Things happen slowly in the world of Minibikes… Time seemed to be a big influence on writing, recording and releasing this album. It all started when I walked past the mural that’s on the album cover. It was an aquamarine slice of paradise on the side of a motel, and it set the mood for writing the songs. I wanted to capture lush fantasy and grimy reality in the same place, so I spent a long time gazing at this scene, trying to evoke that feeling in the songs. Along the way I’d be in other towns on the east coast of Australia and similar images of palm trees and whales would reveal themselves, as if by magic they seemed to be everywhere like in some freaky dream. I discovered they were all the work of artist Geoff Slater, who turned out to be awesome and generously allowed me to use the cover image. When I emailed him and explained how I’d been inspired by his work he said “Inspiration has natural power”. I thought “Wow, this guy walks the walk”, so I wrote “Magic Happens” as a tribute to the beachy, 70’s new-age vibes I was imagining him exuding. Now I’ve never met Geoff and I may be completely misrepresenting him in my thinking, but without a doubt he’s a big part of the Freaky Dreams story.
