Magna-Fi - VerseChorusKillMe
ARTIST.....: Magna-Fi
TITLE......: VerseChorusKillMe
LABEL......: Independent
URL........: http://www.magna-fi.com/
RIP DATE...: Feb-20-2007
STORE DATE.: Aug-21-2006
GENRE......: Rock
QUALITY....: VBR / 44.1Hz / Joint-Stereo
SIZE.......: 61,2 MB
Track Listing:
01 - Who I Am 03:25
02 - Kiss It Away 03:07
03 - Fall From Grace 03:42
04 - Breaking Up 03:59
05 - When I'm Awake 02:56
06 - Fan The Flames 03:52
07 - You Miserable Failure 03:15
08 - Someday 03:11
09 - Dream Denied Destroyed 05:07
10 - Save Me 04:16
11 - Well Well 02:18
─────
39:08 min
Release Notes:
Mike Szuter
Rob Kley
Charlie Smaldino
Chris Brady
Magna-Fi came together in Las Vegas NV in the year 2000. Founding
members and brothers Mike and C.J. Szuter, both guitarists and
vocalists, had played together since they were 10 an 11 years old.
Growing up in a small town in Ohio, they played anywhere and
everywhere in the Midwest, got close to a couple of record deals,
but ultimately decided to move out West to be closer to LA (and
more record deals). They chose Las Vegas so they wouldnÆt have to
actually live in LA (if youÆve ever spent some time in the San
Fernando Valley and Las Vegas youÆll know why).
Raised on the music of Van Halen, Cheap Trick, Led Zeppelin and
Judas Priest, they werenÆt really sure what kind of music they
wanted to make, except that it had to be LOUD and something youÆd
remember when the show or disc was over. As music changed, they
assimilated all of the stuff they came across, bands like Nirvana,
Alice In Chains and some other indie bands like Failure and
Chavez, all loud and memorable.
They picked up the other half of the band in Las Vegas. Drummer
Charlie Smaldino was recommended by Robbie Allen, MikeÆs
practically brother in law, as he had tried out for RobbieÆs band,
and although not the right fit for them (the 90Æs act Candlebox),
he was definitely the drummer for Magna-Fi. Loud and aggressive,
and a veritable pit bull when it comes to accomplishing things, he
drives the band musically as well as in all other aspects of
getting the job done. Bassist and vocalist Rob Kley had played off
and on with Charlie in Las Vegas. Being in bands his whole life,
he showed the same type of drive and love for music as the rest of
the guys and was a no brainer to complete the lineup.
Their first big break came in the form of a recording deal with
indie label Gold Circle Records (famed for also making the movie
My Big Fat Greek Wedding), a deal engineered with the help of Las
Vegas radio station Xtreme Radio. Gold Circle ultimately was
better at promoting Hollywood Movies than Rock Music, and the week
before Magna-FiÆs debut was to be released they folded their
record label (insert mental picture of band drinking A LOT). The
album the band made at that time was called Burn Out The Stars and
was produced and mixed by producer Paul Lani, who worked with acts
such as Megadeth and Enuff Z Nuff. They took this album and
released it independently, continuing to perform in support of it
all over the U.S., and with considerable help from former Gold
Circle A&R man Mike Sikkas (who became the bands impromptu manager
the moment the label disintegrated) managed to land another indie
label deal with Phoenix based Aezra Records. Aezra signed the band
and nationally released Burn Out The Stars in 2003, putting the
band on the road for almost two years in support of the album
(once again, insert mental picture of band drinking A LOT, but
this time with smiles on their faces). For that two year period,
the band cris-crossed the United States at least 5 times, starting
out in a van in support of Fuel and Breaking Benjamin, then
graduating to an RV when they scored a slot on the second stage of
Ozzfest 2004, ultimately ending up in a tour bus in support of
Sevendust early 2005. The bands they got to perform with along the
way is a long list, covering a wide range of musical styles and
they were all very loud and very memorable. During this time they
got to hear themselves on the radio for the first time, having two
singles chart in the #30s, the songs Where Did We Go Wrong and
Down In It. They also got to be on the same bill as their long
time favorites Cheap Trick and Judas Priest.
At the end of the road so to speak, they sat down with Aezra to
plan the recording of the next album. Due to a bunch of legal
mumbo jumbo they canÆt disclose the ultimate reasons, but this
conversation ended with the band and the label parting ways, and
the band deciding to record their next album on their own. This
also marked the exit of MikesÆ brother C.J. and the entrance of
Magna-Fi guitarist and vocalist Chris Brady, another Las Vegas
native and long time friend of the band. VerseChorusKillMe is the
title of the new album, a record produced, recorded and mixed
entirely by the band itself. It is all of the things they ever
thought an album should be, and of course it is the two things
they always thought an album should be, LOUD and MEMORABLE.