Calling music “infectious” is a music-critic cliché of the highest order. But when watching Cincinnati Indie Pop band Multimagic perform at last year’s big Bunbury Music Festival, there was no other word to accurately describe the band’s effect. As the group’s synth-laden, hyper-melodic songs washed over the audience, more and more people walking by became drawn in. Besides being completely fixated on the performance, the new fans were also instantly bobbing up and down to the music and, somehow, by the end of the set, it seemed half of them were singing along.
Multimagic singer/songwriter/guitarist Coran Stetter understands the power of melody, having grown up on crafty modern songcraft greats like Weezer, Nirvana, The Flaming Lips and Pixies (and later drawing influence from artists like The Killers and Arcade Fire). As an aspiring young songwriter, he was also struck by the power of Emo Pop band The Get Up Kids, whose hooks seemed designed to be sung back into their faces in concert.
“All (The Get Up Kids’) songs were melodic with catchy verses and choruses, and the lyrics were very emotional, but more genuine than cheesy or melodramatic,” Stetter says. “People would sing along the entire time, and it was very anthemic. That always stuck with me. When I would write songs in my bedroom, I always imagined singing with lots of people.”
Stetter first came to the attention of local music fans with Come On Caboose, which he describes as a solo project (he did assemble a full band to play live), with Stetter handling all of the writing and much of the in-studio playing. The project drew some attention, but ultimately left Stetter frustrated. It was that frustration that led to the patience required to form Multimagic.
“The (Come On Caboose) songs were good and accessible, which attracted live players and listeners, but ultimately, I couldn’t do it all on my own, and on my own terms. It was a learning experience,” Stetter says. “After growing frustrated, I took a break from music and focused on my day job for two years. In 2012, I lost my job. I started writing songs again, but told myself I would not launch a new band until I had found the right people.”
Stetter carefully assembled Multimagic, but there were still elements of lucky happenstance that led to the band’s formation. The first musician to join was keyboardist Brian Davis, who had recently returned from serving in the military in Iraq. Stetter and Davis both responded to a Craigslist ad placed by someone looking to form a Surf Rock band. The person who placed the ad didn’t show up to the first scheduled get-together, but Stetter and Davis did and bonded. In the spring of 2014, the pair hit the studio and recorded the first Multimagic track, “Let Go.”
The song attracted the attention of drummer Sebastien Schultz, who had been without a band for over a year after splitting with the successful Bad Veins. Three hours after meeting with Davis and Stetter for the first time, he joined Multimagic, and the now-trio went into the studio to work on more songs. Stetter was a fan of the Cincinnati band Young Colt, which led to him reaching out to that band’s singer/guitarist, Ben Hines, asking if he’d be interested in sitting in for live shows. Stetter tooks Schultz to see Young Colt play, leaving the drummer so impressed, he told Stetter, “That’s the guy.” That same week, local singer/songwriter/guitarist/pianist Mia Carruthers contacted Schultz about playing on some material she had been working on. He explained he was too busy with Multimagic, but asked Carruthers to come meet with Stetter. Carruthers clicked
with everyone so well she went out and bought a bass,
filling the final slot in Multimagic’s membership.
“Like most bands, we just started playing together,” Stetter says of their first rehearsal. “Unlike most bands, it was fucking awesome.”
Multimagic made its live debut at the end of January last year.
Stetter isn’t coy about his hopes and plans for Multimagic, saying, “Multimagic absolutely has aspirations beyond Cincinnati — we want to be a nationally and internationally touring band.” The group wants to find a booking agent, as well as a label to help release its currently in-the-works debut album. The band has been garnering the right attention to achieve that goal by performing several shows at the annual CMJ music fest/conference in New York. In fact, Multimagic has played more shows in NYC than in its hometown.
Stetter says the New York shows have been great not only for connecting the group with industry people, but also with the larger network of influential music lovers in the city.
“In New York, the person that tags your band on Instagram or writes about you is more likely going to have a real-life connection with those people you are looking for,” Stetter says. “That real-life connection is legitimacy for a tastemaker. Someone they know and trust is excited about your band.”
Multimagic has been working on its debut since September at downtown’s Sound Images facilities. Stetter says the band may release an independent EP while searching for a partner to release the full-length to facilitate touring. But, since patience has worked out well for him so far, he sees no need to rush things.
“No release date yet. It took me nearly three years to find the right people to write and record the music with. We’ve been together a year. We can wait a little longer if we have to,” he says. “But, hopefully, we won’t need to.”
For more on MULTIMAGIC, visit multimagicmusic.com.
For more on the 2016 CINCINNATI ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS, visit citybeat.com’s CEA page.
This article appears in Jan 13-20, 2016.