Buzznet Exclusive: Up Close with Ariel Pink and Dexy Valentine of Magic Wands

I was stoked when I heard that Dexy Valentine of Magic Wands collborated with Ariel Pink on a new track titled “Walkie Talkie.” I had the opportunity to ask them a few questions about the song and what we can expect to hear from both of them in the future.

Tell us how this collaboration came about and what the song represents to both of you.

Ariel: We met about 12 years ago in L.A. and we bonded over our mutual love of The Cure. I always loved her music throughout the years. She’s been at it a long time, and she has a knack for writing songs and a great voice. So I passed along the instrumental demo to her being curious what she would come up with.

Dexy: I loved it! I love everything he does but this particular track really resonated with me. I’ve always wanted to do something with Ariel but we only recently re-connected. When I heard the keyboard line and groove, I thought this is the perfect song for me to sing on.

Dexy, what inspired the sound of “Walkie Talkie?”

We didn’t record the song together, Ariel recorded the music on his own and came over one night and played it for me and I just sang on it after he left. I’m not sure where the initial inspiration came from, the song has a really unique vibe and sound that’s reminiscent of early music by The Cure or The Glove.

Did the final product turn out to be what you initially planned?

Dexy: It turned out the way I wanted it to sound, at some point Ariel may put his own vocals/melody on it and it will be something else, It wasn’t planned at all.

What can we expect to hear from both of you this year?

Ariel: I don’t know, the next AP is still in beginning stages and I don’t know where it’s gonna go or what direction it’s gonna take.

Dexy: Magic Wands is working on a cover for a David Bowie tribute album for Cleopatra Records and we are about to release a 7 inch. Come February our album Aloha Moon will be out in Australia and then we’ll be in the studio recording our second album. I also have a new band/project called Bonfire Beach. We just released an album called Lit that’s available on iTunes, we’re also playing our first show in Hollywood on Jan 16th.