Brent L. Magstadt - Composer/Performer
Brent L. Magstadt is a versatile professional composer living in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where inspiration arrives daily with the ever-present trade winds. Stints in rock and roll, jazz, and classical have left Brent with myriad avenues to pursue music, in a multitude of genres. Continually honing his craft, Brent manages a full schedule of writing and arranging, for music production houses and film/television projects worldwide. Along with his wife and musical partner Sherri Thal, Brent runs Wun Whirled Studios on the Big Island of Hawai'i, which serves as a home base for their folk/rock duo The Elementalz, a small ensemble comprised of Sherri, Brent, and other nefarious musicians of questionable social intent. Brent has performed with jazz greats Randy Brecker, Carl Fontana, Andy Narrell, Matt Catingub, Steve Houghton, and Jobelle. He's also played sideman in acts opening for Jack Johnson and Dave Matthews, as well as 70's throwback notables Black Oak Arkansas and Badfinger. In addition to The Elementalz, he currently maintains an occasional sideman presence in his local community as a guitarist for various ensembles, from jazz to rock to folk. Notables:
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Latest News...
April 30, 2018 Travel & Work! The fusion record is flowing, with substantial assistance from the awesome Michael S. Looking forward to horn tracking sometime next month. Thanks for patience, all! Also sad to have missed the Hawai'i Songwriting Festival earlier this month, I'm sure it was awesome. August 4, 2017 Shout out to any brass/reed players in the crowd! As I'm scoring the horn sections for the fusion record, I'm digging deep into the realms of some of the coolest vibiest stuff...! And as influential as big band has been on me over the years, I gotta say that the small RnB ensemble horn section just plain kicks ass for simplicity and yes, even power! I think you're really going to dig this crash. I am totally loving it. July 2, 2017 Fusion! After a short run of playing sideman for local R&B ensemble Soul Town (thanks gang!), I am back to writing! The project is sounding excellent, and you can get a sense of it here. I hope you enjoy! June 25, 2017 Things! Celebrating my wonderful Mom's birthday today. And thanking SR for another great placement, this one a co-write with Katie Herzig! Woot! May 4, 2017 Mutha Natchuh! On a walkabout with my wonderful soulmate, connecting with the red rock... back soon! April 5, 2017 Gigs!! That's all I can say... I've been sooooo busy in the performance arena that I haven't had time for any real writing or producing these last months. :-( Also, to be completely transparent, I'm so disheartened by our messed up government that doing anything creative always sets me on the path of writing songs about blatant idiots. But, the good news is there's some checkout time forthcoming, where I hope to re-connect with the hopeful muse. And geez do I ever wish that for our country... January 25, 2017 Already...?? Wow the first month of '17 almost over? No way... I've been incredibly busy in the live arena lately, barely any time for writing. In fact the only studio work I've managed to fit in is tracking for the fusion project - which is finally starting to a shine a little; very excited to share with with you all in the future. Take good care and try to ignore the ignorant! December 29, 2016 Happy New Year, crazy beautiful people! May all your dreams shred in the upcoming season! Aloha!December 8, 2016 More placements this year, again, of my ukulele versions of public domain Holiday songs - nice! Thank you BW, you are awesome! November 16, 2016 Disney just bought out one of the songs produced from the Summer 2016 Creative Commons sessions - awesome! Congrats to co-writers Maelan Abran and Sierra West; you both rock. And thank you S.R./J.S. for getting this pitch going on! November 9, 2016 Sincerest Apologies to the entire World. No words... |:-(( October 24, 2016 Very nice to have stepped back from writing and producing for film/tv, for a bit. I'm very much enjoying following the muse again as I continue work on my next solo effort. Early in the year I'll have some demo's for y'all to hear. In the meantime Aloha! Sept 24, 2016 Stoked to have Michael Surprenant on board to help me produce my next record. He's an awesome set of ears, as well as a killa drummer & percussionist. In fact he's playing kit all over this upcoming release! Michael - thanks! Aug 31, 2016 Be sure to check out this track by Don May that I produced with him: Going Under. He's an amazing writer, keep an eye on him! Aug 1, 2016 I Love how music completely dominates Sherri and I's lives! Really feeling super lucky and grateful to be in the Zone with people I love. July 10, 2016 Crazy!! That was an insane month of craziness and head space switch-a-roos. Yowsa. And now, back to writing/recording, with work on a few library pieces, producing another track for Nashville writer Don May, and of course the ever-present workflow of The Elementalz and my fusion record (will that ever be released? Patience, grasshopper...) :-) June 20, 2016 Happy Summer, everyone!! Quick shout outs to the Hawaii Songwriting Festival for another fantastic week of great music all around. Looking forward to next year! And also a big thank you to Creative Labs Hawaii for providing such amazing writing opportunities for a few of us composers out here in the island. Finally, the Brotman's (Charles, Joanie, Julia, Jodi) all rocked these events! Love you all! June 9, 2016 Composing! Wow, it's been a crazy few weeks, both personally and professionally. Final mixes nearing completion for the upcoming Hawai'i Songwriting Festival, and I'm super stoked to have been picked as one of only 10 artists in this great state of Hawai'i to collaborate with some amazing music industry professionals! You can read about it here:Creative Lab Hawai'i Songwriting Bootcamp. Awesome!! May 12, 2016 Recharge! Taking most of May off from music, handling some personal stuff, refilling my batteries, and getting ready for the Hawai'i Songwriting Festival, one of my fave events of the year. I'd so love to see all my musician friends there... March 28, 2016 Stoked to have finished producing a track for Nashville songwriter Don May (Curb Records). A beautifully written song titled \"Going Under\". I'm also excited to continue to work with Don; he's an amazing writer, with the skills and integrity to be successful in this crazed industry. Do it! March 8, 2016 Hawai'i Songwriting Festival! Don't forget to check out the Hawai'i Songwriting Festival, here on the Big Island. It's located at the Hapuna Prince in June, right on one of the best beaches in all the islands. And it's beyond casual and fun! Register here: Hawai'i Songwriting Festival. I promise you won't regret it! See ya there! March 2, 2016 Thank you, Bruce David! For knocking out such awesome drum tracks for the next Elementalz project... you rock!! February 18, 2016 Busy-ness! Out of touch and swamped with working towards another couple of releases: The Elementalz are hard at work on our third CD, and I am furiously trying to bust out my second solo fusion project. Hoping for mid-summer releases on both of these projects. Busy! January 5, 2016 Another Year! With more music, love and laughter ahead. Hang on, it's going to be another fun ride! December 14, 2015 More Placements! Just found out that my ukulele cover of the public domain song The Holly and the Ivy was used 4 times on Y&R in the last week or so - cool! December 2, 2015 The shortening of the days... I admit I love this time of year (at least at this latitude...), where the sun angle is entrancing, the nights are warm breezes, and our wonderful little community comes together celebrating love and light. Wishing the same for all of you! November 19, 2015 Cool! I just signed my first ever orchestral piece to a very well positioned publisher! Exciting, and I have fingers crossed for this particular track to go places. October 24, 2015 Fusion! My 2005 solo fusion release, recorded on that lovely gem of an island, Vashon, in Puget Sound, is now available for FREE! You can spin it up on YouTube here: Brent Magstadt (2005). If you are interested in an actual CD, check out the Media/Store link above. Aloha!September 23, 2015 Happy Day of crossing the Celestial Equator to you all! Just finished the first Music Comp for Film/TV at Berklee, it kicks ass. And now back to co-writing with some smashtastic people... can't wait to share! August 20, 2015 Much new music in the works for me. Lately I've been focusing mostly on film score compositions using full orchestra. You can hear one of my latest tracks at the bottom of this page in the Track Of The Day section, called \"Lost In Memory\", with the amazing Sherri Thal on vocals. June 15, 2015 Flip! Check out my score for the Marvin Hamlisch film competition here or below. An awesome little short, and super fun to score it. I hope you enjoy it! June 10, 2015 It's time!! Heading to my absolute fave festival of the year, and this year we all get to share our island with our friends, instead of flying up to Kauai (though let's be honest, the punishment isn't that bad...). A tip of my dirty martini to all of my creative cohorts - keep the music flowing!! June 2, 2015 And the Co-Writes keep on keeping on. I’ve been writing with numerous people lately, and it’s been a really great experience. Definitely looking forward to more of that! Also stoked about the Hawaii Songwriters Festival next week in Kona!! May 19, 2015 Recent Placements for my music on both VH1 and The Discovery Channel. Right on! May 13, 2015 Tambourine Attack! Recording with Ethan Freckleton can be a hoot...! May 3, 2015 IFMP puts another two tracks of mine in front of music supervisors. Gotta keep that flow going on!April 25, 2015 Trash Fashion Show! at the Palace Theater, Bayfront Hilo. Show starts at 7pm with music by The Decimators - hope to see you...!April 22, 2015 Earth Day! Do just one thing today for the good of the planet! April 11, 2015 Getting the good vibes together this week up on Kauai with best buds Fletcher/Kim, as we hang out and effortlessly create some smiles and musical inspiration... March 26, 2015 Fun session with Charles Brotman up at Lavatracks studio, writing more film/tv cues! March 2, 2015 Congratulations to Sherri Thal, who has now moved into the final round in the Hawai'i Songwriting Festival open mic contests. She rocks! January 30, 2015 Back from a nice checkout, hiked Halape' in Volcano National Park for a couple nights. It. Was. Chill.... January 8, 2015 Honored to have been picked in the Top Ten students for Berklee's Coursera Capstone Modern Musician Series. Awesome to have won a scholarship to an online course of my choice at Berklee - woot! January 1, 2015 Starting off the new years right - a new publishing contract!December 31, 2014 A gift for the New Year - here's a cover of Paint or Pollen (Blind Pilot) for your listening/viewing pleasure - enjoy! November 20, 2014 Hard at work getting charts together for upcoming sessions. My next solo fusion CD is officially gaining momentum! November 17, 2014 Check out this cover of The Bird And The Bee - Fucking Boyfriend. I produced the backing track for this, and Andrea Kremer rocked the vocals. Kool, eh?! September 30, 2014 Some days I'm blown away at how the stars align in this weird business of music. Measuring success one publishing deal at a time... August 2, 2014 Wow! Totally honored to have taken first place in the TV / Film scoring competition at the Kauai Music Festival this year!July 7, 2014 Fusion! Work continues on my new fusion CD, currently working out horn arrangements. It's gonna be a rocking groovin' release sometime next year! June 3, 2014 Travel time upcoming! It's time for those awesome music conferences and summer shows! Yeow!! May 20, 2014 The Ethan Freckleton CD is out!! Sherri and I helped co-write this project (and Sherri co-wrote the title track with Ethan), and played all over it. We're thrilled it's finally out - check out Empty Palace now on iTunes! May 15, 2014 Time! I'm amazed at how fast time seems to move. Crazy. Anyhooz, I'm currently deep into my first serious string quartet, to be performed by one of the island quartets here in Hilo. And continuing work on my next CD of course, along with playing whenever I can. I hope the spring is amazing and beautiful for you all! April 21, 2014 Recharge! Just back from vaca/checkout up on Kauai, needed a battery re-charge. Ramping up, and back into writing again this week - cool! March 19, 2014 Rock and Roll! The next 3 weeks are dedicated completely (with the exception of custom library cue requests) to working on my next solo CD - finally!! And then it's off to surf for a week with the Fletchito Man - Yo! March 17, 2014 Happy Guinness Day! Swill freely, swill safely. Play loud rock and roll while doing so. Feb 9, 2014 Two new rock tracks just signed to one of my favorite publishers. Also, the Ethan Freckleton release is now mastered - it came out great! I'm guessing a springtime release on this followup to last years "Unlimited Love". Feb 1, 2014 Love! What more is there??Jan 9, 2014 Another turning of the calendar! 2014 has kicked off fast here at Wun Whirled: a new publishing contract, and in the first stages of wrapping my head around a new solo fusion release. Exciting! Dec 13, 2013 Sessions complete yesterday, for the next Ethan Freckleton release. It was a blast rocking it with Sherri, Ethan, Charles, and everyone else. Should be a killa springtime release! Nov 25, 2013 Getting excited for the upcoming sessions with Ethan Freckleton - woot! Nov 12, 2013 The Road Rally this year was absolutely amazing! What a prolific, talented, fascinating, grounded, and charismatic bunch of beautiful crazies we all are! Kudos to Michael Laskow for holding the vision and bring us all together. He rox. Oct 29, 2013 Wun Whirled cleaned up after that bomb went off these last few weeks... ;-} Oct 22, 2013 Trash Fashion Show! The Elementalz at Imiloa Planetarium in Hilo, 10/26, 7PMOct 14, 2013 Amazing fun sitting in for a set with John Cruz on Saturday evening. Thanks John! (And Happy Birthday Daddio!!) Oct 10, 2013 \"Prophecy\" (1984) limited vinyl available exclusively from Brent Magstadt (see the Store for details) Oct 4, 2013 Black Toast Music places "We Smile" into national ad campaignOct 1, 2013 Completed eight public domain ukulele Holiday tracks, and successfully placed them all into production libraries for the upcoming Holiday season! |
Going Under
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Lost In Memory
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