LA indie dream chasers So Many Wizards take their parties of enchantment to the fields, thickets and mysterious waters in our premiere of their video for "Lose Your Mind."
Director Esther Morán Fraile gives us a film short of a soirée captured by Erea Azurmendi and Carlos Raya Edition that plays out like a Spanish rendition of a DIY minimalist Midsummer's Night Dream. María Antepazo's editing turns the various locales of Madrid's forests, rocky shores and clearings into places of mystery and allure as we watch our Lysander's quest for his Puck-ish Hermia. Amid the carefree laughter of the beautiful jubilant mechanicals masquerading as animal-human hybrids comes the smoke and mirrors of the siren's game where the chase takes to the woods and ends where the earth concludes and the sea commences its barge into the depths of infinity.
Nima Kazerouni took a few minutes to talk about the new video, the music of both SMW and solo project Crown Plaza, along with the applications of life's lessons, and experiences treated with the "utmost of care and respect" manners of reverences.
I have heard you describe your sound as 'anxiety driven dream pop'. Would you prescribe the video's sunny day gathering of animal nosed friends and lovers over transcendental meditation to cure anxiety?
Both activities will get you to the right place so it's up to you how you want to cure yourself. Meditating is easier though. All you need is somewhere to sit and your set to go.
What is it about the mystique of smoke bombs and sirens of the sea like in the video that causes us to disarm and reserve our reason?
Smoke bombs and sea waiting go together like peanut butter and jelly. If you're able to let go and wade in the sea with a significant other, colorful smoke bombs will automatically appear from nowhere. It's the strangest thing.
Speaking of the sea, what is the west coast's allure from LA/Long Beach/Silverlake/etc that speaks to you, given all your extensive international travels?
The Sun is kind in these parts year round and one quick visit to the Pacific Ocean has the ability to bring any cloudy head back into perspective.
"Because nothing is sweet when you're all alone, because nothing is sweet, my mother told me so." How do you manage to keep yours songs with the musical levity of helium while grounding them in lyrical lessons of love, sadness and maternal wisdom?
I wear my heart on my sleeve. The rest just seems to follow accordingly.
How do you decide between which songs are reserved for So Many Wizards and which songs are for Crown Plaza?
I wrote the Crown Plaza songs while living at the airport. The headspace and situation I was in paved the way for those songs in a very seamless way. Musically both projects are diverging into two clear distinct sounds so deciding which songs are reserved for each is becoming increasingly easier -This will be apparent in the follow up releases with both projects. I'm super excited for you to hear them both.
I had heard you recorded the bulk of Crown Plaza's Chem Waves Volume 1 in your dad's LAX office. Was wondering how recording within an airport environment has informed or inspired your creative approach to recording and writing?
Because of the noise, I had to wait until the dead of night to record. I turned nocturnal for a good while and this was very strange and deeply impacted my overall outlook and writing. LAX could be a lonely haunting place when seen from the night owl lenses.
It has been a big year for you with both the critically acclaimed SMW's Warm Nothing LP, and the excellent Crown Plaza Chem Waves Vol 1 EP. What can we expect from you, the Wizards and the Plaza in 2013?
I'm super thankful for all the support we've gotten for Warm Nothing and for the new outlet that has become Crown Plaza. Both projects are in the writing stages for new upcoming releases. I couldn't be more excited for the musical direction both SMW and Crown Plaza are headed. I'm very proud of both Warm Nothing and Chem Waves Volume 1 but I've learned a lot from these experiences and will apply these lessons with the utmost care and respect.
So Many Wizards' debut album Warm Nothing is available now on CD from JAXART and digital via iTunes.
Catch them on tour on the following dates.
November
8 USC with Allah Las
10 Santa Barbara New Noise Festival with Gardens & Villa, Y La Bamba
11 Live In Studio on KSPC 88.7 fm (day)
11 LA FORT, Dinner and a Show with Gothic Tropic
December
3 The Satellite with Henry Clay People
13 The Whiskey with Children of The Night Benefit
15 Bootleg with TV GIRL, Blackbird Blackbird
