Magnus has been the repair manager of Gotham Sound Atlanta for eight years. If you have a microphone or cable wired by our Atlanta office, it was probably done by Magnus. You can find him tucked away, hiding behind curtains in the corner of the office - probably sniffing solder fumes, surrounding himself with caffeine and weird electronic music. Not only is Magnus a very experienced technician, he takes amazing care of his customers. In fact, he’s so good, we started giving him Mondays off.

Magnus is also a trained synthesizer and musical instrument repair technician. He has worked as a student, technician, and manager at multiple music repair shops in New Jersey, New York, and Georgia; studied under Osamu Masuko (owner of Three Wave Music) and Jeff Blenkensopp (owner of The Analog Lab and former Pink Floyd technician). He works on instruments outside of Gotham, though, if you ask him nicely, he will look at your musical equipment at Gotham. 

We sat down with Magnus and asked him a couple questions. 

How did you get started repairing musical equipment and electronics in general?

In high school I was very interested in progressive rock music such as Yes, Rush, Genesis, Gentle Giant, etc. All the keyboard players in those bands were using all those older synthesizers like Moogs, Oberheims, ARPs. I loved the sounds those instruments made and wanted to start acquiring them to make my own music. The trouble was that they were out of my price range, even back then. So, I set out to learn how they worked and how to fix them. I was able to start buying them in a non-functioning state so that I could get them at a “discount”, haha. 

How do you like living in Atlanta? You are from NJ, right? 

I love Atlanta because I get to do what I love for a living here. I’ve fully invested in my relationship with this city and. luckily, Atlanta has paid off. I miss New Jersey sometimes, but a lot of my friends and family live elsewhere anyway, so it’s a bit strange whenever I go back to Jersey. I am sure other people have similar relationships with the places they grew up. 

I originally moved down to Georgia to go to SCAD Savannah where I studied sound design. My main focus was post production, but because of several factors, I moved to Atlanta after college with the intent on working on film sets. However, I soon discovered I was not terribly interested in working on film sets either, haha. Fortunately, I was able to fall back on what I really enjoyed doing - fixing broken stuff for people. 

Biggest inspiration? Favorite quote?

“No matter what I am doing, whether it is in work or in life, I incorporate creativity and passion. Growing up, I was taught that what makes you unique is your own ideas and form of creativity; anyone can learn how to do something, but only the creative ones find a way to become immersed in what they are doing. I consider myself a healthy mix of both relationship orientated and task orientated. I believe teams accomplish goals and set standards, not individuals."  - Luke Erwin

Photos & design by Tyler Williams