A Cappella band The Magnets: The passion India has for music is clear to us

The Magnets A Cappella performed at Delhi and Mumbai during its debut India tour.

London based A Cappella band The Magnets had a memorable debut India trip. The six-member band, who was on an almost 10-day long tour in the country, left the audience asking for more, sans any instruments! When indianexpress.com caught up with them, they shared exclusive details about why they thronged India, and how they have kept the sanity of their group intact over the years.

The Magnets, comprising of Ball-Zee, Callum MacIntosh (baritone), Duncan Sandilands (bass), James Gibbs (tenor), Matthew MacCabe (baritone) and Michael Conway were recently in New Delhi. Amid making sounds and teaching some enthusiasts how to beat-box, Michael said, “The passion which you guys have for music is fairly clear to us. So, for us, to come here and do what we do and share is with you guys, it means the world to us.”

The Magnets is an A Cappella band which creates music without any instruments. They rather use sounds from vocal chords for the same. Their unique talent has made them the most sought-after beat-boxers in the international arena. Sharing with us their Indian experience, Duncan said, “Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Everyone is incredibly friendly and welcoming and very inviting and the customer service here is outstanding and second to none. So, we’ve had a terrific time so far.”

“The Taj Mahal was simply breathtaking. Turning up there to see it, because you’ve seen it in so many films and postcards and pictures, and to see it for your own eyes was remarkable. It’s so spectacular, it doesn’t even look real,” added James.

So, being an A Cappella band, isn’t it amazing to travel light? “I wouldn’t say we travel light though. We still have big suitcases. But then we have to carry our sound guy with us. So, he’s like the biggest instrument, and most important tool,” the group unanimously quipped.

The Magnets got together in 2001 during their student days. Mostly known for performing covers of popular artistes, the have also cut their own music album like ‘Another Place’ which had nine original compositions. They have already performed across the globe including countries like Australia, Austria, United States of America, China and Switzerland among several others. The band is now looking forward to take beat-boxing across Asia.

So how have they managed to stick around for this long, and how do they resolve differences? “We fight, we wrestle, then Duncan wins. Duncan always wins,” said the band before breaking into a laughter.

The Magnets had performances in both Delhi and Mumbai. While they shared their love for Indian music too, their concerts also had them trying some Bollywood numbers as well. They collaborated with Bollywood soprano Natalie di Luccio for their acts. Mentioning Ranbir Kapoor’s Jagga Jasoos, which was a musical and one of a kind film in Bollywood, The Magnets said they wish to see the A Cappella scene expanding in India as it is a music loving nation.

The Magnets left us with A Cappella performance on the hit number “Shape Of You”, and we couldn’t refrain from singing along!