The Magic Numbers - Biography

The Magic Numbers are a four-piece band from England comprised of two pairs of brother and sister. The group were formed in 2002, released a debut album in June 2005 and are currently in the process of recording a second album, which is planned for international release in late 2006. 

History

Backgrounds

The Stodarts are the children of a Scottish father and a Venezuelan mother and were born in Trinidad in the Caribbean, but were later raised in New York after their family fled an Islamic coup there in 1990. In the mid-1990's they moved to London. The Gannons are of Irish descent but lived in Hanwell where they took the Stodarts in as friends.

Prior to forming The Magic Numbers, Romeo and Sean spent time trying to form a band together under various guises, and previously performed under the name ‘Guess’.

Naming The Band

The origins of the band’s name is not officially declared or cited, but in an interview once held with a schoolchild researching a project on the band, Romeo said “some people call songs ‘numbers’ and we thought that not many people would have heard of the name before”.

2002 to 2005

In late 2002 The Magic Numbers were formed in their present guise, and they began touring the London circuit, gradually developing their sound and building a small cult following, not least amongst some already established artists including The Chemical Brothers, Travis and Ed Harcourt, with the latter later influential in their signing to record label Heavenly Recordings, narrowly beating off competition from Rough Trade Records.

Their rise came swiftly, beginning in the summer of 2004 and later that year when they began supporting well-known artists such as Travis and Ed Harcourt and appearing on the bill of some low-key UK festivals, building an intense following as they did so. In November 2004 they released a very limited edition 7” vinyl single, Hymn For Her, to coincide with a three-show residency at The Borderline in London.

2005 onwards

On the back of releasing just one commercially available single, Forever Lost, and even before their debut album was released they played a sold-out show to a crowd of over 2,000 at The Forum in Kentish Town, London, a show that is recognised by many fans as the changing point between a band that was up-and-coming and one that became a household name.

Following the release of their debut album, the remainder of 2005 and the first few months of 2006 were spent touring and promoting their album and singles, throughout the UK and USA, across Europe and also in New Zealand, Australia and Japan.

Although heavily played down, they received a large amount of press attention for being the first artist to walk off the TV show Top of the Pops shortly before they were due to appear on the show to promote their single Love’s A Game. The programme itself fell into decline and was later taken off-air in summer 2006. It is very unlikely that this had anything to do with the Magic Numbers or their actions

Records

First Album – The Magic Numbers

The first Magic Numbers album was self-titled and recorded in late 2004 and early 2005 at Metropolis Studios in London, and released on 13th June 2005. Prior to release only Forever Lost was promoted as a commercial single and this was followed up by later releases Love Me Like You, Love’s A Game and I See You, You See Me.

Only one non-member contributes music to the album, Angharad Davies who plays violin on the song This Love. The UK version of the album contains Hymn For Her as a hidden track that appears after a short delay after the end of Try. US and European versions include this track independently and it is tracklisted. The Japanese version also includes the songs Idea Of A Feeling and I Hope You Don’t Mind, which appeared as additional tracks on the UK release of the single Forever Lost.

Second Album – Those The Brokes

The second Magic Numbers album is planned for release on November 6 2006. This partly was recorded in New York at Allaire Studios in Spring 2006, a venue which has also been used in the past by David Bowie, The Strokes and Ryan Adams, and was recorded and engineered by Richard Wilkinson.

Songs that were previewed at recent live performances that are expected to appear on the album include You Never Had It, Boy, Take A Chance, Slow Down, This Is A Song and Let Somebody In.

Contributions

The Magic Numbers have made appearances on various other artists’ releases, including

• The Chemical Brothers - 'Close Your Eyes' (vocals)
• The Concretes – 'Your Call' (vocals)
• Ed Harcourt – 'Revolution In The Heart' (backing vocals)
• David Kitt – Various instrumental in tracks on 'Not Fade Away' (released autumn 2006)
• Jane Birkin - Fictions

The Magic Numbers Official Website