Though still a relative upstart, New Madrid has learned how to keep growing
Ninety-nine times out of 100, when a group enters a battle of the bands or sends its raw material into a songwriter’s contest, nothing comes of it. Even when victorious, the first prize of studio time rarely amounts to little more than unfinished tracks collecting dust on a hard drive. Athens, Ga.’s New Madrid bucked that disappointing trend when it not only scored a blue ribbon after entering its demo into a competition back in 2011, but also parlayed that triumph into debut album Yardboat and a continuing relationship with producer David Barbe and his Chase Park Transduction studio. The outfit has been a faithful and satisfied customer ever since, with two more albums, 2014’s Sunswimmer and the new magnetkingmagnetqueen, emerging from its pairing with Barbe.
Formed by a loose collection of friends dealing with distance getting in the way of regular rehearsals, New Madrid found its stride once guitarist/vocalist Graham Powers was able to move from Chattanooga, and the rhythm section of drummer Alex Woolley and bassist Ben Hackett moved from Nashville, to convene with guitarist/vocalist Phil McGill, a freshman at the University Of Georgia. It was there that the quartet was able to focus its attention on the kaleidoscopic shimmer and moody psychedelia of its material while taking its show on the road, where social and artistic lessons were learned and strengths were stumbled upon.
“We got to play more together and didn’t have to use older ideas or figure out what we were doing separately on our own time,” says McGill. “But the biggest change and influence on our sound was probably that we got to tour consistently. We weren’t just playing songs for a room or for our imaginations; we were actually playing them for people. We developed an unspoken language that we use onstage in conducting and directing songs in different directions.”
“Touring definitely opened up having to pay attention to the flow of the live set, song sequence, song lengths and where to place things to create as many dynamics as possible,” says Hackett.
For magnetkingmagnetqueen, the band paid attention to the lessons learned during a series of live recordings that eventually became the Dawn Teeth Rattling EP. Recording shows with a mobile rig drilled home the message of capturing first-take energy, something it wanted to replicate as best as possible on the new album.
“In the past, we’d go someplace and hole up for a week to do demos,” says McGill. “This time, we just had David Barbe come along with us and use what would have been a demo session as an original tracking session, eliminating when you record a demo and fall in love with it but aren’t able to recapture that magic. We still ended up working at Chase Park for the rest of the record.”
“The new album has elements of our other albums while still being its own thing,” says Hackett. “Emotionally and mood-wise, we go places we’ve never been. We tried to not repeat ourselves, and it’s definitely a progression because with all the touring we’ve done, bands we’ve played with, and how you grow and tastes change, how could it not be?”
—Kevin Stewart-Panko
