With jambalaya simmering in the corner, and people waiting in line to get a haircut, you wouldn’t have thought you were in a bar, let alone at a rock show. But last week, upstairs from haircut-and-a-shot night, The Red & The Black was in fact hosting a lineup of several very different styles of local music. Despite a modest midweek crowd — consisting mostly of other bands — one group from Baltimore introduced a unique sound and amped up the show with big venue energy levels.

The Hot Magic were the highlight of the night, making everyone aware of their presence as a futuristic synthesizer hummed through the bar. And for the hearing impaired, it would have been hard to miss Symbol, the band’s front man, step onto the small stage behind his keyboard dressed in tight pants, a sailor hat, and flashy eye make-up. On their MySpace page, they describe their sound as “driving a golf cart through deep puddles of cough medicine,” and they couldn’t be more accurate. The tight drumming and riffs provide a structural backbone colored with the trippy modified lead vocals and spacey synth. It’s what you might expect if Prince shared the stage with We Are Scientists, a peculiar combination but one that works surprisingly well.

While Symbol has a few solo albums, The Hot Magic seems to be just getting started with recording. We spoke with Symbol about the band and discovered that like a cough syrup induced hallucination, much about these rising rockers is left open to interpretation.

Visit them at: MySpace.com/HotMagicBmore

See them next: November 17th, 9pm @ Joe Squared in Baltimore

Questions for The Hot Magic:

What is "hot magic?"

We shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material understood to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the band involved in this case is that.

How did you guys meet?

We were NOT within 400 feet of an ex-girlfriend or high school. A thousand points of light.

You incorporate a lot of synth in your music. How would you define your sound?

Uhhh...Synthy? Assy? Assynthy? Itchy?

Symbol = Prince?

No, Symbol = Elvis. With more ass.

What are you a few of your biggest influences?

Britney Spears, H.P. Lovecraft, and bukkake.

What's your favorite venue, and where would you most like to perform?

Favorite is the Fellowship Hall of Our Lady of Perpetual Motion. Our dream gig is opening for Yanni at the Acropolis.

What is everyone in the band listening to right now?

Ravi Shankar, Girl Talk, and Corey Hart.

Are you working on an album?

We're recording a demo right now.

What are a few of your favorite local bands?

Jette Kelly is Hotte.

What is your opinion of the Baltimore/D.C. music scenes?

We haven't been properly introduced yet.

Photo from MySpace.com/HotMagicBmore.