A Magik Markers performance is not a thoroughly organized event. Rather than scribble out a setlist, the Connecticut-bred duo of guitarist Elisa Ambrogio and drummer Pete Nolan craft long improvisations that teeter back-and-forth between rabid basement punk and, every so often, slightly laborious noodling. But this ability to spontaneously plunge into the unknown and unproven gives Magik Markers a certain mysterious allure that's not unlike a jazz musician or a religious extremist. On Magik Markers’ most recent album, Balf Quarry, the duo managed to channel its unhinged id into a relatively concise set of songs. The A.V. Club spoke with Ambrogio in anticipation of Magik Markers' performance on Sunday, May 10, at The Velvet Lounge, but we wound up spending more time talking about other things.
Awkward first attempts at making music
The A.V. Club: Were you in any bands before Magik Makers?
Elisa Ambrogio: No. Well, I played with some dudes I went to high school with twice. The drummer looked like a grown-person version of a Cabbage Patch kid. He was really obsessed with that show The Tick. He was a super nice guy, though. I played him my mix tape, which was all Warzone, Side By Side, and Revelation Records stuff. Then he put in King Diamond and said, "The band’s going to be like this." It was all of these weeping arpeggios and the singer had this insane range. I mean, you think you know what a metal singer who can get wild sounds like, but this was something else. Waaaa waaaa waaaaaa [singing in a piercing quasi-operatic banshee wail]. But it’s, like, a dude!
AVC: Okay, it’s sort of like Dream Theater.
EA: Totally. During our second practice, I was singing and I had my lyrics and this dude who was in the band was like, “Yeah that was good, but could you put your hair in front of your face and scream really loud?” I took my mic home and that was the end.
In Connecticut, Hatebreed is like CVS
AVC: A friend, who grew up in Connecticut, once confessed that he had seen Hatebreed more times than he had seen any other band.
EA: If you grew up in Connecticut, you couldn’t avoid seeing Hatebreed. They were everywhere. They were like CVS. If you went to shows in Connecticut and didn’t see Hatebreed—it seems like that would be a paradox. Jamie [Jasta, singer of Hatebreed] used to set up all these shows. Before he was in Hatebreed, he was in this band Jasta 14. They had a song called “Trippin' Balls,” which was awesome. I’ve got a tape of them. He used to write these lyrics that were, like, really rad adolescent fucked up beer poetry.