<\/p>\n
I first became aware of the quartet known as Boy Throb through a captivating, leaked clip of the group performing at a retirement home. \u201cWhat is happening in my grandma\u2019s nursing home rn,\u201d the caption reads. In the video, the group is covering Hilary Duff\u2019s \u201cWhat Dreams Are Made Of\u201d in matching pink velour tracksuits, as one member, Darshan Magdum (based in India), joins via Zoom on a laptop.<\/p>\n
Each member has crossed my feed at one point or another over the years, most often Evan Papier<\/a>, a singer whose passionate song covers were a staple of COVID-era TikTok. Then there\u2019s Anthony Key, a vocalist and cosplayer whose 2021 American Idol audition<\/a> made waves, and Zachary, a Berklee-trained guitarist and violinist who is very committed to posting daily dance videos on TikTok<\/a>.<\/p>\n But the group\u2019s beating heart is Darshan, a singer who shot to TikTok prominence<\/a> last year with covers of Doja Cat and Maroon 5. While the rest of the group moved from their respective hometowns into a shared house in L.A., Darshan (lacking a work visa) has been unable to join them. Per the advice of an immigration lawyer (who\u2019s a recurring character<\/a> in Boy Throb videos), they asked fans to get them to one million followers to help establish legitimacy. They hit that milestone exactly one month after posting their first video. But it still wasn\u2019t enough to convince U.S. immigration to approve Darshan\u2019s application. So that journey continues.<\/p>\n Boy Throb\u2019s distinct visual identity and quirky video editing style have made many question the authenticity of their efforts. Persistent theories claim the group is the handiwork of viral stunt artist Anthony Po<\/a>, the brain behind NYC\u2019s iconic 2024 Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet lookalike competition<\/a>\u2014rumors the group vehemently denies. They take offense to allegations that the band is satire, but the speculation endures, mostly because their eccentricity does yield some undeniably comedic content.<\/p>\n What is real, without question, is the fervent fan support they\u2019ve amassed in just under two months. And it\u2019s support that the group takes very seriously. They\u2019ve allowed their fans (\u201cThrobbers\u201d) to play a significant role in their early development. Followers voted on the group\u2019s name (\u201cBoy Throb\u201d beat out other popular suggestions like \u201cDAZE,\u201d \u201cDarshan and the Whites,\u201d and the obviously problematic \u201cEpstein\u2019s Angels\u201d). And now the band hopes that same fandom will help them achieve their most pressing goal: getting Darshan to the States so they can pursue a Grammy, or world domination, whichever comes first\u2014together, in person.<\/p>\n Even if Boy Throb were one long-winded gag, who’s the butt of the joke? A lack of sincerity wouldn\u2019t negate the hard work, time, and effort the group has put into making music and videos that people genuinely cherish. So how exactly did Boy Throb\u2014a band that hit one million followers in under two months, brought together viral personalities from disparate corners of the internet, and revived the kitschy late ’90s-esque performance style of yore \u2014come to be? Ahead of the release of their debut original single, \u201cFinger,\u201d we sat down with three of the four members (Darshan was unable to join due to the time difference) to find out.<\/p>\n Evan:<\/strong> I did American Idol. I saw Anthony was on the show, and I was so frustrated that they never aired my audition. We started talking because I just wanted someone to vent with about the process. Then we found Darshan and Zach online.<\/p>\n Anthony:<\/strong> Evan and I have been solo artists for a while, and we thought that to really get to the next level, we should start a group. We wanted to really think outside the box and do a boy band, but to be different than all the bands before us. We came across Darshan, and he was killing it in India. We were like: Let\u2019s bring this guy into the band…but he doesn\u2019t have a visa to get into the country. And we also wanted to find a bass singer, that\u2019s Zach. It all just kind of fell into our lap.<\/p>\n Zachary: <\/strong>I was all in. I actually went to Berklee for guitar. It\u2019s my principal instrument, and I studied music production there. But I\u2019ve been playing music all my life.<\/p>\n Anthony: I think Darshan definitely brings the mystery. A lot of bands are like, here we are, here\u2019s our music, and that\u2019s it. But Darshan brings a storyline that people can be a part of.<\/p>\n Zach: And he\u2019s hitting all those high notes for us.<\/p>\n Evan: I bring the diva energy. Anthony brings that like, Justin Timberlake vibe, and I bring that Rihanna vibe. I\u2019m an openly gay person. There are barely any boy bands that’ve had members who have been open about that when they start. We’re not a typical boy band with conveniently attractive people who all look alike. It doesn\u2019t look like we\u2019re put together on, like, The X Factor. We\u2019re all different people. We all have different strengths, and I think we all complement each other so well.<\/p>\n We are having fun, and we don\u2019t take ourselves too seriously, but at the end of the day, our goal is to get Darshan to the USA \u2014Evan Papier <\/p>\n Evan: Yeah. I had this huge wave of virality back in 2020 that made people misinterpret me as a joke. And I know that\u2019s happening again here. People are asking if Boy Throb is satirical. When you\u2019re serious about music, you do what you can to get your music heard, and right now, we\u2019re doing what we can to get our single heard. People are now like, Oh, I\u2019m non-ironically listening to you guys now, and that makes me so appreciative. We are having fun, and we don\u2019t take ourselves too seriously, but at the end of the day, our goal is to get Darshan to the USA. Our goal is to win a Grammy, be a touring band, and have that One Direction experience.<\/p>\n Evan: I think it\u2019s just the way our generation is. People want to look into every single detail of everything these days. Think of Swifties. They’re better than detectives. The people trying to figure out how Boy Throb happened just want to feel like they\u2019re part of it. When they\u2019re trying to find all these answers, it feels interactive. Throbbers are like Swifties at this point.<\/p>\n Evan: We are showing off serious vocals and choreography in our videos, but we\u2019re also having fun. We\u2019re not, like, taking ourselves so seriously, but we\u2019re still serious about the craft. So it\u2019s a balance there.<\/p>\n Anthony: There is no correlation. Breaking news! And that\u2019s a little insulting, because why can\u2019t this be our project? Why does everything always have to be backed by this very famous creator or something?<\/p>\n Evan: Yeah, I\u2019m gonna be so honest. This may be shade, but when they mentioned AntPo, I actually didn\u2019t know who that was. I\u2019m not chronically online like that.<\/p>\n Zach: I did see people saying his projects always have an end goal in mind. And by that definition, we have an end goal too: to tour and make music and get Darshan to the USA. So I guess it makes sense why they might think that. But there\u2019s no connection.<\/p>\n Evan: Having him record his part of the single was definitely a hurdle. The time difference, too. It\u2019s a mind meld, trying to figure out when we can all meet on calls together.<\/p>\n The immigration lawyer who’s helping you guys bring Darshan here pops up in a lot of your content. How did you guys convince her to participate? Is that the real lawyer or an actor?<\/strong><\/p>\n Evan: She\u2019s a family friend of mine who’s been helping us with this stuff, and she\u2019s been so down to be in our project as well, because she wants to help Darshan get his visa. She\u2019s a lawyer who likes to have fun as well, someone who takes her job seriously but also enjoys our craft.<\/p>\n Anthony: No way. No way. Our account went from nonexistent to a million followers within a month. We thought we would probably get 10,000 in that timeframe; we\u2019re lucky. I feel like we broke some kind of record. We\u2019re building a family.<\/p>\n Evan: I used to perform in nursing homes when I was younger. I did that for, like, seven years. So it felt like a home base for me, like a natural place to perform. So it was a great first opportunity.<\/p>\n Anthony: What? No. I have no idea what you\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n Evan: Like Taylor Swift\u2019s \u201cWood,\u201d completely clean. But yeah, I was the one who probably had the most hesitance with that. It didn\u2019t feel the most humble, but it\u2019s so camp. And I grew up in that era of Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna. This is camp. We are camp, and we\u2019re bringing camp back with this name.<\/p>\n Zach: I like the name. Honestly, I do too.<\/p>\n Anthony: We had this idea to let the audience name our band. So for me, there was all this, like, anticipation about what we were going to be called and what the public was gonna come up with. So when we saw Boy Throb, we were like, oh, there we go.<\/p>\n Anthony: I don\u2019t think I was even nervous at that point. Because of all the parody songs we did, everyone was thinking we were satire, so this is the moment to break free from that.<\/p>\n Evan: I have an emotionally painful connection with \u201cFinger\u201d because I have been polarizing on the internet for a long time for just being myself. This song is a self-empowerment anthem that captures everything that I\u2019ve been through. It\u2019s so nice to be able to say screw you to the people who say you\u2019re never going to get anywhere, because that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been told a lot.<\/p>\n [I’m happy] our first single is a self-empowerment anthem, because a lot of current music is focused on romantic breakups. As someone who\u2019s never been in a relationship before, I can\u2019t really relate to that sort of stuff. So songs that are just about yourself, and finding that love for yourself, really just came to us.<\/p>\n Zach: The song\u2019s about all the haters and bullies from our past, so it\u2019s gonna feel really nice to have it out in the world.<\/p>\n Zach: We talked about it as a group, and we’ve decided not to comment on our ages.<\/p>\n Evan: I think it\u2019s the judgment people can have based on how old someone is, especially in this day and age. Not pinpointing our age lets people see us for our talent.<\/p>\n Anthony: When you say your age, you stamp a number on your forehead, and that\u2019s what people see. We just want to break free of that.<\/p>\n We want to be able to show off our voices more in our music while still dancing, and I think \u201cFinger let’s us do that \u2014Evan Papier<\/p>\n Anthony: I grew up very close to Gary, Indiana, so I\u2019m from Northwest Indiana. The Jackson Five\u2014it\u2019s in the air. So, of course, Michael Jackson. I also loved N\u2019SYNC and Justin Timberlake. When I was a little toddler, I\u2019d see his ramen noodle hair and think, I want to be just like him one day.<\/p>\n Evan: I was raised on divas. Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga. I love the female artists who just put themselves out there.<\/p>\n Zach: With my instrumental background, I\u2019m inspired by a lot of guitarists, and I\u2019m inspired by K-pop groups.<\/p>\n Evan: We want to be able to show off our voices more in our music while still dancing, and I think \u201cFinger\u201d lets us do that, especially with the bass that Zach has in his part, the falsettos that Darshan and I do, and Anthony\u2019s high register in the chorus. It\u2019s such a different debut single.<\/p>\n Evan: I want to clear this up because I don\u2019t want to sound pretentious. But when we\u2019re saying things like we want to win a Grammy, we\u2019re being very tongue-in-cheek. I\u2019ve been following the Grammys for such a long time, and I know how high of an honor that is. That is 100% our goal. We don\u2019t want it to seem like we don\u2019t respect what the Grammys are. We\u2019re going to work hard till we get one. <\/p>\n Before I leave you, I wanted to read you guys Google\u2019s AI summary for Boy Throb to see if you have any suggested tweaks.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cBoy Throb\u201d is the name of a viral TikTok boyband formed by Evan Papier, Anthony Key, Zachary Sabania, and Darshan Magdum, who gained massive online fame by documenting their quest to get an American visa for their Indian member, Darshan, with a goal of winning a Grammy, becoming a cultural phenomenon known for their \u201cbrainrot\u201d aesthetic and ironic \u201990s boyband vibe.\u201d<\/p>\n Evan: I don\u2019t like \u201cbrainrot.\u201d People love to laugh at other people. And they laugh at other people when they don\u2019t have the courage to do something themselves. We\u2019re putting ourselves out there, and we\u2019re doing it for a good cause: getting our fourth member to the US. We\u2019re not doing this as a joke. We\u2019re just having fun along the way. Look at Lady Gaga\u2019s meat dress. Was that the most serious thing ever? No. But was it artistically incredible? Yes. We\u2019re trying to be different, and different sells in this industry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nHow did each of you get involved in the group?<\/h2>\n
In every group, every member has their own respective strengths. What would you guys define each of your strengths as?<\/h2>\n
So you all connected exclusively via social media?<\/h2>\n
What do you think that speculation is rooted in? Why do you think people are so keen to frame this all as one grand scheme?<\/h2>\n
Do you think that any part of your branding supports their speculation? You mentioned you\u2019re doing anything you can to get your music out there. Do you adopt certain aesthetics that might be easier for people not to take seriously?<\/h2>\n
A lot of people online think your group is linked to the creator Anthony Po. How do you guys think that theory came about?<\/h2>\n
What are the biggest hurdles you\u2019ve run into working with one member remotely from India?<\/h2>\n
Were you guys anticipating that retirement home performance to blow up in the way that it did?<\/h2>\n
Boy Throb was a fan-sourced band name. Was there any hesitation there? Obviously, it\u2019s slightly suggestive.<\/h2>\n
Your first single, \u201cFinger,\u201d was just released. After doing covers for so long, what was the pressure like surrounding your first original track?<\/h2>\n
How old are you guys?<\/h2>\n
What led to that decision?<\/h2>\n
Who are your guys\u2019 main musical influences?<\/h2>\n