The Magic Numbers released their debut album in 2005 and haven't looked back since. Having won the adulation of fans and critics alike, and a whole load of awards too, The Magic Numbers have become one of the most well-loved bands in Britain today. Meg Rowell caught up with Michelle ahead of their headlining slot at this year's GuilFest.
So, what are The Magic Numbers up to at the moment?
Well, right now, we're about to do some recording. We want to do some new tracks and hopefully release something pretty soon. We're thinking of either doing an EP or B-Sides or something, just making use of any available time to be in the studio
You've only been around for a couple of years, and yet you're one of the biggest bands in Britain, it must be a pretty exciting place to be in?
(Laughs) Yeah, definitely. If you'd asked me a couple of years ago, I wouldn't have thought I'd be doing anything like this, but it's been cool. The first album was this crazy ride, going to all these award ceremonies and being recognised more than we ever were, so it's a pretty mad thing to take in. But at the moment it's nice to have had our two records out and to be able to play as much as possible. We just take it in our stride.
You're playing the main stage at GuilFest this year, are you looking forward to it?
Yeah, I'm really looking forward to all the festivals; it's such an exciting time for music I think. We had such an amazing time last summer playing all the festivals, I think we did about twenty-odd and this time we're doing pretty much the same amount, going round Europe as well, doing Holland and the like, so it should be really exciting. I've heard some great things about GuilFest, and I've got some friends there as well, so we're gonna have a party back at theirs afterwards - I haven't told them about it yet though!
And you're sharing the stage with Madness - are you fans?
I did go through a Madness phase actually, I thought they were really different, really entertaining and stuff, but I've never seen them live so it'll be a real treat. That's what's cool about festivals, even though you don't really have much time to watch all the bands you'd like to, it's nice when you stumble upon someone you hadn't really thought about going to check out, so yeah, I'm looking forward to Madness.
Are there any other GuilFest acts that you're hoping to catch?
Richard Thompson's supposed to be really good live, some of my friends are really into him so I'll definitely be going to check him out.
You've played at a lot of festivals over the last couple of years, what's the best thing about performing at them?
Just the buzz of being on stage really. It's always quite a high stage but you feel even higher than that, you feel like you're in the sky or something, you just lose yourself totally. It's just a different experience; from all the gigs we've played in really small venues, to playing our own gigs in sold out venues with a 5000 capacity or whatever, and then playing a festival - there's all these different stages you go through of not believing that you're really up there. But the thing I love most about festivals is the view and the sea of people, listening to your music with smiling faces and if it's a good day, it's just great.
Would you say that you prefer playing festivals to indoor gigs then, or the other way round?
I think it's nice to mix it up, I love playing our gigs because we get to do a longer set - and we get a sound check! And you get to control your audience a bit more, but at a festival, whatever happens, happens and you just have to take it on your chin and hope for the best!
Who would you get to play your perfect festival?
We want the original line up of Guns'n'Roses back together! With Steven Adler on the drums so we'd have to get him back from the grave...I'd like to see Joni Mitchell too, and maybe Jimi Hendrix or Johnny Cash, so mostly dead people! That would be the ideal kind of line up, where you just sit in front of the stage and watch great act after great act.
GuilFest is famed for being a great family festival; will you have any family in the audience?
Hopefully, yeah. Our Mums and Dads keep asking to come to all the festivals but I'm like 'I don't think you could cope with it Mum!' But, yeah, our brother will definitely be in the audience. I think it's really nice actually when people take their kids to festivals, when you see all the babies in the front row - if I had kids, I'd definitely take them to festivals and make sure I get them into music.
And how will The Magic Numbers be spending the rest of their summer?
Hopefully, as busily as possible. I don't really like to stop because I start thinking too much and I lose my mind a bit if I have nothing to do! We want to finish the tracks we're doing in the studio, release something for our fans and do a lot of festivals. We're going to America quite a lot too, so hopefully we'll have broken America by the time we come back. Fingers crossed on that one!
Finally, Ents24 are about to launch an Unsigned Band Competition, with the prize being a slot on our stage at GuilFest - do you have any advice for young bands starting out?
My advice would be to just play as much as possible, never turn down a gig because you never know who's going to be there and you never know how it's going to turn out. Get a following together and just perform as much as possible, but also, to really believe in your band, really know that you're in the right band and are there for the right reasons. Everything will come to you that way. Good luck to them!
The Magic Numbers will play the BBC Radio 2 Main Stage at GuilFest on Sunday 15th July 2007. For more information, see the GuilFest page here on Ents24.
