Artist description A Rock'n'Roll Revival "Grooving, driving rhythms. Loaded with talent and built to grind.... Their role in the reincarnation of Rock 'N' Roll will be forthcoming"- Synthesis.net

Music Style Progressive Rock

Musical Influences Jimi Hendrix, Tom Petty, Black Crowes, the Doors

Similar Artists NONE!

Artist History Formed in Dec 1999 in Chico, CA. MT most recently recorded a second album at Prosound Studios in Chico, released in December 2002. They have added guitarist Brett Johnsen, Edge on bass, and Brian Louton on the drums.

Group Members Joe Chamberlin - Guitar, Vocals David Deveaux - Keyboards, Vocals Brett Johnsen - Guitar Edge - Bass Brian Louton - Drums

Albums Self Titled Debut-2001: Smoke & Mirrors-2002

Press Reviews The heart of rock Magic Theatre seeks to revitalize rock 'n' roll by rediscovering its soul By Bret Lueder It has been argued that rock 'n' roll peaked in the 1960s and '70s. Bands like The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Santana, Cream, Led Zeppelin and The Who, among others, set the standard for creative, mind-expanding rock 'n' roll. While the music that stood the test of time became known as classic rock, experimental sub-genres such as new wave, hard rock, glam rock and, more recently, grindcore and rap core were all innovative and had early success--but just as quickly became clichéd and collapsed under their own weight. These sub-styles haven't stood the test of time. And so stands the scene today, ready to collapse under its own Rage Against-the-Korn-Bizkit weight. Fans are anxiously awaiting the next heroic rock 'n 'roll figure or band to lead a new charge into uncharted musical territory. But how long must we wait for the next Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia or Kurt Cobain? And what do we do in the meantime? You go back, say the four members of Chico's "world rock" group Magic Theatre. You go back to rock 'n' roll's heyday and attempt to find the place where it lost its way and go from there. Magic Theatre is trying to remember an era when the music held the promise of peace, freedom and the expansion of our awareness, values hard to find in contemporary, mainstream music. "One of the reasons playing rock 'n' roll is fun is because it's so anti-cool to play now," says short, black-haired 29-year-old bassist Jason Tate, who came up with the band's name while reading the Herman Hesse novel Steppenwolf. "Rock 'n' roll had its heyday. They said it would never die, but it did. So now you have all these musicians who grew up on rock 'n' roll and are playing everything but. It's good to learn to play technically with Latin or jazz, whatever, but it's loads of fun bringing that back to the source, that 'primalness' of rock 'n' roll." 'What I miss about today's rock is that you can't hear clear notes," ponytailed singer/guitarist Joe Chamberlin, who's 25. "Most pile on so many guitar effects that it sounds like someone dumping bricks out or something. To me, rock 'n 'roll is about hearing and feeling the wood and the metal sing. It's not about a bunch of processing. And save for the jam bands, no one is creating on stage anymore. It's all rehearsed to the point of perfection. It's commercial product." Tate interjects: "And we do improvise on stage, but we aren't a jam band. All of our songs are five minutes or less and are sprinkled with many pop hooks. Besides, we play everything from our own originals to songs from Jane's Addiction, The Beatles, Curtis Mayfield and Katrina and the Waves ["Walking on Sunshine" is a fun fan favorite]. We mix it up pretty good." No matter how stripped down, the guitar, bass, drum and vocals arrangement is a proven formula for success. People love it. The storied career of KISS and the idea that the band's name is an acronym--for "Keep it simple, stupid"--exemplifies this point. But MT has more that just a formula going for it. Like the music of many of the bands of rock's glory days, MT's tunes are wrapped around positive, uplifting lyrics that bring people together, they say. "I don't listen to much vocal music," says the 29-year-old keyboardist/vocalist David Deveaux, a trim, relaxed man who has played in the local acid jazz troupe Potluck with Tate. "The lyrics today just don't hold any meaning for me. But Joe's lyrics I really like. They're positive and are more of the way I feel." Being positive is paramount to these four because of the current state of the media and how they continuously pump society full of negativity. All you see, the band members say, is anger, violence and war. So they're trying to do their part to change that. Each has his own anecdote of how the media have affected him and how playing in this band gives him a weapon against the negativity. But none is more pertinent than the account given by drummer Damir Popovac, a slender, clean-cut 25-year-old. "I came to America in '94 from Bosnia," says Popovac, who is reluctant to talk until prodded by band members. "The media caused the war there. I was smuggled out to Denmark with my sister when I was 17. And in my town of Mostar, they wouldn't let us go to school or work. So we escaped. The people in Denmark kept trying to send us back to Bosnia, but luckily the U.S accepted us. I've brought my parents over since. But when you see the things that you see when you live in a war zone, you either get used to it or it gets to you. And it has affected different family members differently. So I try to stay as positive as I can." Each band member had something against rock 'n' roll for one reason or another. But when they all got together for the first time and talked about why they were so frustrated, they found their common ground: that rock 'n' roll combines all forms of music and is really a kind of world music that brings people together. So they recorded a CD that they believe demonstrates this thinking. This self-titled effort will be unveiled to the public at MT's CD release party at LaSalles on August 17 . The CD's track list is seven strong songs of infectious tunes geared toward bringing anyone and everyone together. "What the Hell," has a jangly, distortion-laden groove that is too edgy to be hippie rock. "The Right Train" has a catchy vocal hook, "Be on the right train and you'll be on the right track," that bounces you right along, while the ska-inflected "Monkey Puzzle," with its progressive chorus and Sublime-like, mellow-but-gritty guitar solo, is indicative of MT's all-encompassing sound. Magic Theater The Indescribable Essence of Rock 'N Roll by Maurice Spencer Teilmann The Synthesis volume 7 issue 38 June 4 2001 "When you find a fat groove you just want to ride it…" Magic Theater found that elusive groove and have been riding it all over Chico, dousing audiences with their energetic, light-hearted, rock sound. Comprised of Joe Chamberlin (guitar/vox), Jason Tate (bass), Damir Popovac (drums), and Dave Deveaux (keys), the group has got the fist of rock pumping and crowds spinning the hippie dance, but don't make the mistake of calling them a jam band. "I think we're more like the Black Crowes or Ben Harper or the Rolling Stones. Raw music. Being labeled a jam band can be the kiss of death 'cause people think you're gonna play (a song) for ten minutes, you're not gonna have very many words and you're just gonna be bobbin', mellow groove for three hours," explains the lanky guitarist as we sat outside their practice house one balmy May night. "That's not what we do, but because we improvise sometimes and create music while we're on the stage, people would like to stick us with that label." The quartet has been struggling with that particular denomination, and shies away from considering themselves a jam band. For some, myself included, it's hard to define that line where good plain rock music becomes jam music. The style incorporates bouncy, carefree rhythms, overly repetitive riffs, unassuming lyrics, and an endless procession of noodling solos. Magic Theater draws the jam line outside their doorstep, citing that their songs average about five minutes, and although Chamberlin pulls out the classic rock, vibrato-laden solos, that's not the crux of their sound. "I wonder what kind of patience people have for extended musical jams, wanking on guitars," observes Jason as he rolls a cigarette. "It's been exploited to such an extent, especially with rock 'n' roll. I get tired of people wanking on instruments. We try to come from a perspective of a lot of passion and from the grounding force of just energy, and we try to work with emotion more than the space of jamming. I think that's why we resist the 'jam band' label." That's not to say that they avoid exploring new ground on the spot. "Our songs are rarely the same twice," expands Tate. "They usually end pretty well and begin about the same but there's always improvisations and jams. Sometimes we find whole new grooves and whole new ways to play songs we've been playing for a year." "Every once in a while it gets kinda loose but for the most part we've gotten so used to playing with each other that we can just change the rhythm or change the feel of it a little bit and still keep the changes tight because we just listen to each other," finishes Joe. Rock band, jam band, San Francisco hippie sound, rock 'n' roll, whatever. The term that describes Magic Theater is irrelevant. It all comes down to guitar-based melodies, back-beats and punchy keyboards, the all-encompassing vibe of the music and how they come together to form the whole. "There's a lot of sadness in my soul for the state of this world and the people in it, and a lot of time that's the thing that I draw from to get the words out and sing with conviction," says Joe, who takes the burden as the primary vocalist / lyricist with a glimpse of seriousness, but never loses sight of optimism. "There's always gonna be a glimmer of hope." His sing-songy lyrics express an air of unity and salvation through understanding, tackling issues that are of great concern to him. "Take a look around, there's so much going on that people are too busy to see with the government, other people, the environment, like the clear-cutting, they slash and burn right up the road from here… I get very upset with the government and the media in general." This dissatisfaction with the status quo has fueled the fire and prompted the band to spread its message. Magic Theater recently released a self-produced, self-titled CD, available at their shows and fine music stores in the area. Without the financial backing of a record label, there is a great deal of difficulty when it comes to the production, promotion and distribution of an album. Luckily, Jason denotes how he can see the bright side of the situation. "When you can produce your own CDs you can easily produce a batch of fifty to a hundred within a couple weeks, and when those are gone you can make more. There's no in, you don't have to have the capital to buy a gaggle of CDs. Ultimately, I think there's going to be more of an area of music that artists can put out themselves. On the plus side, there's a wealth of five-dollar CDs hitting the market from independent artists." The seemingly difficult task of fitting all the components together is facilitated by the great sense of camaraderie between the members. During the interview, each expressed their admiration for each other's strengths. "A lot of it I credit to this man Damir, 'cause he's a monster. He guides us through a lot of the changes," relates his rhythm section counterpart. The praise seemingly embarrasses the modest drummer. "There's lots of room for improvement on my side," quietly qualifies Damir with his distinguished Bosnian accent. With humility, respect and the drive to let their songs be heard, Magic Theater has come a long way. There's still much distance left to cover, but with the amount of heart and soul that they harness in their music, discovering their role in the reincarnation of the rock 'n' roll will be forthcoming. The Synthesis - June 19, 2000 - by Brett Lueder "'Were kinda like the Nirvana of hippie bands,' jokes Jason Tate, former bassist of Potluck and now the same for Chico band Magic Theater. 'It's kind of a real basic thing that's been elaborated upon.' Thats one way to describe this new progressive jam band. Taking their name from the legendary Herman Hesse novel, Steppenwolf, Magic Theater (bassist Tate, Dave Deveaux on keyboards, Damir Popovac on drums and Joe Chaimberlin on guitar and vocals) brings that old school jamming sound on origional numbers like "Right Train," "Where They Go" and an edgy, rockin version of the early '80's classic "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves - no doubt in honor opf the king of surf rock, Dick Dale. "We've got a couple of dozen songs," continues Tate, "And things are just starting to come together. You'll see us again soon." Deveaux's starry fingerings and Chaimberlin's saucy fretwork are perfect matches for Tate's and Popovac's grooving, driving rhythms. Loaded with talent and built to grind, Magic Theater will be welcomed with open arms in our fair scene. Tricky Dick Chico News & Review - June 15, 2000 - By Jeremy Votava The King of Surf Guitar returned to Chico for yet another rockin' show, and it was obvious that openers Magic Theater were eccstatic about the opportunity of sharing the stage with him. A friend hit the nail on the head when he said "this band is kinda like Grape Nuts: no magic and no theater." However, the band, which included two ex-members of Potluck, played a groovey set that served as a good primer for the legendary guitar god... MT Responds: Yea, But Grape Nuts are GOOD!

Location Chico, CA - USA

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