PREMIERE | Volcanic Legacy, 'Foolish Magic'
The legendary Mike Sempert of Volcanic Legacy; press photo courtesy of Tuan Hoang Trieu.
From the anachronisms of the past arts, we discover new inspirations and paths for the artifices of tomorrow and today. Beyond the paint brushes and canvases sporting pastiches, fusions and other various revisionist takes on what once was; the modern era creator looks to reinvent, more so rather than recreate the constructs and elements that comprise the collections of influences and inspirations for their contemporary crafts. From the dusty dollar bin crates, to the crystallizations of eras and movements found in coffee table art books, textbooks and the like — the foundations and formations from yesteryears inform the newly discovered impetuses that reimagine all that arrived before in new sequences and styles of all that is limitlessly possible.
From the volumes of these storied pasts with the energy of now is the new Volcanic Legacy album, Foolish Magic, courtesy of Infinity Map Records. The brainchild of pop maestro Mike Sempert, the multitalented artist pitched it to us as a tribute to their synth-funk, disco and jazz fusion roots. Formulated from the enthusiastic passions from their parents’ record collections and mindful of curating a new realm of creative consciousness — Sempert infuses a degree of enchantment like building a newfound sonic city from the sand, bricks and mortars of the modern electric canon for a new kind of classic bouquet of bops.
Foolish Magic is like a jukebox trip to a throwback discotheque from another dimension. The snazzy disco pizazz of "Now That You Found Me" works in ways that mixes mystery with dancefloor decorum that twists conventions to some of the most curious places of production witchcraft. The hits are just getting warmed up, as that super 70s sentiment shines brilliantly and bright on "Giving Away My Love" that incorporates big time arrangement values of the retro radio pop baroque variety that mixes the rhythms with strings and lots of glowing sax brass. Mike Sempert keeps the fashions fluid and outright fascinating with the electro-dipped "Nonstop City" duet with Annabelle Maginnis that shimmers like a happening town that never sleeps, built out of the most pointed synths that burn with the incandescent light of utter exhilaration. Like building a new imagined city from a desert oasis, "Sand Bar" materializes like a mystic mirage emerging from the dust storms of the ether, while the title track is an exercise in blending some of the most understated and atmospheric arrangements that are reminiscent of a lost cult 70s, 80s, or even a mid-90s cut caught on a late night radio taping (and never before heard again until now).
Basking in the solstice shift wonder as winter turns to spring with Mike Sempert; press photo courtesy of Liz Hidalgo.
"Side Hustle" is a smoky and sinewy electric interlude reminiscent of a movie theme ripped from the latter quarter of the twentieth century, as "Megalow" breaks through the millennium barrier into the extreme highs and lows that arrived with the dawning of the twenty-first century. Covering Milton Nascimento, Wayne Shorter and Fernando Brant; Sempert brings us back to a more electrified 1970s employing vocoder with timeless romantic overtures. The lover's rock elements sweetly soft step on the lavish lounge luxury embrace of "Take Care of You", right before setting the dials swiftly and smoothly for the synthesizer heart of the sun on "Solar Phase". Mike Sempert brings the entire Volcanic Legacy cycle full circle with the stratosphere cruising "Cloud Affection" that pierces through the collections of cumulus and other puffy vapor formations at a high altitude with little to no mind about coming down for a landing. Foolish Magic is an upward adventure to find new skies above the anachronistic atmospheres of everything that arrived before (and everything that is below in a perpetual ascent).
Creative reflections with Volcanic Legacy’s Mike Sempert; press photo courtesy of Liz Hidalgo.
Mike Sempert provided some exclusive views on the creation of the new Volcanic Legacy album:
When I was a teenager I fell in love with the music of Weather Report, 70s Herbie Hancock and the Brazilian-themed album "Native Dancer" by Wayne Shorter which features songwriter and vocalist Milton Nascimento. As a freshman in highschool, I stumbled across the vinyl records that my parents had packed up in boxes in the basement, a veritable treasure trove of jazz, jazz-fusion, funk, disco, reggae and world music. Kudos to my parents, Lenore and David, for having amazing taste in music. I'm so lucky to have grown up with Prince, Earth Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder and Thomas Mapfumo among many others. In grade school I was into Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but when I rediscovered my parents’ albums, it really changed my life. This was long before Spotify, so music discovery was really organic and there was a genuine adrenaline rush in dropping the needle on something you've never heard, hoping that it might be that thing you've been looking for.
Inside Mike Sempert’s recording studio; courtesy of the artist.
Now as a composer and producer, I get to create that thing I've been looking for. And that's such a gift to oneself to be able to do and I can only hope a gift to others when they discover it themselves. More and more, what I'm looking for is a thing that is groovy, makes you feel good, but also a bit adventurous and expansive, even psychedelic. My goal is to create a realm for the imagination for the listener. The process feels most alive when I'm just enjoying what I'm working on and this record was really really fun to work on. Hope that joy can go on and on and on! Until the internet breaks forever. Maybe a vinyl pressing is a good idea?
The new Volcanic Legacy album Foolish Magic will be available April 21 via Infinity Maps Records.