MOTEL VOID: I couldn’t find much about you online – could you briefly describe how the band came to be and who’s involved?
CATHOLIC MAGIC: The band came to be through collaborative artistic projects with friends from college, mainly, as well as is primarily made up of Kyle (Danny) Carpenter and Orlando Lopez. We are best friends who have known each other since grade school, as well as have many similar art tastes and music interests fortunately. Through this process, we have been able to grow individually and as artists with processing many of the emotions regarding coming of age and present world matters through the lens of Indie rock, which is also fun.
MOTEL VOID: You’re from Idaho – honestly, I don’t know many artists from that area! What’s it like making more niche music there? Are there any favorite spots or local artists you’d recommend?
CATHOLIC MAGIC: It is a bit difficult at times to make the music we make within a small town, especially such as Caldwell, however, we also have many friends and other artists that we look up to in the area such as Boise and the rest of the northwest. Projects that we would recommend from the area include moon owls mages, Youth Lagoon, and one of our other best friends, Jocelyn Guntar. We live in Desert cowboy wine country, which is coincidentally very inspiring for our experience. I (Kyle), grew up on a ranch and riding horses entering rodeos from a young age. There’s plenty of rodeos and wine to try, as well as this beautiful little place called peaceful belly farms that we frequently like to go. I would also recommend flying m coffee as it is one of the best coffee shops and I have also lived in Portland so that’s saying something. Orlando also manages there, which is great!
MOTEL VOID: Could you tell us a bit about the writing and recording process of your single Not Around / Catholic Magic? On Catholic Magic, you also collaborated with Danny Joy and heart charms…
CATHOLIC MAGIC: For this previous single release, we decided to re-release the song Catholic Magic, which we had priorly released under that collaborative project of Danny Joy and heart charms. Our recording process usually involves some degree of DIY at home recording with a touch of studio quality at some point in the process. However we can get the job done and retain the emotion is usually our goal. For that song, specifically, Orlando wrote the verses from a very emotionally charged place, with me coming in with the chorus and lead guitar. This is usually how our best songs seem to be written we’ve found.
MOTEL VOID: Are you working on a debut album at the moment?
CATHOLIC MAGIC: At the moment, we are planning an album and have many songs in the works and some already recorded. We are planning to release a single in the next few weeks, which in my opinion is some of our best work and I’m very excited to share it with the world. It will most likely have some exciting visuals, along with it, as well as some other exciting details.
MOTEL VOID: Who are some of your current inspirations?
CATHOLIC MAGIC: Being in the location environment that we are, we have found influence in classic western themes, anime, nature/ gardens, post religious themes, relationships, and more. We have love for projects such as Fox Academy, The Backseat Lovers, Provoker, Alex g, and a project called Mount Kimbie, just to name a few.
MOTEL VOID: Do you have any plans to tour?
CATHOLIC MAGIC: No plans at the moment, however, this would be a dream of ours. I’m optimistic we will!
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