10 Questions

We're on our way! Running toward the Sun and Summer Solstice! (Are YOU ready..?)

As the celebrations abound we thought we'd kick it all off with a new edition of the "10 Questions" survey. This week's guest certainly shows an aptitude-and the right attitude, with some amazingly unabashed responses.

Here's what our great pals at label Optical Sounds say about our guest:

"A hypnotic wall of sound, a collision between classic Psychedelia, Minimalism and Velvet Underground style Reverb Rock and Roll best describes Optical Sounds latest addition – Magic Shoppe.


Originally founded in Buffalo, NY and now working out of Boston, MA Josiah Webb learned guitar, drums and bass, as well as some non-traditional recording techniques, in West Hartford, Connecticut where his father had a large amount of old recording gear always laying around. As a result of his father’s love for 60’s rock, Josiah woke up to The Kinks and went to bed listening to The Standells on a daily basis.


Magic Shoppe's debut EP will be released by Toronto’s Optical Sounds on April 6, 2010. The EP showcases the band’s sonic assault and atmospheric range. Their live shows demonstrate Josiah’s love for reverb and overlaid melodies.


Although the lineup is ever changing, the sound stays true to Josiah’s vision. This is substantiated by Josiah’s presence on every instrument on all of the recordings. A welcome addition to Optical Sounds, we hope that you enjoy Magic Shoppe as much as we do."



I've enjoyed Magic Shoppe's debut EP, Reverb, quite a lot, especially the track "Dead Poplar."



So, let's get this party started, shall we?


1. In ten words-or less, define "psychedelic music."

music that makes you feel like you're on drugs.


2. What is the most psychedelic instrument, why?

i don't think there's any single universal psychedelic instrument... i could make up a song with just drums and vocals and run it through some messed up shit that sounds totally psyched out..... it's an affect.. not an instrument.. to me, anyway.


3. Favorite psychedelic album of all time?

to answer this accurately....i'd have to mention the things that are psych to me... shitloads of reverb, tremolo, repetitious /driving melodies and some non standard guitar sounds... having said that..

Velvet Undergound & Nico




4. What was the first song you remember listening to in an 'altered' state?

The A Team's opening theme (the television program)... i was 14 and trying to steer clear of my folks.. it wasn't exactly psychedelic.. but it answers your question honestly....




5. What song or album that wouldn't fall into the classic "psych" definition is, nevertheless, psychedelic to you?

what is or isn't psychedelic... it's a feeling.... i'm sure if properly medicated, i could find some serious shit inside of a country ballad.




6. When so many bands are making other kinds of more "consumer-friendly" music, why psychedelia for you? What about the genre appeals to you?

i think i am excluded from mainstream due to sheer amount of reverb i use on everything.. maybe if Nickelback drenched their shit in reverb they'd be super cool... but i doubt it... so i guess there's something else going on there for me... i dunno.




7. Is there an advantage in being the pioneers (60s psychedelic bands), or being the continuing explorers armed with the knowledge of those pioneers work (the modern psychedelic bands)? Why?

i don't think people know or pay attention to what something is until enough people "do it".. so.. it kinda makes sense to base everything off of a starting point... Hendrix, Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Sgt. Peppers... some Yardbirds, Standells... i think i'm too tainted to make an accurate guess as to how cool Syd Barret was in 1966.. or how "new" he was.... i know what i like.. and i am certain that shit comes through in my music... end of story!


8. If you could cover one album in its entirety, even though you may be the only one who ever hears it, what album would it be and why?

VU's first record... Velvet Underground & Nico... that album has everything i would sell my soul for...



9. Top Ten Psychedelic Songs?

Venus in Furs: Velvet Underground
Medication: The Standells
Bike: Pink Floyd
Heroin: Velvet Underground
Child of the Sky: The Deviants
Anemone: Brian Jonestown Massacre
2000 Light Years From Home: The Rolling Stones
Losing Touch With My Mind: Spacemen 3
Wear Your Love Like Heaven: Donovan
21 And Counting: The Mystery Lights








10. Turn the tables, if you'd like, and ask me a question.

josiah: whats the weirdest thing you've experienced /seen while on chemicals?

-valis Hmm,thought-provoking question. Might be the time a friend & I were doing a tab and went to a bar; got a drink, just to haul it around and sip on occasionally. We walked over to a pool table a couple of guys were playing a game on..,they looked at us, handed us their sticks and sat down....I took a shot, my brother took a shot...we handed the cues back....they took shots and handed them back...this went on for what seemed several hours, no competitiveness to any of it, just shoot when you want at whatever you want......not sure what THEY were on but it sure stuck with us. We still laugh about it. (Mind you, there's a multitude of stories, to be sure. I'm just unsure about posting them. Understand?)

If you're in the East, go see Magic Shoppe at P.A.'s in Sommerville, MA, on July 1st!
THANKS Josiah!