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Piano Magic was formed in the summer of 1996 by Glen Johnson, Dominic Chennell, and Dick Rance in London, England, as a bedroom-studio project with the intention to base their recordings around a small nucleus and whomever else would like to contribute. Reluctant to perform live, they eventually gave way to label pressure recruiting Paul Tornbohm on the way but pointedly playing none of their released material. By 1998 they had harvested a catalogue of varied singles, EPs and two albums with a plethora of sonic stylings, from smallbeat Kraftwerkian Meccano Pop on debut album, Popular Mechanics 1997 (try Everything Works Beautifully) to the breathless, ethereal, multi-layered melancholy of Low Birth Weight 1998 (try Not Fair).
In 1999, with only Johnson remaining from the original trio and the band taking on a more conventional guise, they decided to play anywhere they were wanted and began build something of a cult following, particularly on the European Continent. They showcased the post-modernist baroque sound of Artists’ Rifles 1999 at the Benicassim and BAM music festivals. Ironically, the band never fully infiltrated the hearts of the British music press, but tours of Germany, Holland, Italy, Belgium, France, Spain peppered the next few years. |
