It was 1996 when two university undergraduate students met their first day of arrival in Woolwich Arsenal, South London. They were both coming from Thessaloniki, Greece. The discovery of common musical background led to a friendship. Freshly introduced to the psytrance party scene in the UK and few months later they started discussing how to make music.
By spring of 1997 Magus was established by Chris Tatitzikidis, the technical and musical brains and DJ Kostas Alekoglou. Chris installed the first Cubase sequencer and the pair started writing the first track "Eleusinian Mysteries". After 6 months of writing between UK and Greece in the spring, summer and fall of 1997, the first Magus track was born. A dark tale with blazing live distorted guitars, epic melodies, 32 overloaded channels at a whooping 154 BPM.
Through DAT trades and friends the new sound was being noticed and the first track was played at an afterparty next to legendary home of psytrance, Fridge Club in Brixton, London. The group quickly also became a favorite in their home town Thessaloniki, whilst also winning some initial recognition in other parts of Europe.
By 1998 the duo started winning aclaim amongst the psychedelic trance underground and started knocking on record label doors. After a few near misses, Magus signed the first deal with Danish label Creamcrop records and the debut release happened in 1999 in the form of a vinyl EP named "Crystall Ball". The title track was then played by top DJ Frank E (Koxbox, Psychopod) in the 2000 New Year South Africa trance party. From then on, Magus contributed music on several compilations across a variety of labels including Flow Records (Portugal), Digital Psionics (Australia), Resonoise (UK), Uphonic (Netherlands) and others. One of the most successful tracks in the band's history was the night-stormer Digital Silence, produced by Chris Tatitzikidis and released on Creamcrop records.
The band was travelling, promoting the new tracks by playing live frequently in the UK, Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Greece, France and Brazil, with Kostas playing his first DJ sets. During their time together Chris and Kostas met and worked with many great artists: stadning our was a collaboration with French prog trancers Yumade recorded in Denmark, a remix of Digital Silence with Chris from Sententia and the track 'Imploded Brains' with top New Zealand DJ Pied Piper Paul.
The Magus sound
Magus became initially known for their ever-changing tracks, weird combinations of sounds, experimental off-beat rhythms and unusual sampling. The music was influenced by the Australian, German, French and Swiss scenes and the Magus sound connected with the sound of bands such as Yumade, Paps, Tripiatrik, Lupus in Fabula, XV Killist, Paste, X-Dream and others.
The speed later dropped to 138-142BPM with the sound becoming more minimal and the production bigger. Studio time was always the best fun for the band. Change was part of the Magus mentality, innevitable in order to be able to keep the music interesting and psychedelic. All artistic decisions were based on taste and sound preferences and not of commercial value. Magus never went into the trance mainstream in search of popularity, but was driven by passion for the music.
The recording circle ended in 2005 with the release of Magus - Remixes by Chris T. label, Headstick recordings. Various artists such as Man Made Man, Sentient, Big Wigs, Genetic Spin, La Baaz, DJ Seth and Bar Code paid tribute to the Magus sound with their own interpretations. Both Chris and Kostas contributed separate remixes of tracks via their personal projects Igneous and Phacelift.
As a token of appreciation to Magus fans, the band will be releasing the debut album "Music That Never Was" in 2011 as a digital download. The album features previously unreleased tracks from the 1997-2003 years covering a range of styles the band went through.
