History
Magic Bullets formed in San Francisco, California in 2004 with musicians primarily hailing from the Bay area who had spent most of their musically formative years playing with or alongside one another in various punk rock outfits. Vocalist Philip Benson and guitarist and primary songwriter Cunningham first met in 2000 and later played together in The Cosmos. [2]
After a few years Cunningham and Benson called upon friends Colin Dobrin (drums), Matthew Kallman (Future Girls) (keys) and Nathan Sweatt (bass guitar) to form a new band to play music inspired by their favorite artists, inspiration from Orange Juice, The Sound, and The Feelies.
After developing an agreeable repertoire, and with the welcomed addition of long-time friend and musical collaborator and guitarist Ryan Lynch (Former Cosmos/Future Dominant Legs/Girls), Magic Bullets set out to play scores of shows in the winter of 2004/2005. In October 2005 the sextet had their first recording session of material to be included on their debut at Atomic Garden in East Palo Alto, California. [3] In June 2006 Magic Bullets recorded six additional songs at House of Faith in Oakland with Bart Thurber, and a few more songs recorded by Lev Perrey at The Emergency Room. Perrey mixed the album in the Summer of 2006.
In early 2007 the band released their debut, an album's worth of recordings collected over the span of the three years since the band's conception. Their first full-length album, A Child But In Life Yet A Doctor In Love, was released on Minneapolis’ Words on Music. The band then embarked on a tour through the United States, culminating in a performance at the 2008 South by Southwest festival.
In 2009, guitarist Ryan Lynch exited the group to pursue his own project, Dominant Legs. A few months later, drummer Colin Dobrin left the band. Magic Bullets then recruited well-known punk drummer Danny "Panic" Sullivan. Magic Bullets opted to self-release their second recording, a four-song 12-inch titled Lives For Romance.
Magic Bullets' second full-length album was recorded at Atomic Garden in East Palo Alto, California by long-time friend Jack Shirley. Prior to the album's release, Danny "Panic" Sullivan and longtime keyboardist Matt Kallman left the group. The band then recruited various friends to fill in for one single shows. Sean McDonnell (Shony Collins), longtime friend and fan of Magic Bullets was asked to join the band and played his first show live on public radio's west coast live. Soon after that Alex Kaiser (Tempo no Tempo) took on the role of Magic Bullets drummer. The album was released in June 2010 on Mon Amie Records.
Mon Amie Records released the group's final release, an EP called Much Ado About, in 2012. [4] Phil Benson, Corey Cunningham, and Nathan Sweatt continued playing in Terry Malts, a group they started in 2009. [5]
A lost album, recorded from 2007–2008 titled Young Man's Fancy was released by Cunningham on his Parked In Hell label in 2016. [6]
Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, multi-instrumentalist David Immerglück, bass guitarist Millard Powers, and guitarist Dan Vickrey. Past members include the drummers Steve Bowman (1991–1994) and Ben Mize (1994–2002), and bass guitarist Matt Malley (1991–2005).
Swingin' Utters is a Californian punk rock band that formed in the late 1980s. After a seven-year hiatus, the band reformed in 2010 and have since released four more records.
Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade is a musical project with rotating personnel, led by American singer/bassist Les Claypool. The Frog Brigade was formed during a hiatus from Claypool's main group Primus.
American Music Club was an American, San Francisco-based indie rock band, led by singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel. Formed in 1983, the band released seven albums before splitting up in 1995. They reformed in 2003 and released two further albums.
Jay Lane is an American drummer. He is a founding member of Bob Weir's RatDog, with Weir and Rob Wasserman, Wolf Bros, Furthur, Golden Gate Wingmen and Alphabet Soup. He was the 7th drummer to play in Primus, playing with the band for around eight months in 1988 and later rejoining the band from 2010-2013. Lane was a member of San Francisco Bay Area bands The Uptones from '83-'85, and The Freaky Executives '84-'89
The Sons of Champlin are an American rock band, from Marin County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, formed in 1965. They are fronted by vocalist-keyboardist-guitarist Bill Champlin, who later joined rock band Chicago, from 1981 to 2009, placing Sons of Champlin on hiatus from 1981 to 1996. They brought to the late ‘60s music scene in the Bay Area a soulful sound built around a horn section, sophisticated arrangements, philosophical themes, Bill Champlin's songwriting and blue-eyed soul singing, and Terry Haggerty's jazz-based guitar. They are one of the enduring 1960s San Francisco bands, along with Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and Moby Grape.
David A. Immerglück is an American multi-instrumentalist who is best known as a guitarist in the alternative rock bands Counting Crows, Camper Van Beethoven and the Monks of Doom, as well as for his tenure with American singer songwriter John Hiatt. A versatile musician, Immerglück plays mandolin, pedal steel guitar, bass, slide guitar, electric sitar, keyboards, and sings.
Chris Von Sneidern is an American singer-songwriter. He earned a cult following with a string of indie releases during the 1990s and 2000s.
Verbal Abuse is an American hardcore punk band formed in Houston, Texas, United States, in 1981. They are one of the founding bands of hardcore punk. They later relocated to San Francisco and eventually to Oakland, California.
Dear Nora is an indie pop band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1999 by songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Katy Davidson, drummer and vocalist Marianna Ritchey, and bassist Ryan Wise. Ritchey and Wise were previously members of Wolf Colonel. They named their new band after Lewis & Clark College music professor Nora Beck. Dear Nora's first album, We'll Have a Time, was produced by Amy Linton of The Aislers Set and released on the Portland label Magic Marker Records in 2001.
Robert "Bobby" Winkelman is an American singer, song writer, rhythm guitarist, and bass guitarist. He was a founding member of the East Bay band, "The Epics".
Fang is an American hardcore punk band from the early East Bay punk rock scene, established in Berkeley, California, in 1980.
Wendy and Bonnie Flower were American singing sisters, who recorded the album Genesis in 1969 for Skye Records. The album was produced and arranged by jazz polymath Gary McFarland. McFarland at the time was a partner in the ownership of Skye, along with music impresario Norman Schwartz, Latin percussionist Cal Tjader, and guitarist Gábor Szabó.
Steven John Taylor is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. In addition to his solo career, he has played keyboards and guitar for bands such as Rhye, Nicki Bluhm, and Rogue Wave. He was born in Sacramento, California and grew up in the College Glen area, attending Saint Ignatius Catholic School and the Sacramento Waldorf School. Dropping out in 10th grade following a bout of misdiagnosed obsessive compulsive disorder, he later enrolled at Sacramento High School.
The Union Trade is an American Indie rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 2006. An early and leading member of the Bay Area post-rock scene, The Union Trade is also the founding band of San Francisco independent music label, Tricycle Records. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Nate Munger, Don Joslin (guitar), and Eric Salk. The founding drummer was Dan Rodkewich. The band's current drummer, Eitan Anzenberg, has been with the band since 2012.
Geographer is an American synth-pop/indie rock band founded in 2007 by Mike Deni in San Francisco, California, United States.
Dominant Legs is an American indie pop group formed in 2008 and based in San Francisco, California. The band's line-up is Ryan Lynch, Hannah Hunt, Andrew Connors, Garett Goddard (guitar) and Rene Solomon. Dominant Legs released an extended play (EP), Young At Love and Life, in 2010 and a full-length album, Invitation, in 2011.
Atlas is the third studio album by the American indie rock band Real Estate, released on March 4, 2014, on Domino Records. It was their first album recorded with the drummer Jackson Pollis and keyboard player Matt Kallman, and the last with the lead guitarist and founding member Matt Mondanile.
Timothy Goodman is an American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, vocalist and producer who has recorded for RCA, Columbia Records and Warner Brothers and performed on numerous sessions for other recording artists.
The Origin was an American alternative/indie rock/power pop band formed in San Diego, California in 1985. The classic line-up of the band consisted of Michael Andrews, Topper Rimel, Rony Abada, and Daniel Silverman. During the band's active years in the early nineties, they released two full-length albums and five singles, with two singles charting in the top 20 of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. They broke up in 1993.
