Calling both Boston and Providence their homes, Magic Man is a five piece pop group who never lets you even want to stop dancing. Teaming up with their good friends from Smallpools to head out on a U.S. tour, Magic Man has been on the road nearly nonstop since the beginning of the year, making appearances on either coast and everywhere in between. Releasing their first full length album this past July, they’ve made a name for themselves touring with similarly upbeat groups like New Politics and Panic! At The Disco.
And they haven’t stopped gaining momentum since then. Making an appearance on Late Night With Seth Myers back in August, and dropping a hefty load of visually dynamic music videos since Before The Waves was released, Magic Man has made sure that people notice them.
Their greatest hope is that you notice them enough to want to come out to their shows to sing along with them. Before heading to Paradise Rock Club this Sunday, Alex Caplow was kind enough to sit down with Allston Pudding to talk touring, burritos, positive rumors, and Ryan Gosling’s Halloween themed band.
Allston Pudding: So since you guys are from Boston, what’s it feel like to be playing in your hometown? Is it a good feeling to be coming back?
Alex Caplow: It feels great. We love coming to Boston, since most of our friends and family are from around here, and they always come out to see us. It’s like a big homecoming event. Although some of our members live in Providence, so we like to think we’re Providence based, since we do a lot of working on our music there. But it’s nice to come back to Boston to stay loyal and connected.
AP: What are some of your favorite spots around Boston?
AC: Anna’s Taqueria, for sure. They have the best burritos in the world. We miss them whenever we’re away. Other than that, I’m not really sure. I have so many odd memories coming back to Boston. I grew up in the suburbs, in Newton, so I have a lot of memories of parks and things- you know, childhood memories. But I love Boston. It’s such a walkable city, and it’s older than any other American city, which is really cool.
AP: Well we’re glad to have you here! How’s your tour with Smallpools going so far?
AC: Tonight (10/21) is our third show with Smallpools, and it’s been going pretty well so far. We’ve definitely bonded with them- I mean, any bands that tour are going to connect on many levels. We’re good friends with them, and we’ve definitely connected with Waters as well. It’s great touring with your friends- it’s more exciting to promote bands you like.
AP: So you guys have some pretty dance-worthy tunes. What are some of the craziest dance moves you’ve ever seen? Or that you can do?
AC: Of course! Well we always try to get the crowd as crazy as possible, you know, try to get that whole “hands up in the air” vibe going. I can’t recall any of the craziest dancing I’ve seen them do, but…when we were touring with Panic! At The Disco and the frontman from New Politics, they were doing crazy back flips and breakdancing on stage. And someone decided to spread this rumor that I could do backflips on stage- I have no idea where they got that from- and that I was just too shy to do it in front of the crowd. So people started spreading word around that if they all held up signs asking me to, and cheered for me, they could get me to do backflips for them.
AP: That’s crazy! I guess they could have been spreading worse things about you.
AC: That’s exactly how I felt. I’m actually supportive of that idea, of spreading positive lies about each other.
AP: Definitely. So you just put out Before The Waves, your first full length. What’s different about releasing a full length album as opposed to an EP?
AC: It’s exciting to have the space to create a full narrative for songs. With EP’s, you can release singles, but they’re just your poppiest, most accessible songs for the fans, and it doesn’t really encourage them to go back and listen to the whole album. With a full length, you can go off in different directions and explore more sides of your music. It also allows for longer sets, which is nice.
AP: And you mentioned you’re good friends with Smallpools. Is it weird headlining a tour with them?
AC: It’s incredibly fun. We’ve never been on a headline tour before, we’ve only been opening bands. It’s refreshing to see the crowd know who we are and having fun singing along, actually knowing all our songs. It brings us back to some of our first shows, where we’d just be playing for friends. We’re getting all these new fans, and we have fans begging us, asking us, “Why don’t you come play here?” It’s great.
AP: I’m happy for you guys! You know, Halloween’s coming up. Any big Halloween plans?
AC: (laughs) We’re actually playing a show that night, and we have a plan for a group costume…but I won’t tell you what it is, you’ll just have to wait and see pictures after!
AP: Fair enough. What are some of your favorite Halloween costumes you’ve ever seen?
AC: A few years ago I was Rosie The Riveter…
AP: Wait, YOU were Rosie The Riveter?
AC: Yeah! I love messing with gender roles, you know, playing with stereotypes. It was a lot of fun.
AP: That’s awesome. Do you have any favorite, spooky Halloween tunes?
AC: Not that I can think of…oh wait! I’m a huge Ryan Gosling fan. He’s a great actor, he’s attractive…and he’s actually a part of- or at least he was- this group called Dead Man’s Bones, and they make Halloween-themed songs. They put out this one video with a choir of kids all wearing old school costumes, it was weird.
AP: I’ll have to check it out. So what does the future look like for Magic Man?
AC: We don’t plan on stopping any time soon. We plan to tourthrough the end of the year, maybe taking a brief break in December to relax with friends and family.
