Magic Bullet

Magic Bullet was born in the United States and travels a lot. I met him a couple of years ago in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) at a psytrance party where he was playing. He DJs and produces psytrance. Check out his tracks on SoundCloud.

What fascinates you about psytrance culture?

A lot of things, or should I say: EVERYTHING.
The love, the dance, the culture, the energy, the power, the people, the high-minded wisdom travelling from one soul to another.
Unfortunately I have to say that while I've been growing up with the culture and the music around me, the culture, the psytrance movement, the era, the generation have completely changed. (EVERYTHING'S CHANGED.)

The old-school vibe of peace, love, unity, respect (PLUR) has only been eroding over time. Materialism goes hand in hand with self-centredness. It used to be considered wrong, a total contradiction of where the culture came from, and surprisingly, over the past decade it has become the main focus.

Festivals are popping up on the map overnight like mushrooms after the rain. That's a good thing, because the culture and the music are spreading to every corner of the world. The spread is good, but it also brings in the superficial, the wannabes, the poor souls with only half an understanding of the sincerity and purity of the culture. The same goes for the music.

It used to be about people with insecurities and a lack of self-confidence opening up through active meditation (dance) and connecting with one another, where nights turned into mornings and friends turned into family. Now it's all about ego and judgement with a smile.
New subgenres come and go, it's an ever-changing process. Psytrance is a culture, so it will be here for quite a while.

What are your musical influences?

To be honest, my very first musical influence was a very dear friend of mine, a sound engineer and up-and-coming artist and DJ, who sadly passed away at the age of 22 before he could make his mark on the psychedelic world. I remember Infected Mushroom used to be our jam back in those days.

That's when my heart opened up and welcomed new music into my soul, streaming through all the old school: Goa Gil, Astral Projection, Shpongle, 1200 Micrograms, Indra, Astrix, Talamasca, GMS, Skazi, Electric Universe, Eskimo, Yahel, Vibe Tribe, Gataka, Wrecked Machines, Sub6, Space Buddha, Beat Hackers, Digicult, CPU, U-Recken, Azax Syndrom and many, MANY more… you get the vibe.

In the end, the one artist who truly connected with me, and whom I was very fortunate to meet and watch perform in Goa in my early days in the psy family, was and is… PSYKOVSKY!

As artists we have a responsibility towards our audience. What is the key thing you want to pass on to your listeners? What is your message?

The message is crystal clear: Live, Laugh & Dance!

LIVE: To live is the most extraordinary thing in the world. Most people just exist.
So get out there and be yourself, be imaginative, be wild, be you, do you, for you. In short, simply embrace your weirdness.

LAUGH: Laughter is an instant vacation, a happy place.
Everyone is at war with their own demons. Trust in your progress and go with the flow, love and treasure every moment of life with laughter, because life is too short. Make the most of what you have right now, because many less fortunate people can only wish for what you have. Always find a reason to laugh. It may not add years to your life, but it will surely add life to your years.

DANCE: Dance is active meditation. Dance is the unknown language of the soul, so dance, because you are a free man, a free soul, a free bird, a phoenix, a dragon, a wolf. Whoever and whatever you want to be, you can be, because what you think is what you make.

PS: Life is much better when you dance, and you look beautiful on the trance floor!

If you could start over again, what would you do differently?

I'd like to answer this question from a different angle, because I feel that every day we wake up is a blessing, a gift, a new start, a new day, a new process: new challenges, new opportunities, new tasks, new responsibilities, a new atmosphere, new acquaintances, new knowledge. Every new day is another chance to change your life, to start over, to create what you desire, because every new day you're not starting from scratch. You're starting from experience. Don't miss this moment!

Please name one piece of your production gear you like and tell us why you like it.

I'm a novice producer, getting my hands dirty with gear at a snail's pace. With time and today's technology, there are many beautiful beasts out there I'd like to get my hands on.

As for my own studio gear, the Akai APC Key 25 is my baby when it comes to production.

Why do I like it?

Because it's a powerful instrument, a very compatible MIDI controller, insanely portable and very light. It's a great fit for beginners. It offers a vast range of creative possibilities, both for composing and for live performance.

It's amazingly easy to use with Ableton Live. It works seamlessly straight out of the box, with no setup needed. The synths it comes with (Hybrid and TWIST) are grand and honestly worth the price on their own. They have tons of great-sounding presets to get started right away, and plenty of room to tweak and modify the sounds, with a bit of a learning curve as you figure out how to create melodies and build basslines.

The APC Key 25 lets you go anywhere with a computer without sacrificing functionality, especially if you're an artist who travels super light.