supersonic
Artist Information
Biography
Magic Punches is a project that was born out of a decade’s worth of musical collaboration between Lee Barbara and Bobby Seus. By ages fifteen and sixteen, respectively, Barbara and Seus were already actively gigging jazz musicians who were introduced by a mutual friend at a jam session in Medford, Oregon. Upon meeting, the two quickly discovered a rarely-experienced level of musical chemistry, as well as a shared enthusiasm for songwriting. Inspired by each other’s talents and eager to build on each other’s ideas, the pair began a lasting and ambitious compositional partnership.
While Seus pursued a degree in music theory at the University of Notre Dame, Barbara departed for the University of Oregon’s jazz studies program. As students, both excelled in all areas of scholarship, expanding on their individual understandings of harmony and arrangement, growing as performers, and gaining new insights into the workings of the music industry through their work with various professional projects. Their collegiate experiences further fueled the creative fire that would soon jump-start the duo’s full-time commitment to music.
In 2006, Barbara and Seus started Delaney, a Power Pop quartet whose career was bookended by opening slots for California Pop outfit Phantom Planet in their first performance and for Classic Rock giants, Foreigner, in the group’s final show. During the band’s two-year career, Delaney performed two hugely successful college tours, and recorded its eponymous debut album under the guidance of renowned Chicago-based engineer and producer, Manny Sanchez, whose recent resume had included work with Billy Corgan, Plain White T’s, Patrick Stump of Fallout Boy, and Umphrey’s McGee. Shortly after the album’s completion, having grown tired of the musical and logistical complications of working in a four piece ensemble, the songwriting team of Barbara and Seus decided to leave the group.
With a sharpened focus and a strong urge to break new ground, the duo started Magic Punches, a recording and performance project that embodies their long-existing desire to craft an expansive catalog of pop music with unlimited creative potential. In their first year as Magic Punches, Barbara and Seus wrote, recorded, produced, and mixed their debut E.P., Brightly Colored Tapes in their own professional studio, Color Blocks Productions. Abandoning the traditional format of playing in a band, the two were solely responsible for performing every single instrumental and vocal track on the record. After ten years of working together through thick and thin, Barbara and Seus are sure they’ve hit their musical stride, and feel confident that their shared future as a finely-tuned songwriting and production machine will yield more successful touring, as well as a prolific and increasingly impressive catalog of catchy songs.
Instrumentation
Lee Barbara - Vocals, Drums, Guitar
Bobby Seus - Vocals, Bass, keyboards
Discography
Brightly Colored Tapes - 2011
