Magic Man was a two-piece American major label

electronic rock Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry- ...

band from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, formed in 2010 by Alex Caplow (vocals) and Sam Lee (guitars and keyboard). They later added high school friend Gabe Goodman (bass) and college friends Justine Bowe (keyboards) and Joey Sulkowski (drums), enabling the New England-based group to become a full-fledged band. They released the EP ''You Are Here'' in September 2013, followed by their first major full-length release, ''

Before the Waves ''Before the Waves'' is the second and final album and major label debut by the Boston band Magic Man. It was produced by Alex Aldi and released on July 8, 2014 by Columbia Records. The first single, "Out Of Mind", and the accompanying music vi ...

'', on July 8, 2014, under

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. On July 10, 2015, Magic Man announced the departure of Goodman, Bowe, and Sulkowski, returning to their original two-piece lineup.

History

''Real Life Color'' (2010)

During the summer following their freshman year in university, Alex Caplow and Sam Lee joined

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(World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) and traveled around France, trading labor for room and board on a series of French organic farms. When visiting a circus festival, they met a French close to their age, who claimed to be an amateur magician and called himself "Magic Man". He later became one of their first friends in France and the inspiration for the band's name. Alex and Sam used these experiences to influence the beginnings of Magic Man's music. As a laptop-based group, the duo favored dance-y synth-pop and began creating music. Under this lineup, Magic Man released their self-produced debut album, ''Real Life Color,'' on January 25, 2010.

''You Are Here'' (2013)

With the changes to the lineup bringing Justine Bowe, Joey Sulkowski, and Daniel Radin to the band, Magic Man began to work on an EP. They released the EP, ''You Are Here,'' in September 2013. They then embarked on a U.S. tour supporting

Walk the Moon Walk the Moon (stylized as WALK THE MOON) is an American rock band based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Lead singer Nicholas Petricca started the band in 2006, while a student at Kenyon College, deriving the band's name from the song " Walking on the ...

, followed by an immediate mini-tour supporting

Sir Sly Sir Sly is an American indie rock band formed and based in Orange County, California, United States. The band is fronted by vocalist Landon Jacobs with instrumentalists Jason Suwito and Hayden Coplen accompanying him. The trio gradually built a ...

''Before the Waves'' (2014–2015)

In January 2014, Magic Man toured for a month with New Politics and

Sleeper Agent A sleeper agent, also called sleeper cell, is a spy who is placed in a target country or organization not to undertake an immediate mission but to act as a potential asset if activated. Even if unactivated, the "sleeper agent" is still an asset ...

for New Politics's headlining tour. Radin left in early 2014, to play with his other band, The Novel Ideas, and he was replaced by Gabe Goodman. In February 2014, the single "Paris" debuted at #39 on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart, eventually peaking at #33. The song was accompanied by a music video. In March 2014, the song hit #1 on

Alt Nation Since 2008, Sirius XM Radio has had a similar channel lineup, with a few differences based on whether the individual has a Sirius, XM, or SiriusXM radio. For technical reasons, separate radios continue to be manufactured for the separate services ...

's Alt 18 Countdown. That same month, the band performed at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

music festival. Shortly thereafter, they embarked on a west coast U.S. tour as headliners, to be followed by appearances on The Gospel Tour in support of

and Panic! at the Disco. On July 8, 2014, the group released its debut album ''

''. The record was produced by Alex Aldi ( Passion Pit,

Holy Ghost! Holy Ghost! is an American synthpop duo from Brooklyn, New York City. Founded in 2007, the duo consists of Nick Millhiser and Alex Frankel. History Millhiser and Frankel both grew up on the Upper West Side of New York City and attended Trevor D ...

), who also worked with the band 2013's ''You Are Here'' EP, and written by Alex Caplow and Sam Lee. In support of ''

'', Magic Man embarked on their first headlining tour, joining The Gospel Tour alongside Panic! at the Disco and

for the duration of the summer.

Return to Original Lineup and Third Studio Album (2015–2019)

Following Magic Man's first headlining tour in spring 2015, the group announced they had begun writing their third studio album. On July 10, Magic Man announced the departure of Justine Bowe, Gabe Goodman, and Joey Sulkowski, returning the group to their original lineup of Alex Caplow and Sam Lee. On January 19, the band announced their upcoming Hotline Spring Tour, touring with indie pop bands the Griswolds and Panama Wedding. The band also appeared as a collaboration on

The Knocks The Knocks is an American electronic music duo consisting of Ben "B-Roc" Ruttner and James "JPatt" Patterson. They have released 3 full length albums Big Beat Records (American record label)">Big Beat Records, Neon Gold, Atlantic Records, and ...

' title "Cinderella", on their debut album '' 55'', released on March 4, 2016. Magic Man's fourth studio album was originally going to be released in 2016, under a rumored name of "After the Storm." After years of speculation that the band has split, on August 8, 2019, the band announced their split via posts on social media.

Touring members

* Fran Litterski - keyboards, vocals (2015–present) * Pepe Hidalgo Ramos - drums, percussion (2016–present) * Austin Luther - bass guitar (2016–present)

Press

The band has been featured in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

'', '' Glamour'', the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', and '' GQ'', whose review described '

' as "12 tracks of alt joy". '

' was named one of the best albums of 2014 by local music publication ''Sound of Boston''.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

References

External links

* {{Authority control Columbia Records artists Musical groups established in 2010 Musical groups disestablished in 2019 Musical groups from Boston 2010 establishments in Massachusetts 2019 disestablishments in Massachusetts