Please introduce yourself and share a bit about your background.

Hello my name is Jeni Magaña, the person behind the solo project Magana. I grew up in Bakersfield, CA playing whatever instruments I could get my hands on. I grew up at a time where the internet was not ubiquitous (I know, I also can't believe such a time existed) and so blessedly most of my earlier nerdy rock band efforts are lost to obscurity. I was therefore free to be as cringy as I wanted until I went to music school for college and had to start taking myself seriously. Luckily, it's also really inspiring to be at a school surrounded by people that love music as much as you do. I met some of my best friends, constant collaborators, and even my husband because of that school.

Tell us a bit about yourself. (Location, artist name, the works!)

Magana is currently based in Los Angeles. I moved here in the middle of 2019 while I was on tour as bassist for Mitski. LA was pretty new to me and so I was excited to spend 2020 checking out the new scene, which of course did not happen at all as planned. Instead, I spent all of 2020 holed up feeling anxious and depressed, which eventually turned into some self exploration. I started experimenting with self recording and took time that I didn't previously have to explore synth soundscapes. This has been the basis for the recent triad of releases, my new EP "Bad News" being the last of these explorations.

What's your musical origin story? (When did you start? What inspired you?)

I started playing music on flutophone in the 3rd grade. I have recently been made aware that many of you had recorders, but my school had these little white and red plastic clarinet imitators and that was the beginning of my journey. I loved the flutophone. I wanted to keep playing music at school and so my mom found an old clarinet that my sister had lying around for some reason, and that is what I played for years. Simultaneously, I was learning piano from the small church that was down the road from a fruit stand that my family owned. It's a long story. I actually have that same piano from the church in my house now! Anyway, the exact instrument has never been important to me. I was addicted to the feeling of creating sounds. I'd sing to myself for hours to pass the time. My brother had been gifted a toy guitar when he was a kid and I took it and started writing songs on it. In junior high they needed volunteers to play upright bass in the orchestra and I jumped at the chance. I think it's so cool that there are infinite ways to make a musical statement and I never want to stop doing so.

What were the driving forces or pivotal moments that inspired you to pursue music?

If you can't tell from my last answer, I have always been pretty obsessed with music. I'm not sure if I had any hobbies as a kid. It definitely made me feel like an outsider in my family, but my parents were endlessly supportive and never made me feel like it wasn't a worthy pursuit. When I was in high school and it was time to apply to colleges, I applied to a UC school like all of the other nerdy kids in California are expected to do. But randomly, I got a piece of mail for Berklee College of Music delivered to my house. Kudos to their marketing team, because I had never even heard of this school and I have no idea how they found me. I was already in application mode, so I sent in one there too. I think I would have always played music for fun if I had chosen another career. But there was some change when I went to visit the campus in Boston that made me think maybe I could do whatever I wanted and it would be ok. I'll never forget this moment where I came out from this tour and my mom started crying and was like…this is it. You're going here. You're moving to Boston and I'm going to miss you. I felt it too. It was beautiful and sad and scary, much like deciding to pursue anything you love.

How would you describe your style of music?

I would describe my music as indie witchy rock.

How is your personality reflected in your work?

I tend toward a melancholy and reflective disposition. I'm also an absolute weirdo and I like experimenting with new things.

Describe your creative process when you write new music.

There isn't a set process for writing music. Sometimes I sit down with a guitar, sometimes music starts with a melody and lyrics. Every once in a while an entire song is gifted to me and I have to do very little work, but mostly I labor over the same things for years. In 2020 I spent a lot of time recording sounds and song forms and then adding lyrics, which was new. But a lot of those were also songs that I had been writing on guitar. It's chaos.

What is the name of your latest releases?

The last trio of releases are inter-connected. First, I put out 'Teeth' in the spring, then 'DREAMS' in the fall, and 'Bad News' will be out January 24th.

What was the inspiration for that release?

I want these songs to be in the world. I chose winter because they are cozy and reflective and calm, and I think collectively we're in a similar place during this time. It's post-holidays but pre-spring. Nothing is really happening; it is simply pre-spring emptiness. These songs are meant to meet you where you are and keep you company in the darkness.

What challenges or unexpected moments did you encounter during the writing/recording process?

The writing and recording of the Teeth trilogy was absolute chaos. I had never recorded my own music professionally before, and I had (have) no good system for organizing files. I made demos and then tweaked the demos and then those became the final files but with a bunch of random muted tracks - some on purpose and some not. When I came back to edit Hold On, I spent about two hours on the wrong session before realizing I had actually started that one over in a different session.

What strategies do you find most effective for promoting your music?

Does having help count as a strategy? I'm not the most organized person and I really have no idea how the game or system works. Having a supportive friend/label/PR has been the only reason I have continued to be able to release music. I suppose in general a good way to create buzz without help is to seek out the people that might be interested in your kind of music and offer them more of it. This could look like a million things. A friend of mine has started a company that basically finds people on Spotify and have put your song or a similar genre song on a personal playlist and cold emails them offering more music. Also playing shows and going to shows where you care about the music is a great way to find a community. Or even a book club. Just put yourself in spaces that you care about, and eventually you will find your people.

How do you engage with your fans online and offline?

Some of my fans are my friends, but obviously there are people that listen to my music that I don't personally know. I think it's so cool that I already know we have common ground. I put a little piece of myself into the world and someone heard it and recognized a piece of themselves too. The internet is just a larger extrapolation of real life and so I treat both in a similar way.

What upcoming promotional activities or releases are you most excited about?

Playing shows! I love playing shows. I'm so excited for the release of 'Bad News' and I'm trying to think of the best ways to celebrate it, which I think means an intimate setting and acoustic show.

How can folks contact you (socials/email/websites etc.)

I'm @maganarama but I have to warn you, I'm only super active on instagram. Find me there if you actually want me to answer you. https://linktr.ee/maganarama