Hailing from a small town on the outskirts of Toronto, ‘The Magic’ brothers Geordie and Evan Gordon used to travel to work in a canoe, perform in a circus and dance wildly at hoedowns.
Releasing their first debut album entitled Ragged Gold today, Magic front-men Geordie and Evan share a distinct vision for what they consider to be good music. Influenced by their father’s acoustic folk roots and deep seated love for unadulterated 80′s funk, their infectious, foot-stomping sounds have evoked comparisons to the epic likes of Talking Heads and Hall and Oates. i-D online sidled up to Geordie for a chat and some quick fire facts on what it means to be in The Magic.
1. The Magic received their name from friend and former Unicorn Jamie Thompson, who thought it should be something with the word Magic in it, later settling on just The Magic.
2. Geordie and Evan bought a Sequential Circuits analog synth at a garage sale across the street from their house, which turned out to belong to the bass player of The Spoons, a popular Canadian electro-pop band. Early experiments while programming this synth led to the first Magic songs and the synths were then a staple in the band’s live set, until it malfunctioned last year.
3. All the string parts on Ragged Gold were played by Geordie, and multi-tracked up to 32 times.
4. As children, Geordie and Evan Gordon performed with their Dad in a travelling variety show playing music in between a juggler and a trampoline artist.
5. The name Ragged Gold comes from a monthly dance party that would take place in the boys’ hometown in Guelph, Canada. Geordie and Evan drew a predominant amount of inspiration from the music they would hear at these parties.
6. The Magic embarked on their first US tour in 2008 opening for Islands. Shortly after, front-man Nick asked the brothers to be in his band, which they are to this day.
7. Geordie and Sylvie Smith first had a band together in high school called The Barmitzvah Brothers, though neither of them are Jewish.
8. At one point, the brothers lived along the river in Guelph and would travel by canoe to work playing their songs.
9. In 2009, The Magic played in Dawson City, Yukon, which is above the arctic circle and in the summer has almost 24 hours of daylight.
10. Although The Magic currently play electro-pop, the brothers have a strong background in folk and country music and have also played in a hard rock band.
Text: Milly McMahon
