Young Creators Project spotlight: Magnus Ferrell

Studio City’s Magnus Ferrell has been writing music since he was 12, and began studying jazz in the 8th grade. And, as is wont to happen in those budding teen years, that’s also when he met the girl that would ultimately lead to him being featured in this profile.

“The specific song I sent in, it's funny, it was about an eighth grade girlfriend,” says Ferrell, now 18, of his dreamy, Chet Baker-evoking ballad “Held You So.”

Though the relationship fizzled out, as such romances are also wont to (“You don’t really know what’s going on yet,” Ferrell says), the two met again later in life, as high school juniors at a party. Ferrell describes realizing in that moment how much he’d missed her, and how oblivious he’d been.

“I just remember that night,” he says. “I wrote [''Held You So”] that night, after that party. In a weird way, in a kind of, like, infatuated way… I just wanted to get my feelings down about the whole experience. The song is a reminder not to take those people who care for you for granted.”

The track is a perfect slice of the young artist’s penchant for alternative R&B à la Still Woozy and Mac Ayres, and what he calls “ballad/romantic type music” like Bruno Major.  

“Songwriting and music is so special to me, as it has played such a therapeutic role in my life,” Ferrell says. “It has helped me through times where I’m not at my best, and I hope to move and help others dealing with the same.”

Ferrell spoke with Morning Becomes Eclectic’s Anthony Valadez to share his insights on what makes alternative R&B so rewarding as a genre and why music is the best therapy.