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The World Without Magic, Band
By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 14, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 14, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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We recently saw The World Without Magic for the first time, though they've been playing around the city for a while now. Their creative pop noir translates well on stage, and even if it all is a tad dark, you can't help but smile a little. They're playing our show on Thursday, give a listen: Never Begun.mp3
Let's get this out of the way, where did your band name originate?
We were going back and forth for weeks, trying to decide on something fresh. We couldn't. Patrick emailed a friend of his who was living in Korea. At the time this friend was pretty depressed and lonely. Within a day, he sent about fifty ideas for band names, most of which were pretty bleak. The World Without Magic stuck out as perfect - it's a little glum but with a sense of irony. Funny sad.
What is your first conscious memory of living in New York?
Reliving the opening sequence of Perfect Strangers, except in the wind tunnels of lower Manhattan.
What is your favorite place to drink in NYC, and what's the best night to go out?
They say Thursday is the new Friday and that Tuesday is the new Saturday. But we think Wednesday is the new Thursday and Sunday afternoon is the new Saturday, making Wednesday the new Friday and Sunday afternoon the new Saturday. (We usually default to Clem's in Williamsburg.)
Now its time for some fill-in-the-blank action
**You know you've made it when...**A baby comes out 9 months later.
**It'll be time to pack up the gear for good when...**we're the house band on Emeril Live
**I'll never forget the first time I...**played on Emeril Live
**I'll never forget the first time...**Chris spent a half hour Febreezing his mullet wig after a stripper had stolen it and danced with it on at Pumps.
Let's have some fun with word association. Give me your immediate feelings on the following (if you've got no discernable feelings, make something up that won't embarrass you in the morning)
Yankees
George Costanza
Mets
refrigerator
CBGB
Beat on the Brat
Justin Timberlake
Dick in a Box (Mina objects...she unironically loves N'Sync)
Pitchfork
bails of hay
Blogs
deviled eggs
Gentrification
Desaparacidos lyrics
A few quickies on the music tip
What was the most played song on your iPod (or an equivalent music playing device) in the past week?
We spend our transit time immersed in different music:
Patrick: "Waves of Fear" by Lou Reed.
Mina: Duran Duran covering Lou Reed's "Perfect Day."
Chris: This American Life podcast.
Darren: Paris Hilton's "Stars Are Blind."
Who would be in your ultimate music supergroup, your all-star Olympic team of rock?
Darren: Feist, Emily Haines, The guy from Apostle of Hustle, Some of the members of Stars, Kevin Drew... Oh, wait a minute...
Mina: Kim Gordon, David Bowie, Joey Santiago of The Pixies, and Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney. I think.
If you released a 7" what would you put on the cover?
a cup of hot coffee
What was the first/last album you bought on the day it was released?
First: the Foo Fighters' first album
Last: Silver Jews - Tanglewood Numbers
If Josh Schwartz, creator of the OC , asked your band to perform on his tv show (as Modest Mouse, the Killers Tom Vek and the Walkmen have) would you?
If the Flaming Lips will perform on 90210...who are we to say no?
And finally...What came first, the music or the misery?
I don't understand the question *sob*
Tagged
interview
manhattan
Never Begun
new york
nyc
Perfect Strangers
the city
The World
The World Without Magic
Wednesday
williamsburg
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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