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Qiituiartj-, 25, 1995
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Last year was a big one for Athens'own Magn ipop. Their
major label debut, Hot Boxing, came out on Priority Records
(same label as Ice Cube and Ice-T), the video for "Slowly,
Slowly’ showed up here and there, and, as always, they did
some hefty touring (on their own, with Sugar, and with the
Lemonheads). It has been a year of nonstop work, and the
band shows no signs of slowing down.
FP: Spending so much time away from here, do you still feel
like Magnapop is a part of the Athens community? ■
Magnapop: It’s really strange, because we’ve never been
like an “Athens band." We moved there because it was re
ally cheap and the people that live there are really great, but
I don’t know that we've ever felt like a part of the community.
We were really from Atlanta, so we’ve kinda been consid
ered foreigners in Athens. It’s a great place to live, but I
don’t think we really have the perspective you’re talking about
— how the scene is and all that. It seems like bands in Ath
ens are more open — people play in several different bands
and they share stuff. It doesn’t seem like that happens in
Atlanta.
FP: How does your success in Europe compare with your
strides here in the United States?
Magnapop: There’s a lot more success for us over there
right now. We’ve oeen going back and forth over there for
the last two years — we’ve never really done that here. We
worked really hard in England. We banged our heads up
against the British wall for a while and then everything else
seemed easy by comparison. It’s so cool, though, because
we get to fly over, do the whole rock trip — get a van, and an
actual crew. So vyhen we come back here we’re like no
bodies, lowlifes. It’s great over there, like Fantasy Island.
FP: Here's an observa tion: It seems like people need a short
hand to describe things, and your band, in the grand scheme
of things, will probably be lumped in with bands like the
Breeders and Belly, even though those bands really aren't
all that similar to what Magnapop is all about.
Linda Hopper: I think you’re right. It’s a real convenient
thing to do, but we always approach stuff like that musically,
as opposed to what the band looks like. I can understand
some elements of the world having to put a handle like that
on the band, and I'm proud to be a woman — being in a
band is the best job I’ve ever had — but I don't think the fact
that I’m a woman is anything we promote, like a selling point,
or anything.
Ruthlo Morris: It's so silly to even worry about being pi
geonholed, because how can you fight something like that?
You can just be who you are.
David McNair: The comparisons they’re gonna draw are
going to be different after they see us live anyway. I’ve seen
reviews of our record that say we sound like Belly — we are
nothing like them at all, aspecially live. It’s gonna happen,
but let the small-minded write like that
Hoppar: Maybe it'll change someday where people won’t
be so concerned whether it’s a male or female voice — it’s
just music. Maybe it’ll get closer to that.
Marc Pilvinsky
Magnapop plays the 40 Watt Saturday, Jan. 28, with The
Rock*A*Teens.
140 E. Clayton • 543-9276
GOOD MUSIC YJtItST
4tItst good friends
GOOD DRINKS YiYlfjT
-no it now* iMH it-
TOURS.
JAN. 26
TREY
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TUES
JAN. 31
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Plan Your Social Events ^7llh Us
114 COLLEGE • 369-1328
IVI NO
ON ONE
the debut CD
f rorn
FUN KOMATFC
FUNKOMATIC
IVINQ
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CD Release Party
at the HALF MOON PUB
'Fri . Jan. 27 th
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fr<
v the Coffee Ho 1 >e
2 : hO o . in .
e s h • f e k * 1 ;: t;. q .s * ; e • - > l o n s f r om the debut C D
FREE - No.Cover Charge!
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