Magic In The Other was born out of the idea that it is in the unknown where the most potent ground lays for magic and discovery. It is from this notion that this fresh-on-the-scene trio from Oakland, CA sets out to connect with their listeners, creating a mentally-stimulating, emotionally-resonate, highly-danceable, and distinctly-transformative experience where everyone feels just a little more magical.

MITO assembled in early 2017, consisting of three in-demand Bay Area veterans - drummer and bandleader Ezra Lipp (Phil Lesh & Friends, Sean Hayes), bassist Steve Adams (ALO, Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers) and guitar wizard Roger Riedlbauer (Jolie Holland, Mercury Falls). Over the course of just a year, the trio has honed in on a contagious chemistry that beams with personality and is incredibly engaging to watch. It may be difficult to pin the band down to a specific genre, however, traces can be detected. Be it the rhythmic sophistication of jazz and West African music, the unrestrained spirit of rock n’ roll, the compositional approach of western classical music, or the improvisatory intensity of North Indian ragas, the magic of the band ultimately lies in the skilled fusing of all of the above (and beyond) to create a sound fresh and unique all its own.

In the fall of their break-out year, while building a buzz on stages around the Bay Area and garnering their first set of loyal fans, Ezra, Steve and Roger crowd-funded nearly $20k to put toward the making of their first full-length album. Recorded at the legendary Tiny Telephone Studios, the debut captures the band’s first batch of live-tested material, and is augmented by a few of their close musical friends as well as other fun studio surprises. Magic In The Other is aiming for a late summer/early fall release this year with subsequent touring to celebrate the completion of one chapter and the unknown of the next.

What We Know Is Possible (Pre-Release)

Light In My Window

Loveencee

Child's Tune

Power of the Pelicans

Thin Veil

East of Change II

East of Change I

Broke Whales

How Is This All Ending?

Thin Veil is basically the unofficial title track of our album. The song was inspired and quickly written after a conversation Ezra had for his podcast, “The Ezra Lipp Hour (More or Less)”, with San Diego’s Alfred Howard (writer/spoken word artist/”The Redwoods” label owner) where they dived into discussing the current political climate. It’s not exactly a political song as it’s more about trying to shift people’s attention towards ideas that might not be discussed in traditional left and right political narratives, yet lie almost plain in sight behind a Thin Veil. It offers the perspective that if we perhaps look outside of our often narrowly-framed debates and divides and look towards “What We Know Is Possible”, we could create so much more.

Ezra took his acoustic demo to Steve and Roger and they quickly turned it into a tight and groovy mid tempo rocker. The group collaboratively composed the instrumental interludes that frame some of the verses with some Stevie Wonder inspiration, and then added the monster psychedelic jam at the end that includes some Middle Eastern flair. The record version is augmented with some friends, Danny Eisenberg (Ryan Adams, Mother Hips, Phil Lesh & Friends) laying down the organ track, as well as Oakland multi-instrumentalist Mark Clifford (Dirty Snacks Ensemble) playing Rhodes.

What We Know Is Possible

Magic In The Other

Popular tracks