Magick Flavour Station is the brainchild of Raymond Okaye. MFS has just released an album, Tomorrow is my Birthday, which is now one of my favorite album names of all time. You can MFS perform on September 7 at Eagles 34.
Please tell us about Magick Flavour Station.
Magick Flavour Station is a project I’ve been doing for about 4ish years now. It essentially started out as what I called “vaporfolk”, combining elements of vaporwave and outsider folk stuff akin to Daniel Johnston. Overtime however I started to blend more and more elements of other genres into it and got better at playing guitar/singing so I’m not sure what to classify it as anymore. One thing that’s stayed consistent though is the use of cassette equipment, sort of purposely recording it as lofi as possible for an effect/aesthetic. (I think a lot of people try to make the “perfect recording” when they make stuff and it results in boring music, so I’ve always tried to go the opposite route) In my personal life the project primarily functions as a way to process/cope with my mental health issues so a lot of the songs end up being about how/what I’m feeling at the time of recording.
Can you tell us about how the music is made? You use some interesting instruments!
I don’t really like using computers to make music so I’ve developed a way of recording that doesn’t require them. When I started recording MFS I would use a Tascam portastudio cassette 4 track. I’d start with a drum track, taken from either a old casio keyboard or some of the drum machines I have, overdub a track with a guitar and vocal part (usually freestyled) then add some synths over it. Everything I’d record would be connected to a reverb guitar pedal that I’d push to the highest level I could before it’d be unlistenable. With the synths, I’d either get them from the 2 Yamaha Reface keyboards I have, some casio keyboards I thrifted, or I’d source sounds ripped from N64 or DS video game soundfonts. With this new album there’s been more parts involved. I upgraded to a digital 8 track recorder so I’d have double the tracks to record with, and use that to record similarly to before. Once I had all the tracks ready I’d record a mix of the song into an Akai MPC Live sampler, which I would then use to add more effects/master the song. Once it sounded how I wanted to I’d record the final master into a cassette tape.
Your music sounds dark and dreamy. I can’t decide if it’s comforting or unsettling, which means I’m going to listen to it a lot. Do you find making the music more comforting or unsettling?
It’s mostly comforting to me. As I mentioned before I use music as a way to help cope with my mental health issues. The lyrics in my songs are often made up on the spot and are about what I’m feeling while I’m recording onto tape, I think it tends to help. Sometimes when I get in a really dark place and record it can do the opposite but I usually don’t release the songs that come out of those sessions.
There is also a sardonic under current to the lyrics. I can see lots of layers to Tomorrow is my Birthday. What is the inspiration for a song like that?
That song started as a freestyle I recorded in a forest while I was really going through it. I felt like shit so I went into the woods near my house with a portable cassette recorder and a classical guitar and recorded a 7-10 minute freestyle and forgot about. About 2 months later I remembered the song and recorded a second demo of it, cutting it down to 5 minutes and adding a drum loop from one of my casios. (The second demo is up on my SoundCloud if you dig enough) I think I ended up recording the finished version 2 or 3 days later. The title “Tomorrow is my Birthday” is a reference to my favorite movie of all time, Hidaeki Anno’s Shiki-Jitsu. The main character in the film has a bunch of quirks that are later revealed to be coping mechanisms to help deal with her suicidal ideations, and the most prominent one in the film is that she’s convinced no matter what day it is that tomorrow is her birthday. Tomorrow isn’t actually her birthday, but sometimes we need to convince ourselves that something good is just around the corner just to live to see another day.
Are you playing any live shows? Or where is the best place (online or off) for people to connect with you?
– yes! I took about a month long break but next Saturday (September 7th) I’m playing a show with Whenthedustsettles and the Merges at eagles 34. Outside of that, the best place to reach me is my Instagram, Raymond.Okaye. Hit me up if you want beats or wanna talk about Daniel Johnston or something.
Mostly Minnesota 