So Many Wizards is a dream-pop band from Los Angeles made up of lead singer and guitarist Nima Kazerouni, lead guitarist Frank Maston, bassist Geoff Geis, and drummer Erik Felix. They have come a long way since the beginning. The band started as a solo project featuring Kazerouni and then Felix joined in. Thanks to the D.I.Y. music scene in LA, they started playing two to three shows a week, they accrued a loyal fan base and the duo quickly became the foursome we know today.
Photo by David Uzzardi
So Many Wizards released their new full length LP Warm Nothing on August 7th. The album features Kazerouni’s unique voice full of deep and falsetto tones and dreamy, poppy music. Some songs are upbeat and happy and some are slower and melancholy, but they all seem to have a great message attached to them with meaningful lyrics. Each song sounds so different from the last, but you’ll know it’s So Many Wizards from the first note. One downfall of the album is you’ll blink and it’s over. The album features thirteen songs in under thirty minutes. Kazerouni says of the album:
“We’re really proud of it and now we’re thinking forward. We’re thinking about the future, learning from this record and realizing what can get better. We’re already getting great vibes from fans and we’re thankful for everyone who helped put the album together.”
Losing, Lose your mind
slowly it takes time,
it takes time,
you worry too much,
on long sunny days,
who cares anyways,
My mother told me so,
Let the sun kiss your lips
She knows all of the tricks,
Let the sun kiss your lips
She knows all of the tricks
The above lyrics are some of the great advice given to listeners in “Lose Your Mind” which starts out with Kazerouni continuously strumming his guitar and Felix jamming on the drums. The song also features a beautiful guitar melody played by Maston that is the hidden gem of the song. KXLU 88.9, an LA radio station, posted a video of a live version of this song on So Many Wizards’ Facebook page. It’s more of an acoustic version, so you can hear more of the background music and Maston’s guitar playing. The footage of them in the studio shows that they are a group of friends having the time of their lives making music and they are so thankful for their fans.
Photo by David Uzzardi
The third song on the album “Sleepwalk” is the first song to feature Kazerouni’s falsetto, as the song continues his voice gets higher and higher. It almost doesn’t sound like the same singer. The drums and music mimic the vocals and the entire song sounds like a dream sequence, which goes along with title. Halfway through, the music all meshes together with the vocals and Felix’ drumming. It sound like bells are playing throughout the song as well and the song ends with a bell ringing and echoing. It almost sounds angelic.
“Inner City” is so upbeat and catchy you’ll easily get the music stuck in your head within the first few listens. You’ll be able to sing the chorus quickly, but the challenge is to sing it in falsetto. It sounds like such a happy song and starts with them telling us to smile at everything, then sounds as if it’s about being trapped and wanting life to be the way it used to be. Behind the vocals, the other band members sing along and the song will quickly become a favorite track on the album. “Inner City” was originally released last year on a three song E.P. entitled Inner City/Best Friends 7’. So Many Wizards loved it so much they included it on their full length album as well.
Do what you want to do.
Say what you want to say.
Don’t listen to the voices in your head.
Don’t listen to the voice their confused.
Warm Nothing ends with “Deep Down” a song that features some really good advice about doing whatever you want to do, to get rid of the voices in your head, and hopefully listeners will actually pay attention to the above lyrics. The song is the only real ballad featured on the whole album. The background music sounds almost like the waves crashing on the beach with a unique echoing percussion from Felix.
So Many Wizards are currently an indie band, but that may quickly change, because Warm Nothing was featured on Entertainment Weekly’s Must List last month. They were picked because of their “Low-Key melodies and lazy-Sunday vibes”. It might also be because of their one of a kind sound. Listeners will quickly realize that they march to beat of their own drum. Kazerouni’s reaction to seeing themselves in Entertainment Weekly:
“We first wondered how did they found out about us? We knew about it, because they emailed the band about photos. The one thing on our minds was Entertainment Weekly! We’re stoked and hopefully there’s more to come from them in the future.”
In the next couple of months So Many Wizards will be performing a few local shows in LA and San Francisco and are performing two upcoming LA music festivals, TARFEST Music and Art Festival on September 22nd and Eagle Rock Music Festival on October 6th. They have never performed in the Philadelphia, but they have an open ended November tour planned this fall.
“When we perform live there’s faster pick up on the music, everyone feels good, and there are unexpected twists and turns. Each place and crowd is different, but San Fran is just different, I can’t explain it. Crowds go crazy for our music and people crowd surf. We’re super grateful that people are into it and it make us feel worthwhile,” says Kazerouni.
Written By: Erin Sullivan
