Interview with MAGEFA

Hi I am Kevin Grams, vocalist, guitar player and songwriter of MAGEFA.

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

I was taught to play the guitar when I was 10 years old, so all my life I was drawn to the music by that in the first place. To come to extreme metal it took me some time as I went through nearly all genres there is when I grow up. I suddenly realized that the harder the music, the more I have to learn to accomplish songs. I don't actually know what else I would do because all my life would be very different.

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

Since I became a father this year I don't do much apart from work, making music and being a part of the family. As a grown up in german I like to complain about things and critizise them. That and the will to do a groovy song keeps my head moving and creative. I actually listen to a lot of music when I have time.

How long has your band been around?

We started with Kai Or (drums) and our former bass player in 2014 in Frankfurt, Germany. In 2016 we wrote the demo “A peek into human Bodies”. From there we started to write and produce more music to the point where we are now.

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

Andreas Muttscheller (bass guitar) and I come from Germany, Kai Or comes from Israel and Nicolas Perez comes from Argentina. We all live in the area around Frankfurt. It does not actually influence our music but besides metal its our common ground.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

Kai came up with MAGEFA which means plague in hebrew. We thought it was and still is a perfect name for a death metal band.

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

The first show we locally promoted was in the Ponyhof in Frankfurt this year and it was fucking awesome. The crowd (and us as well) had so much fun with all of the bands and you could feel that energy coming from them. Another show that will stay in my mind forever was the show in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK. It was the last show of our little UK tour and we played as opener but even for that slot we had a lot of people in front of us that had much fun which is very rare.

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

The favourite venue is a place we only played once before. It is called “Die Kiste” in Ladenburg, Germany. It was such a professional kind of setup that I want to play there again as fast as possible. The places we want to play in the future are the metal festivals here in Germany regardless of the size of the event.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

Cannibal Corpse, Archspire and Carcass.

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

Practice, practice, practice!

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

I probably wouldn't give myself any advise because I am happy to be in this place right now.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

To me it is the song “New Era Of Darkness” because it is the song we worked on for like 6 to 8 months, jamming onto it, rethinking parts and in the end it expresses the energy and darkness I feel for the world.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

The favourite to play changes a lot. I love to play the newest songs very much. This time it's our newest release “Bombs Over Europe”. Since we don't have 5 LPs we should played any song they requested by now.

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

In the process of songwriting, I do the foundation of the song, we rehearse that and make changes then fitting to everyones individual playstyle. Inspired by anything that happens on our planet and driven by many emotions that come into the song.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

The main message is “mankind sucks”. There are so many bad people out there and we have to change that to get better.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

Of course we have. We sat together, talked about it and made goals to reach. A bit management driven plan, do, check, act to be honest.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

We released “Bombs Over Europe” on october 20th which is a killer song and you should definetly hear it. We are also in the songwriting phase to finish our LP late 2025. Make sure to follow us around on social media and stay tuned for whats coming next.