MAGIC MOMENTS AT TWILIGHT TIME:

An Interview With Mick Magic By Carlo DeShouten (May 2001)

             In the beginning, while I started off in search of spacerock / psychedelic groups (during which time I got the Hawkwind CD, “The Business Trip”), I checked out some bands / groups from the “What I Hear” list from the German Hawkzine. The Magic Moments At Twilight Time CD, “Creavolution”, was on the list, so I ordered it from Music & Elsewhere, run by the creator of MMATT, Mick Magic. Not only did he send me the CD, but also a list of underground bands from around the world, all part of the “business” now called United World Underground. And soon, a bond of business and friendship (not to mention heckling eachother) had been formed.

             The CD of “Creavolution”, which I did listen to, has great spacerock style, with Leonie “Lulu The Space Bimbo” Jackson on lead vocals, which is kind of soft, but it does have some sci-fi lyrics. Especially “Starship Psychotron”. And somewhat horror on “Purple Eyed & Mystified”. There are also special guests on the CD, including magic Mick himself narrating an holocaust-like story and him singing on one track which is very good (I forget the name of it). And the last track, “Rock & Roll Lifestyle”, is sung by a Blues Brothers look-alike (Gary St.John) doing an Elvis impersonation… and it rocks a lot. This is a must have for anyone who wants a MMATT CD.

             Also, magic Mick runs the United World Underground network, and not only does he get a lot of spacerock bands like Doctor Brown, Dark Star and Pseudo Sun, but other styles of music, such as; alternative, electronic / techno, progressive, hard rock, heavy metal, avant garde and ambient. Bands like Eye, Who Moved The Ground?, Endymion, The Thamesmead Rollers, Into The Abyss and many more. Plus he usually has compilation tapes of various artists. I took the liberty of asking magic Mick for an interview, so here goes…

CDS: Mick, thanks for letting me do an interview with you. You sent me the “Decadion” tape set which I liked, but in your own words, tell me how you started the MMATT?

MM: The readers aren’t going to get the connection there, are they? Bless him, he’s from Alabama. I’ll explain for them; ya see, there’s a booklet with the really awfully nice “Decadion” tape set, and it has the story in of how the band and M&E got started in it. But Carlo is much too lazy to copy all that out and wants me to go through it all again. Tut tut. So he can crash out in front of the tube, and I’ll sit here 3,000 miles away doing his job for him. Hmmph. Well, “the” MMATT didn’t really start, it just kinda happened. Call it kismet, call it fate, call it Eric. I’d bought some keyboards and effects and guitars and amps and stuff back in the mid 80s. One morning, 25^th October 1986, I walked into the living room and there they were, all set up in a very special way. As it turned out, by a small green alien called Albert. When I touched anything, it sounded wonderful, and the MMATT sound was born. Then, as I was making lots of noises and enjoying myself, these three people turned up claiming to be members of MMATT from the future. As it turned out, they were telling the truth and I met them all again when they joined the band the following year when I brought Shona Moments back out of an LSD trip and Mad Eddie brought Kate Twilight & Jay Time round coz they lived just up the road. Hence why we were often billed as “The Greatest Band Ever To Come From The Side Of Farm Road That The Shops Are On!” Et voila. Guess that’s pretty much the way all bands get together, huh?

CDS: You discovered Hawkwind, Tangerine Dream, Can and Faust in the 70s, is that what prompted doing your music?

MM: That and the pleasure of really annoying your neighbours with very weird and loud sounds. But sure, Hawkwind were like a revelation. If there ever was a better accompaniment to an acid trip, I’d love to hear it! Along with those you’ve listed, plus the likes of Cockney Rebel, David Bowie, Gong, Roxy Music, King Crimson etc etc (this list could go on for a while, so I’ll leave it there!), the Hawks were very much part of my life through the latter years of my teens. You know what it’s like when you’re a teenager, things are so intense, you have that tendency to live in a world of your own making? Well, Hawkwind were a big part of mine. Though it was also populated by the little green men in bowler hats that used to follow me round, plus the acid pixies, Rose, Lomby and crew. I had a vivid imagination, so much so that most of it became real, sometimes with lysergic assistance, sometimes not. Happy memories of basket weaving and stuff. Music was the escape, it became a case of “create and survive”. It was my lifeline, you see, reality and I have oft made strange bedfellows.

CDS: You told me as an office worker you used to be a wrestler, care to tell us about it (ha ha ha)?

MM: Shan’t.

CDS: You used to send demos to record companies but got no answer and that really ticked you off, didn’t it?

MM: And they say I have trouble with reality! Actually, no, you’re totally wrong. Sure, at the beginning, we sent a few demos out to record companies, but got accepted within the first few we sent out. Though I also keep the rejection letters with a sense of pride, especially the one that says “Dear MMATT, My name is not James, Sean.” We only ever recorded a couple of tracks for that label and it never really came to anything much, we’ve been “independent” (we do get a bit of sponsorship money here and there) ever since. And no, the rejection letters never ticked us off, it was the labels who couldn’t even be bothered to send them that ticked us off! J

CDS: I didn’t listen to the early tracks of MMATT, but how did the original style of your music come out and did you get lots of listeners?

MM: I’ve already told you that. You’re not paying attention, are you? It was the way little Albert had set the stuff up. Then we played around with it, improvised, created, jammed, composed, shit happens. Not that our music is shit, of course. Ahem. Freudian slip. Then it just kind of evolves, like you do as a person, things change, people change, their music changes with it. Though the vision remains. I keep it in a little plastic box on my shelf. As for the second part of the question; not back then we didn’t!

CDS: How did your zine start?

MM: Made more sense than typing out the same thing over and over again to hundreds of people. It was a kind of payback to the people who were helping us spread the word about what we were doing too, I

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