Magna-Fi

Magna-Fi
Origin	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Genres	Alternative metal hard rock post-grunge
Years active	2001–2010
Labels	Aezra
Spinoffs	The Szuters
Spinoff of	The Szuters, Outta the Blue
Past members	Mike Szuter Chris Brady Rob Kley Charlie Smaldino Cj Szuter

Magna-Fi was a rock band from Las Vega, Nevada. It consisted of guitarist and lead vocalist Mike Szuter alongside his brother Cj Szuter on guitar, bassist Rob Kley, drummer Charlie Smaldino, and in their later years, guitarist Christian Brady. They are perhaps best known for performing on the 2005 Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) video game soundtrack, as well as their single "Where Did We Go Wrong", which was used for the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.

History

Mike and Cj's previous band, The Szuters, had found moderate success touring and releasing albums in Japan. However, their music seldom left the country, and the group essentially split after their third album in early 2000. The Szuter brothers would relocate to Las Vegas the next year, marking the disbandment of The Szuters and the formation of Magna-Fi with new band mates and a shift in sound and tone. While they would continue to perform as The Szuters for a period of time, the group had decided on their new title by 2002, at Smaldino's suggestion. The four-piece would get signed to Aezra Records, a label distributed by EMI, in 2003. Magna-Fi's debut album on the label, Burn Out The Stars, was 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.

Band members

Final lineup

• Mike Szuter – guitar, vocals (2001–2010)
• Charlie Smaldino – drums (2001–2010)
• Rob Kley – bass, vocals (2001–2010)
• Chris Brady – guitar, vocals (2006–2010)

Past members

• Cj Szuter – guitar (2001–2005)

Discography

Magna-Fi released two albums, as well as individual tracks for video games.

Burn Out The Stars

Burn Out the Stars
Studio album by Magna-Fi
Released	July 16, 2002 (Gold Circle Records, promotional only) 2003 (Self-released) June 15th, 2004 (Aezra Records)
Genre	Alternative metal, hard rock, post grunge
Label	Gold Circle; Self-released; Aezra
Singles from Burn Out The Stars
"Where Did We Go Wrong" "Down In It"

Burn Out The Stars is Magna-Fi's debut album, and the only one featuring guitarist Cj Szuter.

Track Listing

Gold Circle Records promotional release (2002) and independent release (2003)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"When I Leave You"	2:44
2.	"Where Did We Go Wrong"	3:02
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" (Originally recorded by The Szuters for Last Band Standing, with a re-mixed version appearing on Not Quite at Budokan. This track only appears on the independent and Gold Circle Records promotional releases of the album.)	3:25
11.	"Bradbury Heights"	4:13

Aezra Records release (2004)

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.	"Bradbury Heights"	4:13

VerseChorusKillMe

VerseChorusKillMe
Studio album by Magna-Fi
Released	January 02, 2007
Genre	Alternative metal, alternative rock, hard rock, post grunge
Length	39:10
Label	Self-released

VerseChorusKillMe is the second and final album by Magna-Fi.

"Who I Am" was originally written and recorded for the Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) soundtrack, but was replaced with another song, All Hail Shadow. 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.

Track listing

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

Singles

• Where Did We Go Wrong (2002, Gold Circle Records, promo)
• Where Did We Go Wrong (2004, Aezra Records, promo)
• Down In It (2004, Aezra Records, promo)
• This Life (2005-03-07, Aezra Records, promo)

Unreleased songs

Magna-Fi recorded many songs that were never formally released, but have surfaced online in the years following their breakup.

• 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)

In Video Games

• 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 "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.
• 2006: All Hail Shadow was covered by Crush 40 for the game Sonic the Hedgehog (also known as Sonic '06 or Sonic 2006).

External links

• Official Magna-Fi Page
• Magna-Fi My Space Profile