First show of the Front of the Moth tour. Whatever that means.
]]>This was probably the first time all five of us were on stage together, for the infamous “triangle jam”.
]]>Okay, maybe “newspaper” is using the term a bit loosely, as these clippings are from those free pop-culture publications they give away for free. But they’re on newsprint, so the scans kind of look like newspaper, dig?
]]>If Cliff hadn’t spent the evening playing Monk tunes and fiddling with the Moog, he might have uploaded the 2002-04-12 show for your listening pleasure. The good intentions were there, anyway. The featured show hasn’t changed in quite a while, so watch this space for something new before too long.
Y’all’re jazz.
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Downloadable MP3 files and show notes can be found on the [[1998-04-12|show page]].
Watch this space for more shows soon!
]]>Magpu’s Kurt Kistler and Cliff McCarthy have formed Escher’s Elevator, an abstract improvisational collaboration that takes the spirit of Magpu into the land of keyboards and effects. Come see us in Denton, Texas, on Tuesday, February 8, 2005
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Thanks to Marcus and Mary—our good friends and loyal fans—for shooting these pictures!
]]>A grim night. We drove in just as it was starting to sleet. The weather threatened a nasty ice storm all night long, though it never materialized. Stillwater is where Oklahoma State University is located, and one of the basketball team’s plane crashed on the way back from Colorado that night, killing several people. Nevertheless, we played three relatively brief sets, including a blues jam with a local character named “Watermelon Slim” on harmonica and vocals. We played some blues at our Muddy Waters show in November, as well. Could this be a new direction for Magpu? Prog-blues? Stay tuned…
]]>This show was the surprise of the Arklahoma Winter Tour. It was the best attended and most enthusiastically received show of the three, despite being booked as a low key “filler” show between the other two shows, which were anticipated as the “high profile” ones. It was sloppier than the Fayetteville show, but the Tahlequahians (?) couldn’t care less. They were dancing in 7/8, 19/16 and other illegal time signatures. Tahlequah was a “Late Show With David Letterman” home office location for a while, according to a very large sign on the side of a building there. Viva la Quah! We hope to return soon.
]]>The show at Chester’s was solid musically, but sparsely attended. We were told that a touring Grateful Dead cover band was in town as well, which probably didn’t help. Chester’s is apparently named after a cat, since the walls are covered with cat-related art. We can appreciate this kind of feline inspiration, with half of our lyric songs involving Moop (Terry’s cat) in some way. The only missing element is Mexican food. Chester’s will be the ultimate Magpu venue once they serve Rather Large portions Mexican food. [Beer-drinking faction editorial: The Sam Adams on tap puts it very high on the list, however.]
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Brian Cox
Guitar, Vocals
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Cliff McCarthy
MalletKAT, Triangle, Gas Hose, Percussion, Effects, Way Backing Vocals
“I know this music is strange to some people, but it’s the music we’re committed to.”
Welcome to my corner of magpu.com. Here you will find whatever I felt like sticking here that I thought might be of interest to Magpu listeners.
Occasionally, one or more of the members of Magpu produce sonic and visual creations which reflect different facets of the world of ‘Pu (the Puniverse). We call these Extra Goodies, and present them here for your consumption.
Audio clips in this section are being provided in both MP3 and Ogg Vorbis format. Click here for information about Ogg Vorbis, and why cyberfreedom advocates want it to replace MP3 as the standard audio format for transmitting sound files over the Internet.
January 2001: ‘‘Project Pu’’ has been released! This hour-long CD is derived from two days of completely improvised jamming in October 1999, expertly mixed and edited by Terry McIntyre. Various extra goodies and studio wizardry are woven in between the jam segments, resulting in an uninterrupted sonic experience. See the Contact page to contact us for information about ordering a copy. Take a listen to “Prophetic Groove” for a sampling of the sort of jamming you will find on ‘‘Project Pu’’.
Prophetic Groove in Ogg Vorbis format.
Prophetic Groove in MP3 format.
Our friend Kendall once suggested that we compile different snippets of conversation from our live shows into a single recording. In March of 2000, Cliff decided this was a good idea, so he got busy with his sampler and ultimately constructed the densest collection of Magpu in-jokes ever assembled. It goes by various names, including “That’s What Your Pu Said” and “Bantercrap.” Download it and enjoy.
Bantercrap in Ogg Vorbis format.
Bantercrap in MP3 format.
For about thirty seconds on 26 October 2000, Magpu turned into a punk band. Like everything else we ever do, it got captured on tape. Try not to spit on your monitor while you download it.
MagPUnk in Ogg Vorbis format.
MagPUnk in MP3 format.
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Kurt Kistler
Keyboards, Vocals, Artwork
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Kyle Grundmann
Bass, Vocals
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Here is what the Giant Bass Player uses to create music:
My main guitar. I purchased this guitar in early/mid 1999. This guitar is great. It is well balenced, has a wide variety of tones, is easy to play, and looks really great. The main distinction of this bass is it’s new hybird wood/graphite neck. The reult of this neck is a bass that sounds almost identical to a Jazz bass, but with a neck that never needs adjustment.
There were many factors involved with me purchasing this bass. The main reason was that I was beginning to see that my Warwick was limiting my playing and hurting my technique. Delicate maneuvers were all but impossible on the extremely neck heavy Warwick Thumb that I had previously, especially songs like Hungry Ears. The low action, great pickups, and good balance of the Modulus has allowed me to explore more sonic territory and be a much better bassist.
My first bass. Doesn’t get used much, other than for home slapping practice. Much easier to slap a 4 string bass than a 5 string bass. Still, you can hear this bass on the studio version of Biscuit Willy. It has a very distinct tone and a really fast neck. I really sould play it more, but I like the extended range of the 5 string, so the 4 sits.
For the price, this head is by far the best value I have seen on the market today. Check it out if you are on a budget and want a versitale, loud bass amp.
A 2X10 head, with extremely accurate tone. The main reason I bought this was it would fit in the trunk of my previous car. It has become the main cabinet that I use in rehersals and gigs. Loud and clear, what more do you need.
A 1X15 head. When I want a fuller sound because of little/no PA I lug this beast around. The 15" speaker gives a fuller bass sound than the 2X10. The tweeter in the head is shot, so I rarely if ever use it alone. This thing weighs a ton.
My favorite aural destruction device. Listen for it a lot at the end of Project Pu. Best bass wah I have found. You can make some really awesome sounds with this thing, but I tend to shy away from it for gigs. I may try to use it more in the future. It really does a good job of controlled feedback.
Use it occasionally. Picked it up really cheap. Fun to mess with, but not that great of a bass pedal. Can occasionally be heard in Sweat.
LOOKING FOR: Electro-Harmonix Bass Balls pedal, or other vintage bass effects.
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This is what I do when I am not working and not Puing.
Disc Golf:
Otherwise known as frisbee golf. Yes this is a real sport, with real courses and tournaments. I have become an avid fan and player. In general the people are great and it is a good excuse to get outside. If anyone who reads this want to play, send me an e-mail.
Links:
Volleyball:
This is my primary sport. Due to bad knees, this replaced basketball as my stay-in-shape activity.
Ball Golf:
Ball golf rules too. I really suck, but I can hit the ball really far. Brian goes to play just so he can laugh at how many fairways my drives cross. You have not really played golf until you have played golf with Magpu.
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A Short history of My Musical Journey
It all begins in 1974, when the universe began, err, I was born. The early years consisted of lots of Sesame Street and banging on things. Gradually as I grew older, my parents upgraded the music to Anne Murray and John Denver, with a couple of Dallas Cowboys Christmas Albums thrown in. Needless to say, it is amazing that I am still alive. When I became old enough to begin expressing opinions, Country became my music of choice. WBAP was constantly on in my bedroom, and my array of Alabama (whom I still like) albums was staggering.
In about 1981 I started in on Piano lessons. These continued with until 1985 when I started playing Trombone in Jr. High. This is where the musical transformation to present day really starts. With 8th grade, came my first musical friends. These friends introduced me to heavy metal. Pretty soon WBAP was out an Z-Rock was in. Soon it was Def Lepard, Poison, Motley Crue . Don’t laugh, you know you were doing it too.
This musical tranformation led to me wanting to play guitar like all 14 year old boys. After about 6 lessons I gave up, as I just didn’t really like it, and I was already doing a lot with Trombone. This didn’t last too long as glam rock was almost dead. Next it was on to the like on Pantera, Metallica, Anthrax and Faith No More. These, along with classical were my primary listening choices in High School.
High school was a very busy musical time for me. My trombone playing was reaching high levels. I was blessed with being in one of the best instrumental musical programs in the state. Our band director introduced us to odd time signatures as well as modern musical concepts. We played a lot “experimental” music in high school band. I was also involved in the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, a side project of the Dallas Symphony. Through this I was able to play with the DSO and meet and play with several Symphone professionals. I was introduced to classical music from all genres during this time and was engrossed in its complexity.
Well high school came to an end and I decided to get shipped off to the music hell hole of Texas A&M. I continued my trombone playing in the University Symphonic band, but that only lasted 2 years. It took too much time for the payback, considering it didn’t count towards my degree. I quit. After about one semester I was going crazy, because for the first time in 10 years, I had no music going on. I guess I will throw in my current musical tastes here, Still on the later High School stuff, with a smattering of grunge, mostly Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Stone Temple Pilots thrown in. I also began listening to more progressive rock, Queensryche, Dream Theater, and Rush during this time.
Due to a friend of mine buying a guitar, I conviced myself I would pick up a bass and we would make a band. I got the bass, but the band never happend, but at least I had a way to make music. I began looking for other people to jam with. This is how I first met Brian. I had been playing for all of 3 months when I met and ran through a couple of Rush songs with him (rather badly). No band formed, but we kept in a little contact and went to see several shows together. I just continued practicing and kept listening to more jazz oriented and progressive music.
That brings us to the present where I mainly listen to progressive rock music with some Jam-bands thrown in. I am still searching for my real inspiration. The most common compliment (I guess) that I get is that I play like Phil Lesh. I find that ironic becaue I have listened to very little Grateful Dead. But he is an awesome player. Trying to find the balence between creating, holding, and destroying the groove is the hardest part about being a bass player, but it is also the most fun.
If you read this entire thing, you are truly insane, but I hope it in some way enlightend you, or at least didn’t cause any injuries.
Kyle
List of bands I listen to regularly now.
If we had any shows, you might be able to find them on jambase.com
Friends of the ‘Pu
Venues
4/8/2002 Magpu is almost 4 years old! That is if you start at the first show at Club Dada in Dallas, TX on April 12, 1998. At the age of 4, a band is ready to start pre-school. To commemorate, we are having a mini-tour of Texas centered on the 4-year anniversary of our first show. Unlike pre-school, there will be no nap time, but finger painting is encouraged. We will also have available some complementary copies of Recreational Music, the long-in-the-making studio album of some of our written songs. See Upcoming Shows for show time and venue details.
11/01/2001 “Last night…..”
10/10/2001 There is a rift developing in Magpu. All things reconsidered, it isn’t nearly fast enough for you, my friend, my friend.
07/13/2001 Just got back from our gig at the Redblood Club with the Greyhounds. What a cool night! This was a very lucky Friday the 13th. I made plenty of flubs during our set, thanks in part to distractions from a malfunctioning note on my MalletKAT, but overall our set seemed to go pretty well. The fun really began when the Greyhounds took the stage. You can’t help but dance to their music. Everybody got a good groove going during their first set. Things really took off in their second set when Kurt began layering sounds from his Prophecy keyboard over the Greyhounds’ jamming. He then launched them into the next song with an ultra-phat synth bass line. Terry contributed slide whistle and assorted percussion, and soon Brian and I got up and started jamming too. Across the stage, I could see things getting really crazy in the keyboard department – Terry took over on Prophecy and everyone started reaching around for different keyboards. Audience members joined in on shakers and doumbek, and I even contributed a hose solo. Brian played a guitar solo so cool that I wanted to yell out, “I’m in his band! I’m in his band!” After this musical journey to places none of us could have predicted, Magpu yielded the stage to the Greyhounds who picked up the pieces with one more solid groove. They’re not your average white band. Thanks to everyone in the audience who got down with us! We’re as eager as the rest of you to see the Greyhounds return to Dallas! (–cliff)
01/27/2001 Stillwater, Oklahoma
A grim night. We drove in just as it was starting to sleet. The weather threatened a nasty ice storm all night long, though it never materialized. Stillwater is where Oklahoma State University is located, and one of the basketball team’s plane crashed on the way back from Colorado that night, killing several people. Nevertheless, we played three relatively brief sets, including a blues jam with a local character named “Watermelon Slim” on harmonica and vocals. We played some blues at our Muddy Waters show in November, as well. Could this be a new direction for Magpu? Prog-blues? Stay tuned…
01/26/2001 Tahlequah, Oklahoma
This show was the surprise of the Arklahoma Winter Tour. It was the best attended and most enthusiastically received show of the three, despite being booked as a low key “filler” show between the other two shows, which were anticipated as the “high profile” ones. It was sloppier than the Fayetteville show, but the Tahlequahians (?) couldn’t care less. They were dancing in 7/8, 19/16 and other illegal time signatures. Tahlequah was a “Late Show With David Letterman” home office location for a while, according to a very large sign on the side of a building there. Viva la Quah! We hope to return soon.
01/25/2001 Fayetteville, Arkansas
The show at Chester’s was solid musically, but sparsely attended. We were told that a touring Grateful Dead cover band was in town as well, which probably didn’t help. Chester’s is apparently named after a cat, since the walls are covered with cat-related art. We can appreciate this kind of feline inspiration, with half of our lyric songs involving Moop (Terry’s cat) in some way. The only missing element is Mexican food. Chester’s will be the ultimate Magpu venue once they serve Rather Large portions Mexican food. [Beer-drinking faction editorial: The Sam Adams on tap puts it very high on the list, however.]
07/24/2000 El Paso, the restaurant that inspired the songs “Everything Here is Rather Large” and “Burrito Transplant Surgery”, is open again! Magpu celebrated last night with chips -> salsa, food.
06/16/2000 For lack of weird and strange news, I just want to inform everyone that we have been working on the web page a lot recently. There is a great setlist scanning tool that Cliff has been working on. Due to Brian’s computer dying, we need to reconstruct our mailing list. I have improved the mailing list link on the page to actually work. Please go there and sign in again so that we can keep you informed of all the new events in PU land. Also check out the band info page again. We have been trying to post all of the great information about us that you have been dying to know :).
01/20/00 There was no severe weather threatening Thursday’s Club Dada show, though there was a total lunar eclipse which coincided with Magpu’s set. You might even say we made the moon disappear. This cosmic alignment of the sun, the earth, and the moon led to various technical problems during the beginning of the set. Some things couldn’t be heard at all, and others could be heard a bit too well. And the girls we knew in seventh grade still won’t dance with us.
11/22/99 We are considering changing our name to something involving rain dancing, since rainstorms during Magpu shows seem to have become a regular occurrence. Monday’s show at Club Dada featured bright flashes of lightning, as well as power outages within the club and up and down Elm Street. Power continued flowing to the stage and the mixing console for most of the evening, however. Late in the evening, after a half-hour jam that included an impromptu approximation of “Dark Star” by the Grateful Dead, the entire club lost power, bringing the show to an abrupt halt. After all, it’s hard to play electric trance-fusion without electricity. This performance marked the first live appearance of the Magpu quintet, with the addition of Cliff on MalletKAT. It was also the first live Internet broadcast of Magpu, though the storm caused some problems with the transmission.
10/02/99 Project Pu has landed! Magpu began recording several extended jam sessions, venturing into uncharted musical territory with no pre-defined plan or structure. Cliff McCarthy joined in on MalletKAT to enhance the mayhem. The best moments of the nearly three hours of music recorded Sunday and the follwing Tuesday are being mixed down by Terry and will be assembled on a CD to be available in the future.
02/15/99 Saturday’s show at Home opening for the Disco Biscuits showed a curious relationship between the various instruments of Magpu and the force of gravity. The gravitational pull on Kurt’s keyboards was so strong that one of them “took a stage dive” according to him. Meanwhile, just a few feet away, Terry’s drums were practically floating, moving farther and farther away with every bass drum beat. Terry blamed it on the expansion of the Universe, figuring that since he is the center of the known universe, all things including drums must be moving away from him at all times. He expounded this theory at the top of his lungs after the first song, knowing that the audience too was getting farther away every second. At the opposite end of the stage where Brian was set up, the force of gravity again became excessive, repeatedly bringing his foot down prematurely onto the wrong effects switch. Kyle the Gian Bass Player (tm) seemed to be the only one unaffected by these mysterious gravitational fluctuations. The immense gravity produced by His Giantness was probably a stabilizing force in his part of the stage.
01/21/99 Two days of Magpu recording sessions at the “Remote Rock & Roll Research Laboratory” (tm) a.k.a. Terry and Moop’s Plano Palace yielded the beginnings of “Wonder” and our magnum opus “Biscuit Willie” (which will be the “American Pie” of the late 1990’s according to Terry). These recordings still need some overdubs and the application of a proprietary digital signal processing algorithm known as “Magputronics”. Magputronics takes tight, well played notes of any instrument and dislodges them from their comfortable rhythmic niche into the most awkward positions to approximate the performance of a nervous, half-drunk band on stage before a minimal rain-soaked audience thinking about their next day’s work. This is what gives our otherwise overwhelmingly technically correct recordings that “sloppy live” feel. We hope to have our first full-length CD available by the summer of 1999, if not sooner!
12/03/98 Our show tonight at the Home Bar leads to the following philosophical question: If a snare drum fell in a forest of flying drumsticks, and the only creature around was a deaf mouse trapped in a monitor speaker, does the snare drum still fall? Or would the moon disappear?
11/24/98 Our first demo cd “In the Land” is now available at shows for $7. Details will be on the merchandise page shortly.
09/30/98 Magpu is opening for the amazing Strangefolk from Burlington, VT on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at Trees in Dallas. This will be our 2nd time opening for a national act, and it will be an amazing night of audio exploration. cover is only $4.
09/24/98 Magpu has received our first “thanks but no thanks” postard from the North Texas Music Festival. We were obviously overqualified… :) We will be playing for the first time in Houston and Ft. Worth this fall, see the dates page for details.
09/16/98 The Home Bar show scheduled for October 24 is cancelled, and has been rescheduled for Friday, November 6th. We are tentatively playing our first show in Houston at “Instant Karma” on Wednesday 10/21.
09/09/98 Magpu will be playing our first weekend headlining show on Saturday, October 24 at the Home Bar in Dallas. Stay tuned for more shows this fall…
09/08/98 Web page revamped as of today. We have just finished recording on our second official demo tape. This one contains studio versions of “so many hats” and “sqrahd” as well as a live-in-studio version of “amycalling” that clocks in at over 15 minutes. We will continue to record and hopefully a magpu cd will be in the works this fall. Look for us to start playing in Houston, Austin, College Station, Denton, and Ft. Worth this fall, in addition to our semi-regular appearances at the Home Bar in Dallas.
]]>(Adapted from the Phish Audio Recording and Transfer Policy.)
Magpu welcomes audience taping (audio and/or video) of all our live shows. Non-commercial trading of audience recordings of live Magpu performances is allowed and encouraged.
Audience taping (audio and video) is permitted at all Magpu shows.
The enjoyment of the audience in attendance at a concert always takes precedence over recording efforts. This means that at no time should tapers ever require other patrons to be quiet or otherwise interfere with their enjoyment of the show.
Soundboard patches are sometimes available; check with a band member at the show to find out whether a patch is allowed, but also keep in mind that we have a ridiculous amount of equipment to set up, and therefore may not have time to assist you in this matter.
All taping must be for personal use only, which may include trading (via analog or digital tape, CD, DVD, solid state storage, or digital file transfer). Recordings may be traded only for an equivalent amount of similar media, pre-recorded or blank.
Regardless of any expenses incurred, no money may ever be exchanged as part of a trade; however, stamped, self-addressed envelopes may be included with blank media. In addition, the media by which audio and/or video trading is publicized may not be commercialized. Therefore newsletters, web sites, clubs, or any other communication forum facilitating audio and/or video trading cannot accept advertising, offer links for compensation, exploit databases compiled from their traffic, or otherwise derive any commercial proceeds in any form. Stores or businesses may not offer to duplicate Magpu media for customers or sell or otherwise provide media containing unreleased Magpu music for any price.
Broadcast of unreleased Magpu recordings via radio or online is permissible only if it conforms to all the guidelines applicable to other forms of duplication.
Audience taping at Magpu concerts is authorized for non-commercial purposes only. Unauthorized sale, duplication and/or distribution is strictly forbidden. All Magpu performances and recordings are the exclusive property of Magpu. All rights reserved. The privileges to record Magpu performances set forth in this policy constitute an express, revocable license. We reserve the right to withdraw our sanction of recording, media trading, and/or non-commercial digital audio and/or video file transfers on a case specific basis or in general, as we deem necessary. No waiver of any copyright or trademark right is intended.
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Terry McIntyre
Drums, Vocals
My “Wrong” Drum Set Up
I am technically a right-handed, left-footed drummer. I have the high hat on my right, so that my left foot operates the bass drum. This seems wrong to almost every other drummer on the planet. I don’t think so. With my set up, the left limbs operate the bass and snare drum, the fundamental drums in rock/jazz type of music, while the right limbs operate the high hat or ride cymbal. This seems much more natural than the norm of right foot/left hand operation of the bass/snare, and left foot/right hand operation of the high hat. In my particular application of this set up, I end up straddling the floor tom, rather than the snare drum. I can easily use the floor tom to simulate a “double bass drum” effect, like the speed metal drummers. With both the high hat and ride cymbal on my right side, I can switch off between the two instantly, and sometimes do so with every eighth or sixteenth note. I also prefer to have the playing surface of my drums/cymbals close to a continuous, albeit curved plane. This is to make transition from one drum/cymbal to the next as easy as possible, and minimize the risk of losing my sweat-soaked drumsticks to the dreaded drum rim monster. I also like to sit up relatively high compared to my drums so that my arms do not have to be raised too much, which might otherwise strain my shoulder and upper arm muscles before too long. It’s all very ergonomic, but it looks funny to other onlooking drummers, and even to me when I see myself drumming on video.
Other Gear Crap
I currently play a Pearl Masters Custom drum set (22" bass drum, 16" floor tom, 13" rack tom, 14" snare drum), with a single Remo 10" roto-tom as my highest tom-tom, with two crash cymbals (Zildjian 14" “Re-Mix” and Paiste 16" “Fast Crash”), one ride cymbal (Zlidjian 18" “Scimitar”), and a Camber II 14" high hat. These last two items are pretty cheap, dating back to the 80’s when I began drumming. I also play with a cowbell, sometimes two, and two Latin Percussion “Jam Blocks”, all differently pitched. These are collectively known as my “doo-dads”. I have added these doo-dads to my set up since playing with Magpu. I don’t really care to add any more to this set up, as Magpu has no roadies, and we often play shows where set-up and tear-down time is extremely minimal. I’ll wait until we are playing stadiums when I spring for the set of tympani drums, the rack of gongs, the electronic drums, etc. I have recently been in the habit of playing with TrueLine “Original TG” size 5A drumsticks. These have a slightly bulbous handle end that make them resistant to slipping out of your hand (my worst drumming nightmare, the drumming equivalent of a fumble in football). I refer to these as “bloat-sticks”, as they look like they need to go on a diet. Before playing with Magpu, I generally used thinner, lighter size 7A sticks. However, three or four amps in a spare bedroom gets loud real quick, and I like to hear myself every now and again, so I’ve gradually escalated my drumstick size. For a while in 1998, I played with purple timbale drumsticks. These sticks have no tapered “tip” end like normal drumsticks, they have the same kind of thick “handle” end on each side. They were good and loud, but left too many annoying purple stains on my drums heads and cymbals.
What the hell is up with the Walkman headphones, dude?
I don’t like earplugs, but I do like having some remnant of my hearing left after a show or practice, so I wear Walkman headphones with the wires cut off to protect my hearing. They are not a fancy wireless monitor system, they are just to take some edge off the amplified sound that would otherwise bombard my poor, defenseless eardrums. I also like to keep sweat out of my eyes, so I often wear a sweatband or bandana as well. This has the added benefit of stabilizing the headphones, which would otherwise slip off of my sweaty head before long. I have tried earplugs in the past (pre-Magpu, actually), and they caused more problems than they solved, by pushing ear wax into the ear canal, giving me a couple of severe cases of tinitus, requiring a “vacuum-cleaning” of my ears. If you would like more gross, appetite-killing details about this sort of thing, consult your local otologist (ear doctor).
Other Music Crap
I also play keyboards, bass and guitar in that order of competency (keyboards and bass are about tied). I recently played drums with “Chopped Liver”, who gigged around Dallas, and keyboards/vocals in “Green Machine” while in college during the early 90’s in East Lansing, MI. I’ve also played drums, bass, and keyboards in some other relatively short-lived or ad hoc bands, which include “Sam and Ed’s Discount Plumbing”, “Iguanas Anonymous”, and “The Suckerfish Behemoth”. These bands never got past the open-mic/friend’s house party stage. Of course, the infamous “Terry-oke” act must not go unmentioned. This was me playing/singing along with my own pre-recorded accompaniment. I played all of one real show of this at an Ann Arbor coffee shop. I learned to play my various instruments as part of a long-time addiction to music composing and home recording that dates back to 1986. Playing with other musicians had been the exception rather than the norm until playing with Magpu. I have since dedicated all of my musical energy/time to the bands I play in.
Even More Music Crap
The music I like the most usually combines rock, jazz and/or funk to some degree, and emphasizes instruments over vocals. In a word, “fusion”. Examples include The Mahavishnu Orchestra; King Crimson; Medeski, Martin and Wood; Frank Zappa; Doctor Nerve; Bela Fleck. Other artists I like that aren’t exactly in the “fusion” vein include Tortoise and Forever Einstein (“progressive” rock), The Who (classic rock), Brian Eno (ambient), and Claude Debussey (dead white guy music). I’m pretty slow to discover living/active artists and bands that I like, as I virtually never listen to the radio, and kind of enjoy mining the past for musical treasures. But I’m always open to suggestions, so send them to me at the e-mail address on this screen.
Other Life Crap
I was born in 1971 in Lansing, Michigan. I lived in nearby Okemos, MI until 1989 (high school graduation), East Lansing, MI until 1993 (college graduation), the Ann Arbor, MI area until 1997, when I came to the Dallas area, where I remain. I never felt much urge towards “regionalism” while in Michigan, but since moving to Texas, I never miss an opportunity to flaunt my Yankeedom. I now ask for Detroit sports team paraphernalia for Christmas from my family still there so I can annoy people down here. Don’t ever complain about how cold it is around me, or I will spawn off fictional stories about being trapped in 50 feet of snow in only my underwear for hours on end. I’m a software engineer by day. When I come home from work, about the last thing I want to do is touch my home computer, so any e-mail you send may go unresponded to for a while.
]]>The very first Magpu show, at Tom Prejean’s Open Mic Night. The name “Magpu” was settled on only hours before.
]]>Cliff’s first Magpu show!
Cliff says:
I heard about this show from Michael Bourgon, a notable progressive rock fan from the D/FW area. That e-mail changed my life.
I think I left during the second set, so I didn’t see the whole show, but I was very impressed with what I did see, and attended every show I could from that point onward.
The opening song, “Delete This, Baby”, impressed me with its Doctor Nerve-like frantic intensity. Overall, I heard elements of Canterbury prog, especially National Health. I think I was picking up on a resemblance in Brian’s guitar tone and style to that of Phil Miller.
The second set opens with a massive Amycalling, including a full-on drum jam with contributions from members of the audience.
]]>I’m not sure if I was at this show. I think maybe I wasn’t.
Intro: “We are Mag-Pus.” Jokes about being infectious and abcessive. Ba-dump, crash.
Lots of Tweezer spread throughout this show. “back of the worm” in the first Ebeneezer breakdown.
During the first sequence of songs, Terry’s snare broke (not sure how), and a rat was seen in one of the monitors. The comment, “Just bite its head off” lead to a spontaneous rendition of Iron Man.
This show includes the first performance of Burrito Transplant Surgery, introduced as the sequel to Magpu’s other hit, Everything Here is Rather Large. They’re from the “Cantos del Gaso” suite.
More “back of the worm” references during the 2112 intro.
The last Tweezer leads into a very long and exploratory jam. Kyle teases Biscuit Willie near the beginning, but it never materializes. A free section near the beginning features the standard disappearing moon / semper fi references. Hmm, I think I hear myself responding “yeah” when Kurt asks whether the rat will sign the mailing list, so maybe I was at this show after all. And one more “back of the worm” reference for good measure. Whoever was running sound started adding some nice trippy echo to the vocals. The jam evolves into a very unique and experimental direction as it progresses. Eventually, it takes on a Harold the Chicken vibe.
Terry requests one more real song. He suggests an “Endless Freighd”. Brian suggests NINE, Kyle says no. So we ultimately get Delete This, Baby.
On the whole, a very jammed-out and engaging show.
Post-show, I’m pretty sure I hear me there.
]]>This was an amazing night. The line-up was Spoonfed Tribe, Magpu, and Walter Mitty. I had never heard either of the other two bands. Spoonfed came out and blew everybody’s mind. Their stage show was very elaborate, with crazy paint-splattered jumpsuits and a giant smoke ring cannon shooting out over the audience. Their use of flute reminded me of Jethro Tull. During the last song, people wearing giant alien heads came out and danced among the audience. Quoth Terry, “It was the giant heads that sold the premise.”
Magpu played a great set, and as much as I enjoyed Spoonfed, when the Pu started playing, I remembered exactly why I was there.
I don’t remember much about the Walter Mitty set, other than that it was long, reminded me quite a bit of Phish, and I think they teased “So Many Hats” at one point.
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(Yes, “y’all” is spelled “y’all”, not “ya’ll”, so there’s no need to point that out to us now, y’all.)
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This show was the beginning of Cliff’s permanent involvement in Magpu. The set was a little rough, as the MalletKAT sounds had not been completely smoothed out yet.
This was also the last regularly-scheduled Monday night that Club Dada was open for business. The following week, they started only being open Wednesday through Sunday.
There was a massive storm with lots of impressive-looking lightning going on that night. As the night drew on, into a very long Dark Star-ish jam, the power abruptly went out.
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]]>This was a strange and wonderful night. The Hidden Noise Collective was a warehouse a bit west of the Gypsy Tea Room. To get in, you had to go down a graffitti-encrusted alley, and around the back. When I rounded the corner, there was a guy chopping wood with a big ol’ axe. That was pretty freaky. But after some confusion and frustration, all five of us found our way into the giant space that we would sonically sculpt until nearly dawn.
The room was fairly dark, mostly lit by strands of coloured lights scattered here and there. It was very cold, since it was December and there was no climate control.
For this gig, we relied on our individual amps, and used Terry’s mono PA rig for vocals. It was perched atop a rickety scaffold draped with lights.
We had absolutely no setlist; we went wherever the music took us. It was probably the most “out” gig we ever played.
The set opens up with one of our best improvised jams ever, a long relaxed and slowly-evolving soundscape, which eventually morphs into a well-jammed-out version of Psychogenic Reaction. Kurt announces the concept of the PUniverse, and that one of the ceiling tiles overhead is the gateway into it. Psychogenic Reaction ends with an ambient jam that terminates in the “ka-thump” sound symbolic of one’s head hitting a photocopier, then the ground, just like on the studio album. Strangely enough, this leads into a quick Jailhouse Rock tease.
Cliff teases The Creator Has a Master Plan in the jam between Move and Sqrahd.
During the Spread / Rio / Nug sequence, a winged woman materialized in front of us, doing a wonderful fluid dance with a brightly-coloured streamer-on-a-stick. We dubbed her the Rainbow Dragon Lady. Her energy is reflected in the music we made to accompany her.
There’s a gas hose solo near the end of Nug; listen closely and you’ll hear Cliff remind you to surrender to the flow. From this ambient breakdown, a new and unique improvised jam emerges.
(Second set description coming soon.)
Around 3:00 a.m., Kyle left because he had to get up early the next day. At that point, many other musicians took up instruments and joined in the merriment. Larry had played at Club Dada earlier that night, and several of them participated in a continuously-evolving jam that lasted until 4:30 a.m. I can’t really explain the music we made in that hour and a half; you really have to experience it for yourself. Suffice it to say that I consider it a profoundly beautiful expression of the human spirit.
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Ken Burns’ Jazz was on the air, and George Bush was just about to enter the White House. Or maybe he just had.
This was the second and last Magpu show at the Hidden Noise Collective, which was little more than a warehouse on the south side of Elm street, a few buildings to the west of the Gypsy Tea Room. To get in, you had to walk down a graffitti-covered alley and enter from the back. There was no curfew, so the music tended to go past 4:00 a.m.
On this evening, Olospo played the first set, then Magpu, followed by the Greyhounds. The crowd was quite large, especially for a venue that didn’t officially exist. Late in the evening, a fight broke out between a couple of the attendees, but calm was restored fairly quickly.
Flying Frog Stan Smith ran sound using his rather nice PA setup. Some interesting vocal treatments can be heard at various points during the night.
I think Kurt was using Brit’s Hammond organ; it sounds nice.
True Faith wraps up with some gas hose effects.
Banter after True Faith involved discussion of the fact that we come from the planet Neptune.
MalletKAT becomes much more audible during Sweat. There was some sort of problem conneting to the board, as I recall. Maybe the phantom power wasn’t on, resulting in no signal from my DI box.
Kurt teases “Rollercoaster of Love” just before Revenge of the Rather Large Burrito. During Revenge, we jam on the theme from King Crimson’s 21st Century Schizoid Man. Kurt dedicates the song to Moop, who got out a month before, stole the car, and picked up some feline companions.
Before First Tube, Cliff announces that Magpu will be covered in the last two seconds of Ken Burns’ Jazz, just after the four seconds on Mahavishnu Orchestra. Tonight, we’ll only be playing songs by Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.
Cliff was decked out in his Project Pu lab coat.
This set features a rare performance of the actual Taco John theme, that we learned off the internet, sung by Kurt and Cliff.
This show was on Brian’s birthday; Kurt extends Rasta birthday greetings to Brian during the Taco John jam.
This set features the premiere performance of Lost Black Cat. This is the “rap” version, before Terry had really worked out a melody for the lyrics. Zim gets involved during the jam, telling further tales of Moop’s travels. More gas hose effects accompany him.
So Many Hats end break sample: Frank Zappa announcing, “Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.” Take that, Ken Burns.
In the last verse of Hats, Kurt yells something about “your winter tuque”. It was cold in that warehouse. Cliff was probably wearing his bright yellow “CAT Diesel Power” knit cap. Other people were probably wearing tuques as well. Take off, eh.
Somewhere near the end of our set, people began lighting off fireworks in the “pit” behind the band area. The sparks, smoke, and flickering lights made for an exciting performance, as we wondered just what exactly was going on behind us, and hoped it wouldn’t get out of control…
Brian tosses out a quick Amycalling tease at the end, probably as a greeting to Amy, who I think I recall was in attendance that night.
Note to self: Incorrect segue in setlist—stop between Revenge and First Tube.
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For the Tweezer jam, we became BAGG-Pu, with our friends from BAGG joining us for an epic cornucopia of sound.
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Yes, those are setlist notes bleeding through from the other side.
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Cliff says:
The show opened up with Mama Mello and closed with Olospo. I think this show featured our spectacular light system for extra visual enjoyment. I think it completely went out at one point during Olospo’s set, leaving the band in complete darkness right at a key moment in one of their songs. But they played on.
This recording is a “retroactive matrix” of the audience and soundboard recordings.
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This show was really in 2002. They got the year wrong on their calendar.
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Another flyer with a setlist bleeding through from the other side. Yes, we actually did have setlists some of the time. As you can see, they sometimes weren’t planned out very far in advance.
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On 1 March 2003, Magpu’s Brian Cox, Kurt Kistler, and Cliff McCarthy got together with DentonMark’s neighbour Matt and jammed in Brian’s living room. The best moments have been extracted and are presented here for your musical enjoyment.
Line-up:
These MP3 files were derived from Ogg Vorbis sources, because the original WAV files have been lost to the sands of time. Maybe they’re burned on a CD somewhere in the piles of stuff in Cliff’s house. Maybe he’ll find them some day.
]]>We played in the J&J’s basement, set up along the long side of the room, opposite the side with the stairway.
Trey played bass.
Ghostcar followed.
]]>The line-up for the evening included several Dallas Creative Music Alliance bands. If memory serves, Paul - Max played before Magpu.
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Magpu is a Dallas, TX area band that plays original, eclectic, progressive music. Influences include King Crimson, Phish, Frank Zappa, Rush, Ozric Tentacles, MMW, Disco Biscuits, and many others.
Magpu tunes have little or no vocals, and are hazardous to your ego if dancing is attempted. It is music aimed squarely at the brain, not the butt (although detours through the spleen and large intestine occasionally take place.)
Brian, Kyle, and Kurt had been playing together since mid 1997 with other drummers, but Magpu proper formed in January 1998 when Brian responded to an ad placed by Terry seeking other musicians to make “recreational” music. Cliff began playing with the group in October 1999. Trey Douglass played bass in Fall 2002 for a couple final gigs after Kyle moved out of the area.
Magpu’s idea of “recreation” is sweating to death in a small bedroom while arguing over what time signature or key a given song is in.
Magpu has gigged in Texas at such clubs as “The Redblood Club”, “Club Dada”, “Trees”, “The Home Bar”, “The Vibe”, “Last Concert Cafe”, and “Poor David’s Pub”.
Magpu welcomes audience taping of their live shows. Brian’s mic rig and DAT are at all the shows, so feel free to bring a deck and cables and patch out. Our official taping policy statement can be found here.
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(Sorry about the graphic; it helps fool the spam-emitting robots.)
]]>Recorded August - September, 1998
Engineered by Terry McIntyre
Digital Imaging, Artwork, and Design by Kurt Kistler & Liquid Eye
Digital Transfer by Mark Ruenes
Harold the Evil Chicken conecpt by Kyle Grundmann & Bill Stafford
Official DAT “Warming” by Moop
]]>(Cassette-only release, currently out of print, though digital copies are rumoured to exist.)
Recorded March 1998
Copyright UPGAM Music
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Soundcheck:
kurtless jam #1
kurtless jam #2 I:
jam
Move ->
Psychogenic Reaction ->
Move
Hippo
Sweat
Podamus
Electric Snail
So Many Hats ->
Nug (inverted) ->
So Many Hats
Seven-Legged Spider Scramble
Lost Black Cat
Yardwork
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Project Pu, the first official CD release from Magpu, is now available! This hour-long CD is derived from two days of completely improvised jamming in October 1999, expertly mixed and edited by Terry McIntyre. Various extra goodies and studio wizardry are woven in between the jam segments, resulting in an uninterrupted sonic experience.
The full band tracks were recorded in October 1999 at the Remote Rok and Roll Research Laboratory. This music was created without any specific plan or structure; we just started recording and played whatever occurred to us at the moment. The best excerpts were then selected and assembled.
The extra goodies include altered but lucid radio interference, a loopy collage, malfunctioning synthesizers, and an ambient track created by Kurt and our friend Erich Schriefer.
It’ll take you places.
For information about ordering a copy, send e-mail to moop@magpu.com.
Project Pu track listing, including links to audio files:
Project Pu lineup:
with…
For information about ordering a copy, visit the contact page.
Recreational Music track listing, including links to audio files:
Recreational Music lineup:
A limited number of demo CDs were produced with four tracks from Recreational Music, and this cover:
