by Theresa P.
Players Magazine
at www.getsigned.com
April 5, 1999

The Magical Attraction of Booty!
Listen to one of the hottest acts in the midwest, The Magical Attraction of Booty! here at Players Magazine. Bassist Rich Barker gives us the scoop on how they're getting noticed and what they're doing to get noticed!

• Kristy Awald - vocals
• M. Sommers - guitar, beats, samples, backing vocals
• Rich Barker - bass, beats, samples, backing vocals
• Jason Hendrickson - guitar, beats, samples, backing vocals

If you're ever in (or within driving distance of) Indianapolis, now is a good time to start checking out the alternative rock of The Magical Attraction of Booty!, one of Naptown's hottest acts. Word has it that the band puts on an incredible show, and if their CDs Perfect Rocket and Seedy Sessions are any indication, the word will keep spreading all over the country and beyond.

So, just what is The Magical Attraction of Booty!? Well, the band has a style that's kind of hard to categorize--and that's a good thing. Their songs come across as a mix of Techno/Alternative Rock & Pop and keep you singing long after the CD has stopped.

The band started out in 1996 under the name of Steak Sauce, and after adding two new members and changing their name to TMAOB, they released their first CD, Sanitized For Your Protection. Seems they made a big splash on the scene from the start by making their first CD "interactive" and by shipping it out with rubber gloves and a toilet seat cover across it as a promotional tie-in. Pretty clever stuff.

"Our decision to make Sanitized For Your Protection an enhanced CD was an effort to let the industry know that there was a compelling visual force to Booty!," explains bassist Rich Barker. "All of the members of Booty! make their living in graphic arts and an enhanced CD let us deliver this demo to the media along with all the graphics that we had accumulated."

The art background and marketing savvy spills over into their website design, too. The band say they fully exploit the Internet for all it's worth to promote themselves, their merchandise and their CDs. "Since we currently do not have a distribution deal, the site is vital for CD sales," says Rich.

Booty! CDs can also be found in many local Indianapolis music stores including Border's Books & Music and CD Warehouse.

"To get an independent CD in record stores you have to be willing to do a lot of footwork, and make use of any connections you may have," Rich explains. "We try to keep the cost to the consumer low, which sometimes means little profit for the band, but increased sales and exposure."

Exposure for the band should indeed increase with the release of their new video (after a favorable review of Sanitized For Your Protection on MTV Online, the music channel requested a video) and a college tour planned later this year. So, if you get a chance, check out The Magical Attraction of Booty! either live in Indy or online at: http://www.fire-house.net/booty . You could be one of the hip people who 'discovered' them before they hit the big time.

In the meantime, you can sign up for all things "Booty!" on the Magical Mailing List by emailing Bootyind@aol.com with 'add' in the topic.