We met the 4-piece indie outfit Magic Finger last month when they released their single “Water Sounds with Cars”. It instantly became a regular in my personal rotation. Their melody is infectious and it isn’t overly polished.
Similarities to bands like Jimmy Eat World and The Strokes are clear, but there isn’t much information out there about this band.
Since they’re still relatively new, I found it fitting to talk with the band and find out more about it’s origin and plans for the future.
NT: How did this project come to be known as Magic Finger?
Harley: “So, when I was in high school I had used the name Magic Finger as almost a joke name for a lot of things, but I always secretly really liked the way it sounded. It’s a name that you’re uncomfortable saying to your mom but you don’t know why, and that’s perfect. So, once I started assembling the team and making music on my own, it was a pretty easy decision as to what to call it.”
NT: I know Magic Finger started as your (Harley) project in college. How did it evolve from a solo effort to a band?
Harley: “Well, I met Margaret through a mutual when we were Sophomores. I had asked her to sing on a song with me. I don’t remember what song we did first, but I do know that Margaret has a lovely voice. So, right after that I asked her to join me singing full time and we did “Blue Rhombus” which Margaret wrote all the words and melody for. After some time we realized we needed some more support. We had just moved in together so we had more space to make music. Thankfully, at that time also we had an interview for the Hofstra radio where Drew asked us some questions, and Sean was the radio tech. Drew told us that Sean played drums and on the spot I asked him if he wanted to be in a band and he said yes.
Once we had played with Sean a few times, we just needed to fill out the roster. Margaret was on bass I was on guitar, Sean was on drums but we needed something more. That’s when I asked Colin if he was interested in the group, and he said yes. He came by and played with us one afternoon and the rest is us.”
NT: What were you studying/majoring in while forming the band?
Harley: “I was and still am studying psychology.”
Sean: “I am a music major with a concentration in music business.”
Margaret: ” I’m a triple major in global studies, geography, and drama.”
Colin: “I am a scholar of the music business.”
NT: In what ways do you feel you’ve benefitted from attending college?
Harley: “My college experience has helped me grow as an individual, and I has shown me that I am still growing and always will be.”
Sean: “I met a lot of people, and learned a lot of lessons through life experience that I wouldn’t have been exposed to without the opportunity of attending college, weather it was useful is up for debate.”
Margaret: ” College opened my eyes to new perspectives by meeting new people from different walks of life. It enhanced my knowledge in practical skills as well as fields I’m interested in. It enabled me to learn about myself and others in a welcoming and safe setting.”
Colin: “I met people that opened me up, the friends that I’ve met here (the band) have been the most important thing about my college experience.”
NT: Harley, was the music you were creating as a solo act vastly different from the music the band makes now?
Harley: “Yes, before when it was just me it was all done in my bedroom with a PA monitor, a synth, a vast pedal collection, and either my phone speaker or downloaded into a Scarlett 2i2. I mixed on a bootleg Logic with Sony headphones. I had no idea what I was doing. Now, it is collaborative, and fully fleshed out, and is so much more emotional and full. As well as so much more creative and fun.”
NT: What is your earliest memory of being exposed to music that influenced you to make your own?
Harley: “I remember listening to the Beatles when I was young and thinking about the chords they were playing. I would try to recreate those chords, and then I would rearrange them and sing my own tune.”
Sean: “My parents played me Bach and Beethoven CD’s when I was going to bed. That and Frog and Toad. I loved the music in Frog and Toad, and I guess that’s the foundation of what inspired me to write.”
Margaret: “Well I wrote a bunch of really crappy songs when I was eight or nine, but it wasn’t really until when I picked up a musical instrument that inspired me to write my own songs.”
Colin: “The moment I realized I wanted to seriously make my own music was listen to Car Seat Headrest sophomore year, and hearing how crappy the production was, but how good it was at the same time. It made me feel like if he can do it anyone can do it.”
NT: What is your songwriting process like?
Sean: “As someone wiser than me called it, divine intervention. I seem to get all my juice within the span of ten minutes, then after that I can work on something for fifteen hours and it never gets better. The song writing process for “Something About the Moment” was very linear. First I wrote the riff, and then I sat on the riff because I only had inspiration for the riff. Then, I was listening to it and singing in the shower and came up with the melody. Then, writing the words was just putting the pieces of the puzzle together.”
NT: What are the band’s biggest goals right now?
Sean: “I’d say the bands biggest goals right now are releasing a studio album, producing another album, and getting our music to new people, and getting more first impressions.”
NT: What are the band’s biggest obstacles?
Sean: “Our biggest obstacle, realistically, is getting in front of all of the other artists trying to do the same thing we are.”
NT: Do you have any advice for newer musicians?
Harley: “Work with everyone, and every idea is worth trying at least once.”
Sean: “If the people are right, the music will follow.”
Margaret: “Yes! To learn, pick a YouTube channel and stick to it. I watched Scotts Bass, he is really fun. Don’t put yourself in a box, as in if you find something that you want to pursue musically even if you don’t have any sort of background in it, you should still go for it.”
Colin: “Never stop playing.”
Listen to Magic Finger’s new single, “Something About the Moment”:
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