Make Magic sounds

The Mystic Fortress almost sounds like a fort that a child has built out of toys and boxes. The Magic Twig collective would tell you that this would be a close, but not accurate description of what this place is.

The Mystic Fortress is where Roanoke’s Magic Twig community meets regularly. It is where this community has produced a great number of bands such as the Sad Cobras, Young Sinclairs, Power Animals and Boys Lie. Supported by money made from playing events, selling C.D.s and some personal donations from within the community, members of Magic Twig hope to keep playing music and inspired others to do the same. “We’ve been meeting a lot of curious kids at shows who have heard some of the things we’ve put on C.D.s and they seemed to be really interested. I hope that we influence them a little bit to make sounds,” said Joe Lunsford, seasoned Magic Twig member.

Within this tight-knit community of musicians, artists and producers, Do It Yourself ideals have been emphasized, making it almost self sufficient when it comes to creating, producing and packaging music. This community that could be predominantly be described as a music label, has given a home to creative minds around the area. “We’ve got a lot of material that we’re trying to put out and Magic Twig is a good vehicle to get that out there and to have a name to associate all the projects together,” said Lunsford.

Even though the Magic Twig name has only been established for about a year, members Indianface and John Thompson said that they have been playing with the idea for a while. “We’ve known each other since we were in grade school. I think Daniel and I have known each other for a long time, we grew up in the same town, the same schools. We’re both from Franklin County. We started playing music together around 1998, ” reminisced Thompson. Through networking and regular show attendances, Indianface and Thompson began to meet several like-minded individuals, namely brothers Joe Lunsford and his brother, Sam.

“When Daniel and I were right out of high school, there was stuff going on in Roanoke like 63 Crayons were playing, Joe and Sam were doing The Red Skulls at the time. I remember seeing that and thinking it was different, it was something different and it kind of maybe sparked us a little bit. Then meeting Sam and Joe made it really come to a head. So it made us think about younger kids who are into music or art might come and see us and pick something up from here and it empowers them to maybe do what they want,” commented Thompson.

Lunsford had some recording equipment with no space to use it, while Indianface and Thompson had an empty practice space. So naturally when they all met in 2004, they were able to put the pieces together and form their practice space, which is now supporting a little over eight members and is known as the Mystic Fortress.

It was not until 2006 that all of the collaborative projects in that space were adopted under the Magic Twig name. “I just thought since a lot of us are from the country and I think that magic is fun and trees are fun, so both of them together really work,” said Indianface.

Lunsford, Thompson and Indianface all seemed to agree that the Magic Twig community has no plans of leaving the area anytime soon because of familiarity, creative and financial reasons. “We’ve talked about moving to a city before, but I think a lot of us would just want to be in the country again,” said Indianface.

“I think a part of what lets us do what we do is being isolated. With fashion, style and whatever musical trend is happening, you get beat over the head with that enough on the TV and the internet and stuff like that. I think maybe if we lived in a different place, we would be pressured to maybe follow some trends. Where we are right now, we can pretty much do whatever we want,” elaborated Lunsford.

“I think Roanoke’s pretty affordable and none of us are well off, so to be able to afford the two rooms that we have to do all this stuff is relatively cheap compared to a city,” said Thompson.

In the spirit of confirming that the Magic Twig community’s projects all seem to have a theme of youthfulness about them, “We’re kids. Being a kid is a blast and I don’t want it ever to stop,” said Thompson.

The Sad Cobras, The Young Sinclairs, Sunking and many more of the Magic Twig Community’s bands will be showcasing their talent at the Roanoke Library on Dec. sixth at 6 p.m.