M.A.G.S. seems in our Fall 2023 Problem with cowl stars Scowl, Yves Tumor, Poppy, and Good Charlotte. Head to the AP Store to seize a replica.
Inside the indie world, Buffalo-born, Los Angeles-based Elliott Douglas is creating a brand new style, targeted on fusion and fluidity. Working below the moniker M.A.G.S., the artist combines components of prog rock, pop punk, and indie rock for a head-spinning sound that’s each eccentric and unbelievably gratifying. A wholly solo undertaking, Douglas performs every instrument himself whereas writing from the center — a self-sufficient artistic observe he discovered solace in after being homeschooled by a non secular household. Since these days, Douglas’ wings have unfold, serving to him land in a nook of the music world that solely he had the map to find and develop.
His newest undertaking, Destroyer, continues Douglas’ delicate exploration with devices and sounds, one wherein the artist makes clear he felt unaffected by any pressures to stay in a inflexible style or indie headspace. “That is the primary album I’ve felt comfy sufficient with my sound to discover that facet of my pursuits,” he says. And there’s little doubt that nothing is held again on the brand new LP. He’s utterly deserted the concept of sticking to 1 fashion of music. In spite of everything, artists have begun specializing in the affect, not essentially the style. “I feel we have now to,” he provides. “That’s the one option to stand out. That’s the one manner that persons are going to recollect you.”
Learn extra: The Strokes albums ranked: From worst to finest
Whereas a lot of indie music has been made for and by outcasts, M.A.G.S. remains to be a real outlier. With early influences like Underoath, the Strokes, and Radiohead, blended together with his familial music style of early ’60s and ’70s singer-songwriters, in addition to his “fascination with the textures, patterns, [and the] freedom of jazz,” he’s established a distinct segment for himself. It’s discovered inside his personal head, observing and producing what’s persistently bouncing round his thoughts. “It’s all up right here,” he says, pointing to his temple. “There’s an viewers for every little thing. Social media has made it so you may construct a world round your self, with essentially the most obscure, bizarre stuff. If that’s true and also you’re doing one thing that’s distinctive and completely different and genuine, you’re setting your self as much as be extensively acquired.”
There’s no true option to outline M.A.G.S. Along with his impressed, genreless sound, it’s unimaginable to residence in on the place he suits in. Douglas agrees: “I personally don’t classify my music to myself as a result of I can’t. I feel lots of people who don’t know my music ask, ‘What style are you?’ And there’s not a phrase.” One might argue he’s indie prog, particularly when listening to “Sins,” a single off the LP. “It was the jumping-off level for Destroyer,” Douglas explains with a smile. “It acquired shelved. It wasn’t in keeping with something that I did on the self-titled, and it felt a bit of too darkish. However I despatched it to my supervisor, they usually had been like, ‘This is among the finest songs I’ve heard from you. Are you going to launch this?’”
M.A.G.S. additionally explores the darker facet of his repertoire on Destroyer. Having been entranced by hardcore and metalcore at a younger age, it was solely a matter of time earlier than he delved into the heavier facet of his tastes. “[‘Sins’] has some riffs that I had been engaged on which are a bit of extra left-of-center,” he says. “I feel that’s how I like to explain my sound. It’s indie, nevertheless it’s not fairly all the time going to be the very best factor for a playlist.” The breakdowns all through Destroyer cement his journey into heavier music. His influences from Underoath are significantly evident as properly, and he even asks himself when monitoring his personal drums, “What would Aaron [Gillespie] do?
He takes that affect and implements it in his music, with out it being a conventional “hardcore” report. Utilizing and unraveling its components, Douglas performs with the concepts of different rock genres, particularly post-rock alongside his heavier inspirations. The guitar chords in “Wednesday” stand out, incorporating the ambiance and delicate nature of the style whereas tapping into that hardcore affect within the bridge. With its intricate time signatures, it’s exhausting to consider that Douglas wasn’t initially a guitarist. In reality, he was a drummer, however watching an previous bandmate play guitar pushed him to hunt out different devices. “Watching him play guitar made me wish to begin enjoying guitar,” he says. “It was a wild tangent that I took on the time — ‘I wish to strive one thing else. I’ve extra in my head than simply enjoying the drums.’ And guitar was calling me for a really very long time.”
Douglas considers himself an “instrumentalist,” initially. As a lot as he appreciates songwriting, he views instrumentals as his old flame. And together with his dedication to exploring the items of various sounds that dwell in his thoughts, he’s achieved a stage of fusion that’s admirable, particularly within the trendy music panorama. “I feel we dwell in a time the place the time period ‘style’ is a bit more imprecise. You’re seeing much more cross-pollination between hip-hop and rock music. There’s much more rock music in pop music now. And that’s all good and properly, however I don’t actually match into any of that.”
He doesn’t appear too involved with the reception from his viewers. Douglas enjoys the album he’s put collectively, acknowledging the components of notion and reception inside a fanbase. “One thing will click on of their brains, ‘Oh, there’s one thing about this that jogs my memory of one thing I already know,’” he says. “All customers know is what they already know. If there’s one thing there that they connect with, or have already linked to, I feel that’s much more impactful than attempting to be one thing.” No matter his place as an instrumentalist, lyrically, he’s an open e book, speaking earlier experiences and situations he’s not all the time essentially conscious of when writing the songs.
In the long run, Douglas believes there’s no actual originality anymore. There are solely so many chords in Western music. To him, it’s a matter of being artistic and progressive with what’s already there. “There are some artists who will not be unique within the sense that they’re reimagining one thing that does exist already, however they’re doing it in a manner the place they’re influential in the best way that they do it,” he explains.
And it’s exhausting to not see that perspective — many trendy songs are created with the identical 4 chords and the identical songwriting system. However Douglas’ creativity and innovation with the trail of sound that’s already been laid out are exemplary, and his skill to fuse so many genres collectively is dizzying. Destroyer is a testomony to an gratifying, eclectic fusion that may certainly seize the eye of those that can determine with the limitless listing of genres he embodies. And what goes on in his thoughts is rattling properly influential.
