HYPE UP #6: margomool's 'misconceptions' EP
Reality continues to make no sense. One moment you're grasping life, the next it slips away. 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 is about the feeling of loosing our grip. Created through the cxrxnx virus pandemic, margomool's artistic offerings hope to give listeners some comfort in our inability to define anything.
UKNA is excited to HYPE UP margomool’s new EP, misconceptions, which takes you on a soul-jazz-prog rock journey through a five-track EP and three visual projects. Self-produced by margomool, utilising live recording and electronic production, margomool has worked with an eclectic range of musicians residing in South East London to shape the EP. Meditating on the feeling of loosing our grip, their sounds have been brought to life through stunning accompanying visual projects made with UK-based trans* artists.
‘Day’ Animation. Get immersed into the weird and wonderful dreamland created by animator Molly Pukes @mollypukes
‘Night’ music video. Dive into the darkness with margomool and Director George Nindi @georgenindi
UKNA caught up with margomool about their creative process and got the lowdown on upcoming gigs…
UKNA: Can you tell us a bit about your creative and/or collaborative process in making this EP?
margomool: The EP was very much a lockdown project. With everything coming to such an abrupt stop in 2020, I started to think a lot about how we perceive reality. A collection of songs started to form which reflected the angsty mystery the world had found itself in. I had a load of recordings with the band from 2019 which hadn't materialised into anything yet, so I started to work with what I had. misconceptions gave me the opportunity to really dig into my production skills. Having something to focus on through isolation was a life source. I started to hear the songs in new ways, chopping up and rearranging sections in ways we hadn't done when playing them live. The music took a course of its own in the production process, which really opened me to new possibilities. I luckily managed to squeeze in another recording session with the band between the autumn - winter lockdown in 2020. I've been working with this family of musicians for 4 years now. They are some of the best humans I know and truly a delight to work with. I was super proud of what we achieved in the session and thankful that we could even come together during a time so many people were a part from each other. It was really cathartic to be able to play in tandem again and I actually kept a lot of the live takes for some of the tracks in the project.
UKNA: What are the inspirations and influences behind misconceptions?
margomool: A big inspiration which influenced the sound and visuals for misconceptions was the intangible nature of reality. The events of the past 2 years have felt a lot like a global existential crisis. We have collectively dived deep into ourselves and the many layers which make up our society and mask its cracks. I wanted to express the feeling of being lost amongst it all through making music and visuals that twist audiences, pulling them in one direction but ending up in places they didn't anticipate. It was amazing working with visual artists in the making of music videos for tracks Day and Night, as well as the general art work. Whilst each artist produced a completely different piece of work in response to the music, they were all creating from themes of illusion vs. truth. It was super interesting to see how each visual influenced the next one, like we were slowly building our own world of misconceptions together.
UKNA: What's next for margomool?
I'm really excited to be returning to Leicester with the full band as part the UKNA Takeover in February 2022! We're also playing in Leeds at The Book Club on 11th February, and will be bringing the FYE Cypher to both cities. FYE stands for Free Your Ego and is a non-judgmental jam myself and my family of musicians have been hosting in London for the past 2 years. It was born out of a lack of low-pressure spaces for musicians to improvise in, particularly led by marginalised genders. The shows in Leeds and Leicester will be the first time we're trying the jam outside of London and we couldn't be more ready to go! There aren't enough ties between music communities across the UK and we feel this could be an exciting opportunity to build connections. I'm also dreaming up EP/album/visual project ideas, which I hope to share with you at some point in 2022...
Click here to listen to the EP on Bandcamp, where you can also buy the album and/or become a supporter of margomool.
Visit margomool’s website here.
Come to Leicester to see them LIVE at the City Takeover, 25-27 February 2022. You can also take part in the FYE Cypher - more details soon!
EP Credits:
vocals - margomool
lyrics - margomool
electric & acoustic guitar - Benedict Wood
electric bass - Matt Gedrych
drums - MettaShiba
flute - Lluís Domènech Plana
backing vocals - margomool & MettaShiba
producer - margomool
sound engineers - Jordan Parry, George Risk, Tilé Gichigi-Lipere & margomool
mixing engineers - Bienvenue, Tilé Gichigi-Lipere & margomool
mastering engineer - Bienvenue
recorded at The Risk's house, The Room Studios & margomool's studio
cover art - Darling Baby Jay