In 2020, Mike Szuter would bring back the Szuters name and release Sugar. This album would have no involvement from anyone other than Mike, however.
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 and 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 wouldn’t have to actually live in LA (if you’ve ever spent some time in the San Fernando Valley and Las Vegas you’ll know why).
Raised on the music of Van Halen, Cheap Trick, Led Zeppelin and Judas Priest, they weren’t really sure what kind of music they wanted to make, except that it had to be LOUD and something you’d 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, Mike’s practically brother in law, as he had tried out for Robbie’s band, and although not the right fit for them (the 90’s 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-Fi’s 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 can’t 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 Mikes’ 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.
Breaking Up
Magna-Fi Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Through this
Plastic to my ear
Hard to
Guage you
Distance threatens everything
Always alone, never apart
Always apart, never alone
But I know your breaking up
You're breaking up
You're breaking up
Breaking up
Subtle hints
That you
Dropped in conversation
Showing me the truth
Of this
Dead-love revelation
Always alone, never apart
I know signals fading
Always apart, never alone
Isn't that what you said
You're breaking up
You're breaking up
Breaking up
I'll shed no tears for another, this
Ending, I'll be the author and
Leave you far
Far behind
You led me into the slaughter
And left me with nothing to offer
But memories
Take them all away
I'll shed no tears for another, this
Ending I'll be the author and
Leave you all
Far behind
You led me into the slaughter
And left me with nothing to offer
But memories
Take them away
You're breaking up
You're breaking up
Breaking up
You're breaking up
You're breaking up
Breaking up
The song "Breaking Up" by Magna-Fi is a melancholic reflection on the end of a romantic relationship. The opening lines are sung with a sense of detachment and artificiality - "Know me/Through this/Plastic to my ear" - suggesting the singer is struggling to connect with their partner, perhaps because they are communicating through a phone or some other mediated technology. The next line, "Hard to/Gauge you," implies that the singer is finding it difficult to understand their partner's emotional state. The final line of this verse, "Distance threatens everything," suggests that physical distance is negatively impacting the relationship.
The chorus is a repetition of the phrase "Breaking up," which takes on different meanings depending on how it is placed within the song's structure. On its own, it's a statement of fact - the relationship is ending. But when combined with the lines "Always alone, never apart/I can't hear you breaking" and "Always apart, never alone/But I know you're breaking up," the phrase takes on a more complex significance. It highlights the paradoxical nature of modern communication technology, which can keep people connected over long distances but can also make it difficult to truly connect with someone.
The song's second verse introduces the idea of "dead-love revelation," suggesting that the singer has come to accept the end of the relationship. The lines "I know signals fading/Isn't that what you said" imply that the partner has been dropping hints about their desire to end things. The chorus repeats, and the sense of finality only grows more pronounced.
The bridge of the song is a statement of defiance: "I'll shed no tears for another, this/Ending, I'll be the author and/Leave you far/Far behind." The singer seems to be saying that they won't let this breakup defeat them - they'll take control of their own narrative and move on from the relationship. The final repetition of the chorus is the song's emotional climax, with the singer expressing a mixture of sadness and anger as they come to terms with the end of the relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
Know me
You don't really know me.
Through this
Just through our conversations and interactions.
Plastic to my ear
Our communication is artificial.
Hard to
It's difficult to understand you.
Guage you
To measure or understand your true feelings.
Distance threatens everything
Our physical distance is putting our relationship in danger.
Always alone, never apart
We're always separate even when we're together.
I can't hear you breaking
I can't hear you telling me that you're ending things.
But I know your breaking up
But I can tell that you're breaking up with me anyway.
You're breaking up
You're ending our relationship.
Subtle hints
You're not telling me directly, but you're giving me hints that it's over.
That you
The hints you're giving me.
Dropped in conversation
Mentioning things that indicate the end of our relationship.
Showing me the truth
Revealing to me that our love is dead.
Of this
Of the end of our relationship.
Dead-love revelation
Our love is dead and it's finally being revealed to me.
I know signals fading
I can sense that the signals between us are weakening.
Isn't that what you said
Didn't you tell me that our love was ending?
I'll shed no tears for another, this
I won't cry over someone else anymore.
Ending, I'll be the author and
I'll end things myself and take control.
Leave you far
I'll leave you behind in a distant past.
Far behind
I'll move on and forget you.
You led me into the slaughter
You led me into this doomed relationship.
And left me with nothing to offer
And now I have nothing to give.
But memories
All I have left are memories of what we had.
Take them all away
I want to forget and move on completely.
You're breaking up
You're ending our relationship.
You're breaking up
You're breaking my heart.
Breaking up
Our love is officially ending.
Contributed by Anna D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.