Mischief Managed. Interview With Mainline Magic Orchestra

Live:STR SELECTIONS

by Alexandra Mansilla

Mischief Managed. Interview With Mainline Magic Orchestra

24 Oct 2024

These incredible guys will be performing at The Crowd Test Festival — the first-ever Art and Music Festival by The Sandy Times — on November 16, 2024, at Monkey Bar, Dubai. Whatever they come up with, it is going to be amazing — we promise.

Tickets are available here

Making a music video out of cardboard? Absolutely. Choosing an album name by playing rock-paper-scissors? Oh yes. Sewing crazy costumes the night before your performance? Of course. The key is to never look for meaning in anything. Because that is just too boring. Besides, only adults do that, and they overcomplicate everything.

Let us do everything freely, without boundaries or concepts.

Meet the incredible, boundless, and fearless Barcelona-based Mainline Magic Orchestra, featuring John Heaven, Daniel 2000, and Nile Fee. They have known each other since childhood, and before coming together as a band, they each built up their reputations as DJs.

The group came together after one spontaneous performance when one promoter asked for something more than just DJ sets. Since then, we have seen these guys rocking wild black-and-white costumes on stage. And recently, we had an amazing conversation with them — we heard the story of the costumes, how their first music video came about, why they are now down to three members, and what they are working on next.

— Hey guys! Since we mostly see you in costumes — whether on stage or on Instagram — could you each introduce yourselves?

John: Hey, I am John Heaven, and I am one of the guys in the band.

Daniel: I am Daniel, and I am one of the guys in the band.

Nile: I am Nile, and I am one of the guys in the band.

— Great. Now, could you tell us the story of how you all met? If I remember correctly, some of you have known each other since you were three years old.

Daniel: Yeah, we have known each other for many years since we all come from the same village, which is about two hours north of Barcelona. Nile and I have known each other since we were three, and I met Joan when we were around 12 or so.

As teenagers, we started recording random things — just experimenting, really. We were skaters, too; we loved filming ourselves doing silly stuff. We had different collectives where we made music, videos, and all kinds of creative projects until we eventually formed the Mainline Magic Orchestra.

Our first concert was basically an improvisation. Our music was and still is all about creating something in the moment — something spontaneous. We wanted to create an experience for the audience; the goal was always to make sure people were having a great time.

But honestly, everything we did was just us having fun. Mainline Magic Orchestra actually started as a joke, and we have kept that joke going ever since.

— And you created your costumes just before that first spontaneous concert, right?

Daniel: Yes, it was the night before, and we just started chopping up pieces of clothing and making some outfits. We also painted our faces white. That was the first version of it. The one we have now is made by a designer, but back then, it was all very DIY.

— Now you have more money.

Daniel: Oh yeah, not a lot, but enough!

— How was your dolphin costume — a special edition one — made?

John: It was a special edition, a one-time release, created just for the album cover.

Daniel: By the way, it was me inside. Honestly, it was just an idea without any real concept or anything. We had a friend who was studying to make effects for movies, and we asked, "Could you make a dolphin?" and she said, "Yes." So, why not?

John: No concept. The main point is that there is no concept.

That dolphine costume; Daniel is inside. Instagram: @mainlinemagicorchestra

— When I watched the first video, "Xumba Xumba," I had a lot of thoughts. At first, I thought, "Hmm, maybe there is a deeper meaning here." Then, as I kept watching, I started to wonder, "Or maybe there is no meaning at all?" So please, tell me more about the universe you created with "Xumba Xumba." What. Is. It?

Daniel: This happened because we were supposed to make another video with a friend, Partiboi69, but he couldn’t come to Barcelona. We already had the camera rented, though, so we decided we had to shoot something to make use of it. So, we just started throwing around ideas.

We had a reference — a Japanese TV show where people drew stuff on walls or in unusual places, and it sparked some creativity. So, we started coming up with random ideas — like maybe painting ourselves brown and doing some kind of spin.

And that is how the video was born. It starts with a vague story about a guy painting graffiti, getting caught by the police, and then going to grab something to eat. It was all pretty spontaneous and improvised, really.

John: It is about this guy leaving the party and heading home and all the different situations that happen to him along the way.

Nile: We were talking a lot about how we could use certain effects, but we couldn't afford anything fancy like a CGI snake or anything like that. So, the main idea was to use really basic effects — like using paper and paint to create visuals instead of digital effects.

Daniel: It all started with some brainstorming on a Sunday. By the next day, we were already calling up our friends to help us with cutting things out, painting props, and putting everything together. We spent about three or four days cutting paper and getting all the pieces ready.

— So, did you make all these decorations yourselves?

Daniel: Yes, everything is totally hands-on, with a very DIY approach.

— Another music video is called "MMO Theme." In it, you are buried in the sand, and we can only see your heads singing. I want to know everything about the entire production process, please.

Daniel: There was some festival in Mexico where they were asking people to record a live set of their music, probably because it would be played there. And we thought, if we just did a concert in a room, it would be really boring — nobody would want to watch it. So, we figured, why not do it on the beach instead? And then we thought, why not take it even further and put ourselves under the sand while playing the concert? And that is how it all came together.

We ended up breaking two cameras that day, as well as some instruments. Everything got filled with sand.

John: We also had a shovel, which we used to dig ourselves into the sand. The day was really windy, and it was tough to keep our eyes open.

— Your first album is called Harri Poter. Why this name?

Daniel: The thing is, we didn't have a name for the album. So we said, "Okay, let’s play rock-paper-scissors, and whoever wins will get their name and surname as the album title." We did it, though I don’t even remember who won.

But then John said, "No, let's not do that." So we asked, "Okay, then what do you want to call it?" and he said, "Harri Poter," and started laughing so much that we thought, "If it’s that funny to John, we have to do it." He was laughing a lot.

John: A lot and alone.

Daniel: For us, it wasn't even that funny, but we decided to do it. We changed a few letters around because we didn’t want any issues with rights, and that is it.

— There is a song called "Skateboarding Is Not a Crime." Is it connected to your childhood or teenage years when you used to skateboard, or is there another reason behind it?

Daniel: Honestly, it was also a joke. When we were kids and into skating, it was a thing back then — people wore T-shirts with that phrase, and you would see stickers around the streets. It was just kind of funny to us.

We even wanted to make a music video with a kid playing with one of those finger skateboards. But in the end, it didn't work out.

Photo: Tomás Pintos

— Why did you decide to test John with an aggression test? Does he have issues with aggression?

Daniel: Sometimes he is getting very angry.

John: I am super... well, let us just say, I really hate everyone sometimes, and I think it is good to channel that into an artistic purpose, you know? That is why we needed it — I don’t know what else to call it... okay, the video.

— Imagine if one day someone stole your costumes, and you had to create something new. What kind of costume would you make?

Daniel: So, we need to make something new, right? And we can’t just do the same thing again?

[Silence; everyone is thinking]

Mmm, yeah, I don’t know… It is like whenever they make a sequel to a movie, the second part is always worse. I think we should just make something really simple. You know, there is that expectation — if the first thing is great, the next one is always tough to match.

John: Maybe it is like the classic carnival costumes of Mario and Luigi — you know, those people in basic Mario and Luigi outfits at Carnival. We will be Mario, Luigi, and Mario then.

Photo: pantä

— Okay, guys, share your plans! What is next?

Daniel: Right now, we are making new music. We are also collaborating with other artists to create it. We are preparing something like an EP and just thinking about new ideas for what we want to do next.

For a while now, we have wanted to try being a bit less like a meme and focus more on creating a balance between the fun, ironic stuff and the more artistic side of things. We want to be a bit more mindful of the music and the aesthetics, but honestly, I think it is impossible. We are too ridiculous, so I guess we will keep doing what we are doing.

— Are you working on a second album?

Daniel: I think an EP would be better. Nowadays, people don’t really like long releases, and honestly, neither do we. I think we will make something shorter, especially since we are constantly changing our minds. Making a full album is almost impossible for us — by the time we get halfway through, we are already tired of it and want to do something new.

John: Almost a year ago, we released our first album, and it was really tough. It was a super long process to finish and put it all together. Now, we want to do something smaller but put more power into it.

— Why was it difficult?

Daniel: It was a bit of a tough time for us because we used to be four, and then one of us left the band. There was this period when we were making the album, and we just didn’t like the songs we had — we felt we needed to start over. But we were already so worn out from spending so long on the album, so we ended up making the new songs really quickly.

We put everything together, and it felt like there were a lot of different styles in there. Looking back, we remember that time as being difficult, but we managed to get through it.

by Alexandra Mansilla