Review Fix Exclusive: Magnets & Ghosts’ Dean Roland Talks ‘Be Born’

November 20, 2014 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

Review Fix chats with one part of the rock duo Magnets & Ghosts Dean Roland, who breaks down the creative process and vision behind the band’s recently released EP, “Be Born.”

Also a guitarist for rock super group Collective Soul, Roland discusses how the two projects intertwine.

Review Fix: How did this project come together?

Dean Roland: The last record Mass started out with Ryan and I just getting together and writing some songs that basically turned into a studio project. This time around we wanted more of a band feel and we wanted to have some outside influences. So after touring we came to La to work with producer Anthony J Resta.

Review Fix: How is it different from the other projects you’ve been involved in?

Roland: Every project takes a life of its own. With Mag we’ve never really had a preconceived idea of what we wanted it to be. Ryan and I toss ideas out to one another and try and take each idea as far as we can. Sometimes it ends being something we feel great about and we find interesting and obviously others not so much.

Review Fix: What can you do here that you can’t do in Collective Soul?

Roland: Collective Soul is its own organism that’s been building on itself for 20 years. After that amount of time it’s nearly impossible to not find yourself inside  some creative box. Magnets is another approach and expression.

Review Fix: What song on the EP do you think is most indicative of the band’s sound?

Roland: I think it’s too early to tell which type of song is most indicative of our sound. We feel like we’re just getting going. Over time we may be able to reflect and answer that question but for now we take each song as a moment’s expression. We have no interest in intentionally creating a specific sound.

Review Fix: What’s the band’s creative process like?

Roland: Our creative process is ultimately just trying to be as honest and vulnerable as possible. Regardless whether it’s Ryan or myself who brings the initial idea to the table. Sometimes the songs can be a labor of love and take some time like be “Born” and some seem to just happen and flow like “Here to Save Me.”

Review Fix: How do you want this EP to be remembered?

Roland: Just remembered would be ok

Review Fix: What’s next for you?

Roland: We’ve continued working on new songs mixed in with some shows. We’d like to get more music out in the spring and keep touring into the summer.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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