M.A.G.S. at Beat Kitchen

I first found M.A.G.S’s (Elliott Douglas) music when I was a freshman in high school. My band used to cover his song “Drugs” and even though we did not do it justice, it was always my favorite to play. Since then I've kept up with his work and have increasingly grown more and more impressed by his music. 

My expectations for seeing him live were already high but his show at the Beat Kitchen exceeded them. M.A.G.S. was one of the opening bands but he had a really strong hold on the audience and the whole crowd was moving and singing along to his songs by the end of the set. I’ve seen a lot of bands who have really great recorded music but when they play live their songs just don't have the same full sound. M.A.G.S.’s show was the complete opposite of this. Every song felt like a full version of the studio recording with some live show twists.

When Elliott was talking in the interview about how he writes music for those who spend a lot of time in their head I definitely felt like his target audience. Whenever I listen to his music (especially the songs from his most recent album) I go into a completely different headspace and forget about whatever I might be hung up on at the time. So besides the obvious of his lyrics relating to the topics he discussed, the general feeling of his music is actually a really great combat for overthinking. I think this is partially due to the amount of detail in the layering of his songs. It may not be obvious at first listen but your brain still subconsciously picks up on everything going on in the song so I think it kind of leaves no room for you to be thinking about other things. Specifically his song “Smile.” The harmonies are so hypnotic it's hard to not sink into the song.

So in the words of Elliott, if you spend a lot of time in your head thinking about fake scenarios, wish things were different, are introverted, or just want to listen to something made with love, you’ll definitely want to check out M.A.G.S.