An Interview with Eva Muntada & Xavi Sandoval (Magick Brother & Mystic Sister)

Interview by Mark Lager

What were your first experiences that made you decide to become musicians?

Eva: I really don’t know if I decided to become a musician, it is just a path that is part of my life. Since I was a child I have enjoyed listening to music and I have found myself singing or dancing. At my parents’ house there were records. From my early childhood I remember the album Lord of the Ages from Magna Carta. In my grandparents’ house there was a piano and I spent many hours playing by ear, trying to reproduce the songs, discovering the chords and structures, the power of introspection, exploring the sound of the piano. So almost as a teenager I started studying at the conservatory with no other purpose but to learn, and one thing led to another.

Xavi: My first experience is a memory when I was very young, it must be the tenth anniversary of Elvis Presley‘s death, or something like that. I saw a documentary on TV and it stuck with me, the songs, the costumes, the character, the legendary character that was given. In my house we listened to rock and roll and also flamenco, my father loved it. Years later I finally got my first electric guitar, and in adolescence I discovered more- Hendrix, Beatles, Zeppelin, Doors, and there I became addicted, first groups in school, etc.

How did the four of you meet and begin to play music together?

Eva: To start with, we are two couples. We already knew each other before we started playing together from the music scene, from the ambience of bands and concerts. We all knew each other from local rehearsal rooms and I knew Xavi from there and an underground festival called Freak Festival in which the two of us played in different bands. When we became a couple, it naturally united our passion and perdition.

Xavi: In the small Barcelona scene it was easy to meet lovers of this music. We have known Marc forever, he has always been involved in this environment playing in different groups. He had a studio called Red Bell Studios, where he recorded many bands. We met Maya later as she was his girlfriend. We got together in a very natural way, Eva and I were working around music inspired by the Tarot and we called Maya to come and put the flute in a song, she brought Marc and adding his experience we started another project. It was fantastic having a band again, it would open many possibilities.

When did the recording sessions for your debut start?

Xavi: We played in the studio, in our house, and as we began to structure the songs, we saw that it would be good to record the rehearsals. As Marc had a studio, he brought stuff, and we started testing in our own place and we ended up recording practically everything there. One of the first songs we recorded based on those improvisations was “Yogi Tea”, which can be seen as a succession of riffs that we had been testing. The first song composed was “Les Vampires”, then “Utopia”, “Instructions”. There was no definite date, it was done over time.

How did you decide to sequence the songs when the record was finished?

Eva: It was difficult as many songs were left out, some were long tracks and we were a bit limited by the capacity of the vinyl. It was agreed by the sensation and theme of each song, we let ourselves be advised by friends, we listened to opinions from outside the group, although we were clear that “Utopia” was a good song to start with and “Les Vampires” to finish.

The band resides in Barcelona and you recorded your debut near the Park Guell and Tibidabo. Were Antoni Gaudi’s architecture and this high hill inspiring for you in the creation of your music?

Eva: Totally, we live next to the park and it is part of our environment; we walk a lot and know its corners (now without tourists) the organic forms of the columns: the caves mixed with nature, the psychedelic mosaics, the orientalist geometric forms of architecture. It seems like a fairy tale. Gaudi was a mystic. On walks in the park suggestive ideas appear. We want our music to contain some of that collage. We see the mountain of Tibidabo, known here as a “magic mountain” for its amusement park, and it has that sight. Although we live in Barcelona, ​​it seems that we are more in nature and it helps us to disconnect from our work and the city.

Were there any other cultural/environmental influences that inspired you (the song “Arroyo del Buho” is the name of a stream in Andalucia and contains nature sounds)?

Xavi: We try to make our music suggest to the listener some kind of atmosphere, mood or sensation, situation. As you say, an example of this is “Arroyo del Buho” whose name is that of a small nearby river where Marc and Maya spend the summer in Andalusia. When we started to compose, the type of riff from the bass transported us to that type of Andalusian landscape. At that point we made an intro of what the night environment would be like in that river, the animals, the frogs, the owls, how the stars would look, the trees, the wind …

The change at the end suggests that fusion between the Arab and Spanish culture of the south. As a cultural / environmental influence, many places and artists, the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean and we also have to name Salvador Dalí.

The name of Magick Brother & Mystic Sister was partially borrowed from Gong and the band’s sound has been compared to the British Canterbury scene of the late 1960s/early 1970s (Gong, Caravan, Soft Machine) and psychedelia of the late 1960s/early 1970s (Arthur Brown, Brainticket, Pink Floyd). Do you find these comparisons accurate?

Xavi: It is impossible for us to compare ourselves with these bands, they have been everything in their styles; they have been able to develop an evolution, many of these sounds have been created by them. They are the forerunners and therefore we are their followers. We had the opportunity to see some of these groups live, and their quality was incredible. It is clear that all these bands are a very great influence for us, among many other influences from other times and other styles and there is a lot to learn from all of them, and it is good to be able to name them and always vindicate them.

How have the late 1960s/early 1970s influenced you musically and philosophically?

Xavi: Totally, sometimes I have the feeling that some periods of our life have revolved around this music and philosophy almost obsessively. At the end of the day, it is knowing the history. And something has prompted us to try to find out what happened in that musical past, and not only musically, because we don’t necessarily know how it was, its context, the lyrics, fashion, graphic arts, literature, cinema, philosophies… That of the underground, and how it has evolved until today.

Eva: One of the most surprising things about that artistic and cultural revolution is the amount that was produced in such a short time.

Is the closing track “Les Vampires” inspired by the silent film of the same name and the theme of Roman Polanski’s Dance of the Vampires?

Eva: We love that you reference Dance of the Vampires, since we are big fans of Komeda, the composer of the soundtrack and “Les Vampires” is inspired by this film and others in the style of Hammer, Roger Corman, etc. It is a song made from an imaginary vampire movie script. We try to set different scenes- a lost maiden enters a castle and is seduced by a vampire-and make the imaginary soundtrack to them.

Vinyl Writers is a community dedicated to discussing records that change our lives. What records have been most important in your life?

Xavi: We joined this community, I agree that there are albums that have the power to change the vision and give another meaning to people’s lives. There would be so many examples, albums that when they are named, many people understand the philosophy and what they represent, records that are initiatory in some stages of life for many generations. In my case, I remember the rock classics of the late 60s – early 70s as a before and after in my adolescence. Records like In the court of the Crimson King impacted so much or The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Then there was a long run of British psychedelic, folk, Canterbury, prog rock, Krautrock. As you discover more and more, each music has its moment, you just need to be connected. It is one of the powers of music- that energy that can make us emotional and transform a bad day into a magical discovery. This effect continues to happen day after day with different songs at different times.

Eva: I could not name a single album but there have been certain albums at a certain point in my life that I have especially connected with- The Zodiac Cosmic Sounds (Mort Garson), Third (Soft Machine), SF Sorrow (Pretty Things), Aguirre and In den Gärten Pharaos (Popol Vuh), In the land of Grey and Pink (Caravan), Tangerine Dream (Kaleidoscope). But there are so many left and I feel that all the music I have listened to has given me something-Gong, Brainticket, Moody Blues, Ananda Shankar, Pentangle, classical music, so many soundtracks… It’s important at the moment you find yourself, how you discover it, coincidences, a friend who made a tape for you, etc.

How has the coronavirus epidemic and quarantine affected your creativity and life?

Xavi: We have tried to find the positive aspects in this disaster. As we are quite the hermits, being able to stay at home has allowed us to play quietly and advance the work of our next album, an old project in which we have re-energized. It has really been very hard in Spain, many people have suffered a lot, and we still have many restrictions. When will the concerts return as they were before? We have not been able to present the album as we would have liked. It has been almost 1 year since the pandemic began and it is getting a very long time. We are very grateful for the support through social networks and the acceptance that this album has had in the midst of such a complicated situation. Thank you for all the comments we have received, to all the people who have listened to us. The records sold very quickly, both the 1st and the 2nd edition, and all this has given us a lot of energy to continue this project of Magick Brother & Mystic Sister.

Thank You so much for your responses to these questions, Eva & Xavi!

by Mark Lager

https://magicbrothermysticsister.bandcamp.com/album/magick-brother-mystic-sister-2