Mathematical Genius

For a band who had only released one single at our time of meeting, there’s a serious buzz about London-based quartet, The Magic Numbers. Indeed, you might say that the band are currently riding a wave of media hype. Always wary of that particular four-letter word, I was waiting to be impressed at their sold-out gig in Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach. I didn’t have to wait long. Two songs in and I found myself hooked by their gorgeous, spacious melodies and delectable harmonies, from the pop rush of ‘Morning’s Eleven’ to the stunning country soul of ‘Love Me Like You’. The Magic Numbers add up.

Singer/guitarist Romeo Stodart and his bass-playing sister Michele had a circuitous route to London, having grown up in Trinidad (where their mother regularly sang on TV), followed by a sojourn in New York. It was in the English capital that they met drummer Sean Gannon and his sister Angela, the kids of Irish parents (their father is from Achill, their mother from Meath). Romeo and Sean immediately started making music together and played in a variety of pub bands for years without much success before they decided to call upon their siblings to complete the line-up.
“Myself and Romeo both knew that this was what we wanted to do and we weren’t going to stop until it happened for us,” Sean recalls. ”We’d had a couple of other people in the band but they didn’t last long.”
He plants a sly sideways glance at Michele.
"And eventually we had nobody else to ask.”
Having recruited their sisters, who provide the sublime harmonies, they rehearsed for about six months before their first gig at the Betsy Trotwood in Farringdon.
“That night when we were on stage together, we just looked at each other and we really felt like we were in a band,” Michele smiles.
Their obvious stage presence grew and it wasn’t long before there was a queue of record companies bidding for their signatures, the band eventually opting for the “artist-friendly” Heavenly label. Last September saw their first single, ‘Hymn For Her’ sell out within a week: you can currently find it on e-Bay, but only if you have quite a wad of cash. Their eponymous debut album is ready to be released and it’s a cracker, crossing over effortlessly from soaring pop to southern soul, with a large dollop of country on the side.
They’re not worried about the expectation that surrounds them, however (“the album speaks for itself” – Sean). To be fair, their rise really does seem to be a ‘word of mouth’ affair rather than the result of a PR machine. With all respect, they’re a fairly normal looking bunch and not the usual cooler-than-thou collection of cheekbones and haircuts who are bandied about as the next big thing.
“The press could have easily focused on the fact that we don’t look like the Kings Of Leon or some other band,” Michele admits, “but they’ve focused on the music and that is one of the most enjoyable things for us.”
All bands have tensions, particularly when on the road for prolonged periods. Surely that is multiplied tenfold when the band members are siblings?
“I think it’s easier for us,” Michele opines. “I’ve had arguments with friends and it can take a while to clear up, particularly if it’s somebody you don’t know that well and maybe they haven’t ever seen that side of you. But we’ve all known each other so long: it’s just brothers and sisters.”
So what’s it like on the tour-bus, traditionally filled by laddish humour, sweaty socks and empty beer cans. Surely Angela and Michele’s presence adds a bit of feminine charm….
“There’s still the socks and beer cans,” Michelle laughs. “We are girls but we’re still human, and we’re surrounded by our brothers.”
It looks like they’d better get used to that bus, considering they have approximately five days off between now and September. They’re not complaining, though, as Sean explains: “I was digging holes in the street for four years so this is like living out my dream.”

The Magic Numbers give their self-titled debut album an airing at The Village, Dublin on June 3 as part of BudRising