SUPER MAGIC HATS

Melbourne producer Robert Masterton a.k.a. Super Magic Hats has just released a remix EP to follow up the 2012 single release Wind. It boasts some of the most innovative young producers both within Australia and overseas.

“He’s scary young, but super-talented” says Rob of the 15-year-old Japanese producer Japanese Wallpaper, who lent his production nous to one of the remixes.

“If he keeps heading down this track in five or six years time he’ll be making some really amazing music.”

This discussion leads Masterton to reflect on his own musical history and its affect on his song-writing.

“I started out when I was about nine or ten when my parents got me my first keyboard. I even [tried] to use it with the primitive sequencer it had in it back then to make all kinds of terrible music,” he adds jokingly.

“I learned how to play guitar and bass after that,” he says. “I was in a few bands and then I got into DJing and explored the … electronic side; ending up where I am now doing Super Magic Hats.”

Masterton does concede that his inclination towards traditional instrumentation gives him a unique perspective from which to create his ambient and emotive electronic pieces.

“Some of the songs were written on the guitar originally and I had to figure out how to play them on the keyboard so I think it gives me a bit of a different approach to just banging things out in a sequencer or on a keyboard.”

Masterton is about to embark on an East Coast tour to showcase the EP and confesses that it’ll be an interesting experience for himself, not just the audience.

“I’ll be playing stuff live off Ableton, dropping live samples, playing keys and using some other different instruments. It’ll be really challenging and there’ll be enough there that could go wrong. But it’ll keep me on my toes and be more of a spectacle for people.”

Mar 23, FBi Social, Kings Cross Hotel, cnr Kings Cross Rd & William St, Kings Cross, $15, fbiradio.com