Scott Magnus: Nothing Is Bigger Than Loving Yourself
Sometimes people need to hear that no mistake is bigger than us. Sometimes a song can remind us to love ourselves. Manchester-based actor and musician Scott Magnus's debut single “Diamond In The Rough” is the first in a series of singles being released from his six-track EP Comeback Stronger. It teaches us to accept ourselves and our mistakes, loving ourselves without thinking about what others say about us. Scott Magnus has amassed an ever-growing fanbase who not only enjoys his covers and original songs, but also the sketch comedy he creates and performs prolifically. He is an outspoken supporter of people with disabilities, particularly those with learning difficulties because he has ADHD, Autism, and Dyspraxia. Scott turns the experiences he encounters as someone with disabilities into music that can heal, and inspire anyone facing difficult obstacles. Check out our interview below to find out more about Scott Magnus.
Where are you based?
I’m based in Oldham Greater Manchester
What inspired you to get into music?
I remember seeing Franz Ferdinand play ‘Take Me Out’ live on TV and I was awestruck. I wanted to play guitar, sing, and perform just like Alex Kapranos. This is what led me to learn guitar at age 11. It wasn’t long after, at the age of 15, that I began writing songs and performing them. At that time I was inspired by bands such as Artic Monkeys, Kings of Leon, The Kooks, and Arcade Fire.
You create indie, pop/rock songs, bringing them to life with upbeat trap and hyper-pop production. Can you explain your music style?
I blend a variety of music styles such as trap, pop, indie, rock, hyperpop, and electro pop, but you could say that the most constant style running through this is Indiepop.
We loved your debut single Diamond In The Rough. You reflect the feeling of being stuck in an unpleasant place but coming out stronger than ever and loving yourself. What is the story behind this song?
After feeling insecure and embarrassed by mistakes I’d made in the past, but never really dealing with these emotions, they finally came out when writing this song. I was triggered by an event that brought these emotions to the surface while showing me that I also I didn’t have to beat myself up about those mistakes and, in fact, I have a lot to be confident about.
You have new song out that we are very excited about: The Phoenix. Can you tell us a little bit about what inspired this song?
This song was written after moving on from a job I wasn’t happy in, and the exhilaration and freedom that came with that. I was having quite a lot of difficulties at the time, but this was an opportunity to have a fresh start, learn from the mistakes of the past and become a better version of myself.
In a lot of ways, this song is just what the world needs to hear these days. Did you think about that with the timing of the song?
I did yes. And I certainly agree the idea of redemption, learning from your mistakes and rising up after being knocked down is always an important message that needs to be heard, but particularly now when people’s lives have hit real low points with the effects of the pandemic. Being able to dust yourself off, pick your self up, and come back stronger is essential.
Do you have any advice for someone going through a transitional part of their life?
Well, the transition that, I suppose, has taught me about this, is really key, and often really difficult, is the transition from University to your career. If you go in the direction where your heart isn’t in, something like I did — when pursuing an acting career after drama school, things are unlikely to work out. However, if you truly desire something and pursue it, like I am now with my music career, things will often fall into space, and you will have the determination to overcome your obstacles. So as cliché as it sounds follow your heart, believe that you can achieve your ambitions and work hard everyday into making your ambitions a reality.
You worked with commercially successful, Radio 1 featured producer and mix engineer Tngey (Jack Tingey) for Diamond In The Rough. Tell us a little bit about this collaboration!
Me and Tngey work really well together, he is extremely talented and skilled and we have developed an effective way of recording and producing my music. Our process involves me writing the song, producing a demo recording of the song, which features many of the instrumentation ideas I would like on the track, I then take this demo to Tngey in the studio along with reference tracks for further inspiration, and once in the studio the creative sparks fly between us and my songs get taken to a whole other level! We record live guitars and vocals, and the production and mixing process is weaved in through out day when working on the track.
You are an actor and model, what brought you to your music career path? Do you have a favorite?
Acting is more of a hobby for me now and a way of expressing my music through visual storytelling in music videos, social media videos, and not to mention the comedy sketches which I perform. I left drama school with a first and a great agent, but my heart wasn’t in it. I was lost for a while not knowing which path to take, and a friend suggested playing music to me. Once I started making music again there was no stopping me, and I have pursued my music career relentlessly. I was a model for almost 5 years, modeling for Adidas and Harvey Nichols to name a few clients, but now I just model when promoting my music. Music is my favorite, but modeling and acting play an important role in the creating an engaging and artistic expression of my music visually.
As a person who has ADHD, Autism and Dyspraxia, you are an outspoken supporter of people with disabilities, particularly those with learning difficulties. It seems like you use your experiences for helping more people, embolden and inspire anyone facing difficult obstacles. Do you think is the biggest obstacle that people should be more aware of? What difficulties did you face during your journey?
Every person with a disability or learning difficulties is different and encounters different challenges. People should be aware that people like me have a different abilities, so they aren’t necessarily cut out for certain jobs or endeavors. For instance, someone with dyscalculia probably isn’t cut out for being an accountant. We should realize that there is no shame in not taking a path you aren’t suited for; for instance, you wouldn’t judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree or not. It’s about focusing on what we can do and trying our best to overcome the things that are more difficult to do, that we absolutely have to do. Really it’s up to the person with the disability to be honest about where they have obstacles, how they adapt to overcome them, and how the person they are working with can help facilitate that. Then it is on the person the disabled person is working with to take on board that information and be accommodating.
Despite recent positive changes in the social media sources of autism, “ableist” language is still used. How do people become more aware of this?
To be honest I’m not really familiar with all the ‘ableist’ language that is used so I can only talk from my experience. If a close friend calls me a term which isn’t politically correct, related to my learning difficulties, and their intention is just banter and not intended to insult or degrade me, I’m fine with it and I will probably laugh if it is funny. Having a sense of humour, having a thick skin, and not being too quickly offended is important.
That being said if someone is intentionally trying to insult or degrade you with such language it should not be tolerated and it should be challenged. I also think certain environments shouldn’t have this kind of language; I draw the line at being called one of these terms in the workplace for instance.
We learned that you worked with special needs children who have behavioral issues at Lowerplace Primary School. Can you tell us a little bit about this experience?
Working with children with behavioral issues or special needs is never boring. These children are often lovely and interesting and, of course, dealing with their behavior and facilitating their needs can be challenging and demand a lot of patience.
Do you have any advice for someone with learning disabilities?
My best advice for someone with learning difficulties is to focus on what you are good at, what you love, and give it everything you have. Not being naturally good at certain things is something we have to deal with a lot, but if you are good a just one thing that you enjoy, which may be as simple as running or caring for people, and you focus on that, all the things you aren’t good at don’t seem to matter. My second piece of advice is to not be afraid of taking a different path to others if it allows you to achieve what you need to. This might mean you have to work longer hours to complete a task or take a different approach, but what matters is that you achieve the goal not how you do it.
How have you been staying positive during a shelter in place? Are things back to normal?
I presume you referring to the pandemic and lockdowns. I was fortunate enough to work throughout the most of lockdown and go into work where I saw people and got some social interaction, but I couldn’t see friends as much as I’d wish with the restrictions. It is great to be able to connect with more loved ones now that we have our freedoms again.
What is your motto in life?
Follow your heart, don’t care what other people think about you, try your best, and trust that things will work out.
To learn more about Scott Magnus, please follow him via the below platforms:
Spotify: Scott Magnus
Instagram: @scott_magnus_/
Youtube: Scott Magnus
Twitter: @ScottMagnus9
Photo Credit: Alex Brown
