{"id":1660,"date":"2008-09-04T08:10:00","date_gmt":"2008-09-04T12:10:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2012-06-25T20:57:55","modified_gmt":"2012-06-26T00:57:55","slug":"the-rock-town-hall-interview-magic-chris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/the-rock-town-hall-interview-magic-chris\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rock Town Hall Interview: Paul Kopf of Magic Christian"},"content":{"rendered":"<iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rCZLWT1t9Xs?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><p><em>East Coast fans of <strong>The Flamin&#8217; Groovies<\/strong> take note: <strong>Magic Christian<\/strong>, a band featuring the Groovies&#8217; <strong>Cyril Jordan<\/strong> along with Blondie drummer extraordinaire <strong>Clem Burke<\/strong> and Plimsouls&#8217; lead guitarist (on bass!) <strong>Eddie Munoz<\/strong>, may be coming to a small club your way (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.magicchristian.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">click here for tour dates<\/a>). The secret weapon in this super-duper rock-action combo is stealth vocalist <strong>Paul Kopf<\/strong>. Outside the San Francisco area, where Paul has long been a dedicated scene-maker, readers may be going, <\/em><em>Huh?<\/em> But this guy&#8217;s the real deal, complete with a rocking voice, great hair, cool slacks, and percussion-shaking chops. Most importantly, the guy&#8217;s got balls, which is key to fronting the band&#8217;s energetic, riff-heavy, mid-&#8217;60s mix of tunes, which are just what you&#8217;d hope to hear from a band of this pedigree. <\/p>\n<p>Paul recently answered some questions for Rock Town Hall before the band launches its East Coast tour on <strong>Friday, September 5<\/strong>, at <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.johnnybrendas.com\" target=\"_blank\">Johnny Brenda&#8217;s<\/a><\/strong> (Girard and Frankford), with <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.myspace.com\/thedonutsrock\" target=\"_blank\">The Donuts<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.myspace.com\/beretta76\" target=\"_blank\">Beretta76<\/a><\/strong>, and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.myspace.com\/parallaxproject\" target=\"_blank\">Parallax Project<\/a><\/strong>. The Donuts feature <strong>Townsman cdm<\/strong>, who&#8217;s asking local Townspeople to come out early and catch his band&#8217;s set, at 9:00 pm. Judging by the enthusiasm of Paul in our chat and what I know about the spirited set of local openers, this should be a show worth catching from bottom to top of the bill.<\/p>\n<p>Rock Town Hall, Paul Kopf. Paul Kopf, Rock Town Hall.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> Can you tell our readers a little about your background, Paul? You&#8217;ve got a history organizing San Francisco music festivals and the like, right? Have you played in other bands, I&#8217;m sure. Are you from the Bay area?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> Was in a couple of band&#8217;s growing up in SF, none of particular note, though one band, <strong>The Heebee Jeebeez<\/strong>, seem to have made some sort of impression on a few people. A few times on the road this year I&#8217;ve been approached by people who say they liked that band. Why? I can&#8217;t figure out&#8230; Left that band when one of the guys went nuts and wouldn&#8217;t show up for a showcase in LA for some labels, who we were interested in us, and decided, after a few  SF scenesters recommended I do so, to get into putting on shows with bands that I like and who I felt didn&#8217;t have a forum anymore to play their music. Also this was in the late 1990s, when ALL festivals seemed to be geared to alternative music audiences. I felt like there were no festivals left, at least in the SF Bay Area, that appealed to Power Pop-, Beatles-, Stones-based music fans. So I did the <strong>Baypop Festival<\/strong> for a few years and got a chance to meet some of my musical idols, including my good buddy and partner in crime, <strong>Cyril Jordan<\/strong>. I was right in that Baypop was somewhat successful and had some AMAZING shows, but in the end I lost a lot of money and I really missed performing. But Magic Christian did come out of it as I met <strong>Alec Palao<\/strong>, MC&#8217;s original bass player, and I as said earlier, Cyril.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> How did Magic Christian came about? Some of the original participants turned over, but their replacements are even cooler.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> As I said band came out of Baypop Fest. What happened was, I hired Cyril and Alec to put together a band and back the original <strong>Beau Brummels<\/strong> for a Baypop show I did. After that Baypop was over I decided I missed singing and performing and wanted to do my own CD. So I hired Cyril to produce it, Got Alec and <strong>Prairie Prince<\/strong>, who&#8217;s good friend&#8217;s with my buddy, Roger, to play on it. We found out that recording together was such a blast and we sounded so good together that it just turned from my record to Magic Christian, which Cyril christened us. As time went by and after we played a few times live and we were getting a lot of offers to tour and play, Alec and Prairie couldn&#8217;t commit to the opportunities coming our way. You see Prairie plays with <strong>Todd Rundgren<\/strong>, The Starship, The New Cars, and of course <strong>The Tubes<\/strong>, among others, and Alec is always busy with putting out all those wonderful reissues he does for <strong>Rhino<\/strong> and <strong>Big Beat<\/strong> and such. So we had to make the hard decision of replacing them or else we could never play live and tour, which is what Cyril and I really dig doing. Frankly we like to ROCK OUT LIVE, and it&#8217;s a big part of why the two of us are musicians in the first place. So we had to get some new guys like us. Luckily I called up my good friend, Eddie Munoz of The Plimsouls, who we did a few gigs with in the past and asked him if he could recommend anybody to play bass for us, and he said &#8220;Yeah..Me!!!&#8221; which just blew our heads!! I mean Eddie&#8217;s a GREAT guitar player, man. The Plimsouls ROCK!! Cyril and I never thought of him being a bass guy!! But he did, as it turns, have an extensive background playing bass for <strong>Adam Ant<\/strong> and <strong>Dave Vanian<\/strong>&#8216;s (The Damned) solo tours. So we got together and it worked. We then were lucky enough to have this old friend of Cyril&#8217;s offer us a gig to play his 50th birhday party. We told him we&#8217;d love to but no skins, man. He said he has this friend named Clem who might do it with us if he liked he tunes. We sent him a CD. He liked it. Him and Eddie were, as it turns out good friends, and in fact were in The Plimsouls together. It just fell right into place and we haven&#8217;t looked back.<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><br \/><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/K7aoWX8ENT0?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> What did the Flamin&#8217; Groovies mean to you when you were a young rocker? <\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> Saw The Groovies MANY times. Always my faves. Paticularly The Cyril\/<strong>Chris Wilson<\/strong> era, though <strong>Roy Loney<\/strong> was cool too, but I saw The Groovies first in the mid- to late-1970s, when Roy was already out of the band. Used to go home and sing to their records, thinking I was doing Cyril&#8217;s parts but in fact I was doing Chris&#8217;! Cyril says that&#8217;s why we blend so well now, &#8217;cause I was singing harmony with him all those years ago. It&#8217;s true I think, too.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> How were they perceived as part of the San Francisco music scene? Were bands like the Groovies and The Beau Brummels swimming upstream, or were they just part of the fabric? From the East Coast, we saw the whole hippie-psych thing and then a handful of band who knew how to tune their guitars and play concise 3-minute rock &#8216;n roll songs.<\/p>\n<p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bqVVnExlX9c?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\n<strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> Yeah ..Both of those bands were not really the norm in the hippie scene that&#8217;s for sure. Not liike The Dead, Airplane, Quicksilver, etc. They were more English to most. The Groovies have never really been that accepted in SF to this day&#8230;I mean Cyril tells me all the time that for The Groovies to get anywhere they had to always leave SF!! NYC for <em>Teenage Head<\/em> and London for <em>Shake Some Action<\/em>-era Groovies are examples. But now their legacy is just as big to some as those other bigger bands.<\/p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lWXiWbnQATU?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> For you, as a fan, what do you consider the high points of each of the two phases of the Groovies?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> Cyril and Chris-era Groovies is tops for me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> When Magic Christian plays live do you play Groovies songs, or even songs by The Plimsouls and Blondie?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> No Plimsouls or Blondie tunes quite yet. One Groovies tune is allowed at this point.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> Please note that this question is meant as a compliment, but how big are your balls? Do you ever catch yourself singing in with these guys and say, like David Byrne, &#8220;How did I get here?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> All the freakin&#8217; time!!! Most be the photos I have on them that keeps them playing, or should I say allowing me to sing with them!!<\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> What&#8217;s the best advice your bandmates have given you based on their extensive experiences on the road and in the studio?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> Be ready for ANYTHING to happen! Also be careful who you allow into your realm and be less accessible, which is the complete opposite of my personality, if you know me at all. I&#8217;ve had that one bite me in the butt a couple times already.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> Your bandmates must have some wild stories to tell. Who&#8217;s the best rock storyteller and dirt disher in the bunch?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> They are all AMAZING storytellers&#8230; Cyril has some of the coolest most fascinating stories, as does Clem. Eddie&#8217;s are usually jokes or girl related. The guy is hilarious!!<\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> Any choice stories you&#8217;d like to share in the Halls of Rock? You may include XTC stories from former Christian Prairie Prince. We&#8217;ll keep it under hat!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> Cyril is The Walrus!!!<\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> When&#8217;s the new Magic Christian album coming out? The tracks on your site sound great.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> Thanks. Will be out in September. Hey&#8230;that means it&#8217;s ready NOW! See us about ordering, if interested.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> Anything else you want the world to know about Magic Christian?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> The Revolution&#8217;s here!! We think rock STILL lives! Come out to a show and rock with us!<\/p>\n<p>At this point, Paul drank a glass of truth serum and agreed to sit down for some <strong>DUGOUT CHATTER<\/strong>!<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<div class=\"image_block\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<div><object type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" data=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/dugout400x400.swf\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/dugout400x400.swf\" \/><\/object><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> Brian Jones- or Mick Taylor-era Stones?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> Man&#8230;Obviously anything mid-1960s, so BRIAN!!! But I also like Mick, too. But in the end the music with Brian is so cool!!!<\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> Which do you prefer, the Peter Sellers-Ringo Starr movie or the Badfinger album?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> LOVE the album&#8230;&#8221;Carry On Till Tomorrow&#8221;&#8230;man! The film is fun, too, though.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> Is there any hometown love left for Sammy Hagar?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> Sammy&#8217;s real cool&#8230;records at the same place we do so we&#8217;ve hanged a bit. Some of his stuff is cool. &#8220;Red&#8221;, &#8220;Turn Up the Music&#8221;&#8230; He and Cyril can be quite funny together.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> Considering each woman in their respective prime, Debbie Harry or the Queen of San Francisco Rock, Grace Slick?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> Woah&#8230; Tough one. But I think Grace &#8217;til she started talking too much, then I&#8217;d split and hang with Debbie, who I got the chance to meet this summer in the UK, when we were over there. She&#8217;s a sweetie. She likes Magic Christian, too which is way cool!<\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> If Magic Christian were to tackle one song by the Grateful Dead, what would it be?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> They didn&#8217;t write it, but they did do it: &#8220;Turn On Your Love Light&#8221;. Also &#8220;Golden Road&#8221; might be cool. Actually, a Jerry Garcia solo track like &#8220;Sugaree&#8221; might be cool, too.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> I saw Blondie open for Elvis Costello and Genesis (yuk) at Philadelphia&#8217;s long-gone 100,000-seat JFK Stadium around 1981. At one point in Blondie&#8217;s set, between songs, Clem Burke and Jimmy Destri were yapping for some reason. Clem removed a cymbal threw it at him, Frisbie style. Has he ever thrown a cymbal at one of you?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> No but he jumped COMPLETELY over my head in Austin when we had a equiptment malfunction to get to the mic! I mean there are pictures in some SXSW picture gallery of it! Right over my head as I turned back to him. It was scary! Clem can be a little intense at times on stage. So he keeps you on your toes, but he&#8217;s the ULTIMATE pro. Amazing drummer. And I love the guy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> Battle of the Bands: Magic Christian vs The Flamin&#8217; Groovies vs The Plimsouls vs Blondie &#8211; who wins?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> Tough call again but I hear Debbie can fight, man! She&#8217;s from NYC too, so they&#8217;re naturally crazy and full of angst, but I don&#8217;t know&#8230; Those Plimsouls and Groovies guys are tough as nails as well, but I&#8217;d take us! We&#8217;re a bunch of nuts and, besides, because of all the experiences through the years the guys have picked up a few tricks of the trade that the other bands might not know. And Eddie&#8217;s from Texas! They kick ass down there.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RTH:<\/strong> Thanks a lot, Paul. Hope to see you in Philly. Anything else you&#8217;d like to add?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Kopf:<\/strong> Keep rockin&#8217; people!!! And I hope to see you at an MC show or two back east in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Cheers!<br \/><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_ybQpfr2-1M?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><\/p>\n<nav class=\"page-links\"><strong>Pages:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/the-rock-town-hall-interview-magic-chris\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">1<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/the-rock-town-hall-interview-magic-chris\/2\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">2<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/the-rock-town-hall-interview-magic-chris\/3\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">3<\/span><\/a><\/nav>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>East Coast fans of The Flamin&#8217; Groovies take note: Magic Christian, a band featuring the Groovies&#8217; Cyril Jordan along with Blondie drummer extraordinaire Clem Burke and Plimsouls&#8217; lead guitarist (on bass!) Eddie Munoz, may be coming to a small club your way (click here for tour dates). The secret weapon in this super-duper rock-action combo <a href='https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/the-rock-town-hall-interview-magic-chris\/' class='excerpt-more'>[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[342,667],"tags":[44,38,45,67],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1660"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1660\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}