Welcome to Series 1, Episode 2 of Norwich Spotlight, a run of articles where I’ll be shouting about an amazing band who do amazing things.
Each Spotlight also includes an interview with the artist/band and a Recent and Decent playlist made by the artist!
After the noisy tones of Red Mar last week, we’ll be keeping up the noise and intensity with another incredible experimental post rock band, Magnolia!
Introducing Magnolia
I’ve now seen Magnolia a couple of times this year. The first time I saw them, I think it’s fair to say that they awoke something deep inside me. Was it love? Was it lust? All I can be sure of was that it was deep and wonderful. A drug that I am now half-bestowing upon you. The other half is up to you.
In reference to May’s gig at Voodoo Daddys I said this:
Magnolia were completely and utterly brilliant. They were all young musicians and, as such, brought a young crowd. I might have been tempted to mosh along with them if I didn’t think I would be the oldest person in the mosh-pit! They had some great hooks, awesome energy, ambitious songs and were one of the most relevant bands I’ve seen. The saxophonist alone made them awesome.
And now for interview
Firstly, please introduce yourself:
Hello, we are Magnolia. Currently a 7 piece band made up of George Rodgers on guitar and vocals, Adam Turner on bass and vocals, Daisy Green on saxophone, Tom Reynolds on percussion and programming/keyboard, Matthew Creegan on Guitar, Harrison Peek on Drums and Matthew Cassie on Trombone. But we’ll probably end up as a 26 piece by January the way it’s going.
How did the band form?
The band started as a 4 piece- Matty and George were friends since high school and had been attempting music together since they were 13 ish, they went to high school with Harrison. Whilst they were in different friend groups they had a mutual friend and decided to start a band on a drunken night as Harrison was in a band with Adam that had disbanded so they had two guitarists, a drummer and a bassist. (that's all you need if you want to be stress free.) Matty and George met Daisy on the last day of their first year at college (Jane Austen) and invited her to join the band. Our little fella tom was a photographer that used to come to our gigs, we knew he could drum and that he did some MIDI stuff so we got drunk (again) and asked him to join. (We stole him from our friends Dollskins who are another Norwich band). Matthew (or as we have cruelly nicknamed him Keith) joined as George wanted a tuba player, Daisy said she knew a trombone player so we had to compromised but it was for the best as Keith is an excellent musician.
I'm always amazed at bands who consistently write longer songs. How much improvisation is involved in the song-writing process?
Normally someone comes to practice with some sort of idea and we improv around it and work on the transitions between parts and then they just keep evolving as we just want to add so much stuff all the time. In our heads we don't write long songs we just sort of accidentally do it. A good example of a song that is long is the opener to our set ICELAND. This one was initially about 5 mins and then George came back for Christmas after starting uni and decided that it needed a Swans like build in the middle and we just sort of improved it and recorded it on our phones. In the moment it felt so epic and it made the song super long and we kept it. Adam also loves a big long song so he's always keen for it and we all like bands that make long stuff like Swans and Godspeed, You Black Emperor but Swans is probably our favourite. We had a couple of 15 ish minute bangers but they will probably be cut down as some parts are rubbish but then we will probably add a load more rubbish and they will be long again.
There are times in your live sets when you almost pulsate together as one. Do you lose yourselves in the moment as you appear to, or are you all quite aware of your synchronicity?
I'm not sure if the others are aware but I (George) just throw myself about the stage and if I hit any of the others then so be it. I try to be fully in the moment. Sometimes my mind wanders a little but most of the time I'm locked in and ready to rock. Tom does go into the mosh quite a lot and Keith sometimes goes with him…. That is somewhat orchestrated but Tom sort of comes and goes as he pleases.
What does performing live mean to you?
As a band, performing live means everything to us. We release music because we want more people to see us live. While we love recording it does not have the same energy as playing live as the feeling of a good gig is completely impossible to replicate in the studio. You can get close but you can't replicate it - the sheer volume alone is uncapturable. As a young person it's also a good way to channel a lot of anger or feelings you have in a healthy way. Annoyed or upset about something? Just throw yourself about on a stage whilst making loads of noise for 45 minutes.
What can we expect from your headline gig in January?
We aren't entirely sure yet. We are all together over Christmas so we will be doing lots of long proper rehearsals, we will hopefully try some new things, we will definitely do some current things and we will try our hardest to make an epic mosh (I’m gonna get Tom to do a stage dive if its busy enough).
Is there an EP or LP in the pipeline?
There may or may not be something that we’ve made/recorded but we won't release anything that we may or may not have done until the hype is bursting at the seams (or we just decide to release it on a pre-arranged date next year).
Finally (and I've decided that I'm going to ask every band this from now until the end of time), would you be able to create a 7-song Recent and Decent Guest Playlist?
I'm going to assume you mean released in the last year (end of 2023 is included maybe). I'm also putting it in a good flowing order!
ROMANCE- Fontaines D.C: an epic/creepy opening tune although I think the live version is better. Whilst I prefer other bands I think Fontaines D.C are the coolest band.
Please Please Please -Sabrina Carpenter: got a sick key change and my girlfriend thought it was funny that I liked it but its a banger pop tune (singing along to it right now and doing the hand claps).
Take it with you - Cameron Winter: this is a solo song from the frontman of geese that came out recently. It has lovely vocal harmonies at the end and beautiful lyrics.
Good luck, Babe!- Chappell roan: I'm into pop music again. Between this, Sab Car and Charli XCX. It's popping (I would’ve put HOT TO GO! but it came out a year ago - fun fact we did a version of Television at the windmill in which Adam sung hot to go during the chorus)
Pull the rope- Ibibio sound machine: stupidly I know nothing about this group other than this song and it's a great song
Running- Fat Dog: this is an epic song with an epic video and an epic ending, probably one of the best moshes I've ever been in.
The Magician- Geordie Greep: one of the best songs ever, George, Matty, Harrison and Adam binned off 4 days of work/school in 2023 to go to black midis 4 day residency and they played this every night, it was sad that they broke up but i'm glad this song survived as its phenomenal and even my mum likes it (which means it must be good)
Secret 8th song is the new MAGNOLIA song that will be out at the end of November. (28th tell your friends)
That's all. Hope to see you at the January headliner!
Sign off
Thank you so much to George for giving up the time to give us such brilliant, insightful responses! Over the last year, I think I’ve shared 4 of his suggested 7 songs so, naturally, I approve of his playlist! Lots of pop in their to perk you up on a bleak autumnal evening.
If anyone missed Red Mar’s last week, it’s here.
Now I’ll leave you with their first single, Television, although do look out for that forthcoming single/album! Their next gig is at Norwich Arts Centre in Norwich on 18th January 2025. Hopefully, I’ll see you there!