Born and raised in Ulm, Germany, Magnus has been making music since childhood, refining his talents and building a flair for contemporary hip-hop beats and melodic trap melodies. A self-taught pianist, keyboardist, and guitarist, Magnus started his music career by trying to recreate songs he heard in TV commercials, before falling in love with hip-hop at the age of twelve.
After impressing fans and critics alike with his debut single ‘Neverland’, Magnus is now set to take his career to the next level with ‘Still Awake’, another dreamy hip-hop release that is perfectly in keeping with melodic trap sound. Released only a few days ago, ‘Still Awake’ sees Magnus exploring the dark temptations that befall us at night, creating a lavish mix that will keep you on the hook all the way to the end.
A massive new release, ‘Still Awake’ has become one of our favourite new singles, and with it still playing loudly around our officers, we thought there was no better time to catch up with Magnus and find out what drives him.
Magnus, it’s fantastic to chat with you, how did you first start making music? Where did it all begin for you?
I was really young, maybe seven. I heard songs in TV commercials and tried to replicate them. I even tried to sing them to CD store employees. I tried to play on my bigger sister’s piano, and I was always impressed when I’ve seen someone play the piano or whatever instrument.
Later at twelve I found out about hip-hop and fell in love with it. I never quit listening to Hip Hop since then. I listen to other genres as well because I just love music, and to get inspiration. A bit later I taught myself to play piano, guitar, and drums and to do cool stuff on keyboards.
Then, when I was like twenty, I got into writing my own music once I figured out how I can put my ideas into a song. I started to record and engineer myself because studio time can be expensive as hell. So, I just learned to do it myself and started engineering and recording other artists what was a lot of fun to me. I still play a lot of piano and sometimes jam on a ukulele.
What is your songwriting process like? How did it all come together?
It really depends, sometimes I find a beat that I like and spend a year writing to it. I’m always working on a lot of songs simultaneously what helps me a lot too I’d say. For example when I write to a certain beat and it just clicks and I know it would fit perfect on another song I’ve been working on. Sometimes I write a song in a day but that doesn’t happen very often because I tend to overthink too much.
Most important to me is that I really enjoy the beat, and that I get a vision of what I can do on a certain beat early. So when find a beat that I really like it’s really just me playing the beat hundreds of times and me starring at my phone. Most of the time I feel like the guy in Hangover that calculates the poker cards when I’m trying to write a song to be honest.
Your latest release ‘Still Awake’ is definitely one of your most impressive to date. We have our own ideas and thoughts about the track, but could you give us a little insight into it?
‘Still Awake’ is really me talking about the things that keep me still awake, and up late. On the hooks, I talk about the bright and kind of “glamorous” side and things and dreaming about these [things] that keeps me up. On the verses, I talk about the darker side of the things that keep me up. Epistra and I made the beat, he’s a genius. I recorded it a year ago and finished it up just after ‘Neverland’ was released.
You’ve certainly made your mark on music already, what’s next for you as an artist?
Trying to release a lot of singles. Then the album will drop.
You’ve still got a long, long career ahead of you, and I’m sure they’ll be many highs, but what’s been your best moment so far?
The best moment so far was when I finally found my sound after years of trying. I recorded so many songs and thought, well, maybe this music thing probably won’t work out for me. So when I finally recorded my first solid song or better said it was just a part of a song, I realized that all that I’ve been dreaming and thinking about for so long might just be possible in the end.
I literally threw my hands up the second the recording stopped and listened to it a thousand times. I still listen to this certain part sometimes. And yeah, just having found a way that I can make the songs that I myself enjoy is great every time.
Magnus, it’s been great to hear from you. One last question before you go, what would you dream collaboration be?
I have a ton of dream collaborations. I just want to create good music with artists even from different genres besides hip-hop. There’s, of course, Gucci Mane, Nas, Curren$y, Rick Ross, Takeoff and the Migos. K Camp would be a dream too. The list goes on though.
I’d love to make a song with Damian Marley one day. Another dream I have is a song with B-Real from Cypress Hill. A$AP Rocky and SchoolBoy Q. But also, a song with Lana Del Rey would be a dream too. Skylar Grey, Mary Lambert and M.I.A. is what I’ve been thinking about for a while now. Bebe Rexa, Dani Leigh and Hillis too.
Available on all major streaming sites, ‘Still Awake’ is currently making its mark on the airwaves all across Europe. You can stream it today via Spotify, and be sure to connect with Magnus on his social media pages below so you never miss a release.
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