Snow White?

It’s really hard for me trying to articulate my abstract thoughts, but there’s a track on the album called Snow White. When we were looking for album titles, that one jumped out at me. Basically it describes the beauty of the album. Snow White is two beautiful words together and harks back to the fairy tale with the beautiful girl, so it’s just an abstract notion of beauty in general which I think the album has about it.

What sort of things have you done differently this time, or learned from last time in the studio?

I think we have learned to relax a bit more, the last one I think we were over disciplined about it. One of the main things is that I really enjoy being in the studio now. I used to think ‘how are we going to do this live?’ You know, ‘we really should just record as a live band’, but with this record I really jumped right in there and did a studio album, where you could do 90 tracks, and not worry about if you can play it live, so it was a really liberating process.

So, how will you approach those songs live?

I know, I know, what are we going to do? I mean we’re not that worried, we’ve been jamming some of the songs, and stripped them back making them raw. It’s definitely a challenge but a really good challenge. There’ll be a couple of little surprises. We don’t want to get too complicated.

You write a lot of poetry… do you do it for the purpose of having lyrics at a later date or is it something you feel compelled to do anyway?

I’m always writing, if I don’t it feels weird. Somehow from playing guitar for fun I involved my poetry, not that it was any good, but now its more that I am writing more music than lyrics. But yeh, any opportunity I get to write something down, I do, whether it’s just a diary entry or something I hear on the train.

The song "I Love The Rain", is something different for the band. Were you tempted at any stage to add loud guitars?

It’s actually about my cat. I remember one morning getting up and it was raining and I was in my pyjamas, with my hair all everywhere and I saw my little cat and picked up an acoustic guitar and just started singing about the rain and singing to her. Then I thought it was such a silly little song that I better record it. So I played it to the guys and they just flipped. But it was always going to be an acoustic song, there’s a dirty guitar in it but very low in the mix, almost a ‘Velvets’ type of thing, with some percussion and bells. So we enjoy not putting the fuzz on sometimes.

As you gain experience with each new album and tour, do you find yourself treating your voice with more respect?

I guess I’m not partying anywhere near as hard as I used to. Your twenties are a natural time to party and go crazy. I don’t smoke cigarettes. I used to and I used to notice my voice dying a little bit, fading. I definitely respect my whole body by not smoking. I’m an asthmatic as well.

Do you have that fear that many vocalist have, that you’ll wake up one day and it won’t be there?

I’ve had sore throats but never had any major problems. I’ve been screaming for most of my career to get over the top of the music and to get all my anger out, but I saw an ear, nose and throat specialist and I haven’t got any problems. In my early days I did theatre and learned to use my diaphragm, I’ve learned a technique. My stomach hurts when I sing so hopefully that‘s a good sign I am using my voice properly.

There are lots of guitar pedals in video for the single ‘Locket’, what are they?

We’re adding a few pedals here and there, a tremelo and the new Line 6 is great, a delay and Line 6 modeler. We’re always looking for pedals, always big on effects and layering sounds with soundscapes.

Still using the Gibson SG thru a jazz chorus?

Yes Gibson SG, throughout the Jazz chorus. It goes Gibson SG, Boss DS1, JC120.

With most bands, they can hear an album and know where their heads were at that point of time, what does ‘Snow White’ tell us about Magic Dirt in 2005?

I guess we’ve matured, gotten older, so it represents that maturing process. I think also we’ve got a little fearless, a little more confident in exploring different avenues in music. I mean we have songs on the album with acoustic guitar, we would never have done that before. We’re breaking our own rules, but I think the confidence level is the biggest factor. But you know I don’t think the album can really explain where the band is at. The album to me is more about a creative pool, it’s hard to explain… like this creative cosmos or something that is filtering through me or something. To me making an album is more of a metaphysical experience but not really explaining where the band is at, it’s a separate thing that has come out of us and is there, just a moment in time, not a linear thing, just a moment.

Does the feedback you get from your fans on your website surprise you?

Absolutely. They’re crazy. We have a such a loyal fan base and they are so wonderful. They crack me. I go on the net and it just brightens my day. Its really important for our survival to keep connected to our fan base. Just communicating with the fans has always been a priority for us. It’s just normal, part of our day to go and talk to the fans whether on the net or backstage. That’s it. That’s what we do.