Magna-Fi
Magna-Fi (known originally The Szuters) is an American rock band, now a solo project by the band's lead vocalist, Mike Szuter. The band's lineup in the 2000s consisted of Mike on guitar and lead vocals, bass guitarist Rob Kley, drummer Charlie Smaldino, and additional guitarist, Christian Brady, as well as CJ Szuter. They are perhaps best known for performing on the Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) video game soundtrack, as well as the single "Where Did We Go Wrong", used for the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. The band was active from 1996 until 2010, when they split.
Magna-Fi | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | The Szuters (1996–2002) |
| Origin | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1996–2010, 2020-present |
| Labels | Aezra |
| Members | Mike Szuter |
| Past members | Chris Brady Rob Kley Charlie Smaldino C.J. Szuter |
In 2020, Mike Szuter decided to revive the project under The Szuters name, releasing the album Sugar that same year, followed by The Devil's in the Details in 2021.
History edit
Lead vocalist Mike Szuter started the earliest version of the band in Cleveland with his brother and lead guitarist, C.J. (both guitarists and vocalists, had played together since they were 10 and 11 years old), gathering a local following across Ohio performing as Outta The Blue at first, and later as the Szuters. The band later moved west to Las Vegas and met Charlie Smaldino and Rob Kley, who would both join the band as their drummer and bassist respectively. Around this time, they changed the band's name to Magna-Fi. The band would go on get signed to Aezra Records, a record label distributed by EMI, in 2003. Magna-Fi's debut album on the label, Burn Out The Stars, would be produced by Paul Lani (Megadeth, Failure, Mötley Crüe).
In 2004, Magna-Fi appeared on the weekly concert series in Buffalo, New York, Thursday at the Square along with Fuel and Seven Day Faith. The band at that time for 2 months was direct support for Fuel. In the same year, they appeared at the annual festival tour, Ozzfest. Afterwards the band headlined their own tour and became direct support for Sevendust for months after. They also made a returning home for veterans show in North Carolina, after a sudden Sevendust cancellation.
At the end of a tour in 2006, they were in talks with Aezra about recording a new album, but these discussions ultimately ended with the quartet and the label parting ways, and the band decided to record their next release on their own. This also marked the exit of C.J. Szuter and the entrance of guitarist and vocalist Chris Brady, another Las Vegas native and long time friend of the band. The new album, VerseChorusKillMe, was recorded and mixed by the band itself.
In 2010, drummer Charlie Smaldino, after not playing with the other members for over a year, getting turned down by various record labels, and losing interest, decided to have a final show at Counts Vamp’d in Las Vegas. The group officially disbanded afterwards.
In 2019, Mike Szuter held a small venue at a restaurant in Ogden, Utah for free.
In 2020, Mike Szuter revived the "Szuters" moniker for a solo project and released an album titled Sugar.
Final lineup edit
- Mike Szuter – guitar, vocals (2002–2010)
- Charlie Smaldino – drums (2002–2010)
- Rob Kley – bass, vocals (2002–2010)
- Chris Brady – guitar, vocals (2006–2010)
Past members edit
- C.J. Szuter – guitar (2002–2005)
- John Fedevich – drums
- Craig Martini – bass
- Ronald DeVault – vocals
Discography edit
Magna-Fi has released two independent albums, as well as individual tracks for video games.
Burn Out the Stars edit
| Burn Out the Stars | |
|---|---|
| Studio album by Magna-Fi | |
| Released | July 16, 2002 |
| Genre | Alternative metal, hard rock, post grunge |
| Length | 42:24 |
| Label | Gold Circle; Aezra |
| Singles from Burn Out The Stars | |
| |
Burn Out The Stars is Magna-Fi's debut album, and the only one featuring guitarist C.J. Szuter. Note that this album is not available on streaming services, but can be found on YouTube.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Where Did We Go Wrong" | 3:02 |
| 2. | "When I Leave You" | 2:44 |
| 3. | "Down In It" | 4:11 |
| 4. | "Drown" | 3:50 |
| 5. | "This Life" | 4:15 |
| 6. | "TV Killed Me" | 3:54 |
| 7. | "Beautiful" | 4:06 |
| 8. | "Seconds, Minutes, Hours" | 4:25 |
| 9. | "My Heaven" | 4:25 |
| 10. | "Ex Ok" (Re-recorded song originally from their previous album, Not Quite At Budokan. Only appears on the Gold Circle Records and independent versions of the album.) | 3:25 |
| 11. | "Bradbury Heights" | 4:13 |
VerseChorusKillMe edit
| VerseChorusKillMe | |
|---|---|
| Studio album by Magna-Fi | |
| Released | January 02, 2007 |
| Genre | Alternative metal, alternative rock, hard rock, post grunge |
| Length | 39:10 |
| Label | Not On Label |
Versechoruskillme is the second and final album by Magna-Fi. The track "Who I Am" was originally recorded for the Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) soundtrack. Due to Aezra's prevention of the song being used, the song was placed onto this album, albeit with slightly different leads and a new guitar solo.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Who I Am" | 3:26 |
| 2. | "Kiss It Away" | 3:07 |
| 3. | "Fall From Grace" | 3:40 |
| 4. | "Breaking Up" | 3:59 |
| 5. | "When I'm Awake" | 2:56 |
| 6. | "Fan The Flames" | 3:52 |
| 7. | "Miserable Failure" (Titled "You Miserable Failure" on CD release.) | 3:16 |
| 8. | "Someday" | 3:11 |
| 9. | "Dream Denied Destroyed" | 5:08 |
| 10. | "Save Me" | 4:17 |
| 11. | "Well Well" | 2:18 |
Other songs edit
Singles edit
- Where Did We Go Wrong
- Down In It
Unreleased songs edit
These songs were never released on an album, though they can be found online through uploads by fans.[citation needed]
- All The Right Words
- American Airtime
- Burn Out The Stars
- The Curve
- Don't Mean Nothing To Me
- Ecstatic
- Going Out
- Hard To Find
- Hearts And Minds
- Heaven and Flies
- Inside The Silence
- Kick It Out
- Me The Enemy
- Misshapen
- Obvious
- Pay To Play
- P.F.I.
- Saved The Best For Last
- Squint
- Stop Me
- Wayne (The Handgun Song)
Games edit
- 2005: All Hail Shadow – released on Lost & Found: Shadow the Hedgehog Vocal Trax; pure hero story theme song on Shadow the Hedgehog. Another song titled "Who I Am" was originally recorded for the game, but was replaced by "All Hail Shadow" when Aezra prevented the song from being used in the game. The song later appeared on the 2007 album VerseChorusKillMe, but had new leads recorded to replace the original, because C.J. Szuter left the band and was replaced by Chris Brady.
- 2004: NASCAR SimRacing and NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup included the song "Where Did We Go Wrong" as one of the selectable tracks. It is also in the 2005 release of the EA Sports NASCAR Racing arcade game.[1]
- 2006: All Hail Shadow was covered by Crush 40 for the game Sonic the Hedgehog (also known as Sonic '06 or Sonic Next Gen).
References edit
External links edit
- Magna-Fi My Space Profile