ACL Music Fest Sunday Interviews

Here We Go Magic

1:15pm, Xbox 360 stage

After two whimsical solo LPs faintly echoing Syd Barrett, Brooklyn's Luke Temple blossomed earlier this year as Here We Go Magic. Released by Austin's Western Vinyl, the project's eponymous debut achieves an alchemical balance of four-track intimacy and enchanting Afro-psych pop, like Paul Simon distilled through Arthur Russell's World of Echo. The clunky polyrhythms unfold through Temple's organic instrumentation and breathy, crystalline tenor.

"I was writing it and recording it at the same time," Temple recounts. "I didn't want to think too hard about song structure before I started. I wanted to keep it really simple and linear so that when I overdubbed on top of it, I could respond intuitively. Songs I'd written in the past demanded more meticulous care in terms of the arrangements. It was a much more spontaneous process."

Having assembled a full band for recent tours with Grizzly Bear and the Walkmen, Temple is now in the process of recording a new studio album for Here We Go Magic, as well as prepping his third solo album for next year. A graduate of Boston's School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Temple credits his background in abstract portraiture for his newfound success.

"I think of music visually," he relates. "In terms of composition, it's all about push and pull. When is it too much, and when is it not enough? Art school had a funny way of knocking the wind out of me in terms of what was legitimate to do. There was a lot of insecurity with my conceptual voice, but music was always there as a stress reliever."