Magnets is the energetic solo music project of multi-disciplinary creative and scientist, Dr Siobhan McGinnity. Her childhood dream of becoming a classical pianist was short-lived after stumbling upon the vibrant indie-pop scene of Naarm. It wasn’t long before she was on stage in a supporting role (Ali Barter, Henry Wagons, Nat Vazer). With this experience behind her, she began to carve a unique sound of her own, blending classical references with the prog and pop elements she’d come to love.

Magnet’s new album, Diplacusis, is out now and available on Bandcamp, both digitally and on gorgeous recycled vinyl. There will be a launch event on 1 December 2024 at Northcote Social Club in Naarm, with supporting acts from Mathilde Anne, Naavikaran and Alex Creece (me!).

In this interview, I talked to Magnets about her musical and creative journey, her disability advocacy, and what listeners can expect from Diplacusis.

Header image by: Nick McKinlay

Image by: Nick McKinlay.

Alex Creece: Hey Magnets (aka Siobhan)! You are a legit multihyphenate – a muso, a seamster and textile artist, a sustainable fashionista, a Doctor of Audiology, a disability advocate, and more!

Can you tell us about how your various skills and lived experiences inform your creative practice? For example, I know that you create a lot of your own garments for shoots and music videos, which is super cool.

Magnets: Hi Alex! I used to believe I was only creative musically. I held a lot of my self-esteem and identity in how well I could pitch, play or create a song, but the moment I went suddenly deaf, that core belief froze.

For a few years, my hearing would fluctuate rapidly due to a condition called Meniere’s Disease. Thankfully, it’s settled now, but what it left in its wake was distortion that changed how music sounded forever. Things that used to be easy, suddenly felt muddy and took far more effort than I wanted to admit.

For a while, I wasn’t sure I would be able to create again, but at my lowest point, I decided to try something completely new in sewing. The next thing I knew I was making corsets, bridal gowns, upcycling costumes, jewellery, you name it. I fell back in love with making things through my hands, and eventually, I wrote a song about it. 

Today, my music is completely wrapped up in visual identity. My old songs have cover images of greys and black, but everything I do now is saturated in colour, meaning and detail. I wouldn’t be half the artist I am today if I hadn’t lost everything before it.

Image by: Nick McKinlay.

AC: Your new album is out today! Talk to us about the significance of the album title, Diplacusis.

M: Diplacusis is wild – it’s a symptom of hearing injury common in Meniere’s Disease, but roughly four per cent of musicians will also experience it.

Diplacusis describes the phenomenon where a single sound is split into two by the injured ear, resulting in a dissonant doubling. Its etymology stems from the Greek words for double and sound. Honestly, diplacusis makes pitching super hard, and is one theory as to why some people might be born tone deaf. 

For the album art, everything is bathed in this inspo. On the cover, my hands rest on my chin with an extra, spurious hand as the diplacusis, and on the back is a painting by Deaf artist Gonketa, who created a visual representation of what the word means.

Image by: She is Aphrodite.

AC: Your music video for ‘All About You Now’, one of the singles from Diplacusis, features Auslan interpretation. Why was it significant for you to do this?

M: This music video stars a beautiful human being, Anna Seymour, who is a Deaf dancer and performance artist. Anna and I found and helped each other through a difficult time in each of our lives, both going through court cases for assault.

When it came to filming this clip that is all about strength and victory (which we both had), I wanted nothing more than to include Anna. She’s usually so busy on tour internationally as a dancer, but for one short day in January, we were able to work with her. In the clip, there is a line where each dancer turns to ‘lip-sync’ down the lens. It was always going to be Auslan for Anna, and she made the line every bit her own. 

What you can’t see on screen is the team of interpreters, photographers and more, working to make sure the set was inclusive and safe so we could all bring our A-game and create something magical. The clip was my third feature on rage, and I’m pretty proud of us all.

Nicole LaBianca, Magnets (Siobhan McGinnity) and Anna Seymour in ‘All About You’. Image by: Nick McKinlay.

AC: Similarly, I know you’re passionate about disability and neurodivergence within the music industry, and other creative industries. Your launch will feature an all-disabled lineup – including little old me! – and it will celebrate International Day of People with Disability. How did this idea come about?

M: I swear this album was meant to be out an age ago, but due to a million unforeseen events, it kept needing to be pushed back. Eventually, we were looking at the end of the year, and it seemed like the perfect fit to align it with International Day of People with Disability.

That, and I honestly can’t face sitting on another panel right now. Please don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place, but for years I’ve been talking about my art on December 3, and this year, I deeply wanted to make art.

I feel like this might be something shared by a lot of disabled folks – we often get asked to offer up our experience alongside our art, but sometimes you just want to be seen as the artist first.

Image by: She is Aphrodite.

AC: You released these songs as singles: ‘Speak’, ‘Down’, ‘All About You’ and ‘Sway’. How did you go about choosing singles in terms of theme and sound? And what can we expect from the rest of the album?

M: I couldn’t decide! By the end of the creative process I’d lived with the songs on repeat for so long it felt like choosing a favourite child. There was no choice but to be the scientist, create a survey, and send it out far and wide to industry folks and friends. 

Something special I hope people will get a chance to experience, is the journey listening to the album start to finish brings. Drawing inspiration from my classical upbringing, it opens with an overture of sounds taken from songs throughout the record. Between each song is more interstitial music, so you’re never cast into silence.

Thematically, track one is innocent and introspective, but by the album’s close, you’re embedded in an orchestral, mature landscape. It’s my journey back to self, told through sound.

Image by: Nick McKinlay.

AC: Your latest single, ‘Sway’, is beautifully dreamy and sapphic. What role does queerness play in your music and other creative endeavours?

M: Something I find liberating about being queer is the freeing up of how you present. It sounds ludicrous now, but dressing up hyper-femme, glitter covered, on stage in Naarm’s tight grunge culture used to take courage. It just wasn’t done.

Thankfully, that culture has shifted over the years, with thanks to artists like Peach PRC or Chappell Roan. There’s this amazing embrace of going full glam, camp, whatever that means to you on stage, expressing yourself as creatively visually as you do sonically. I live for it.

Image by: She is Aphrodite.

AC: Lastly, who are your musical inspirations?

M: I think more than any one artist, it is the use of voice and rhythm that inspire me. I gravitate to voices that rip with emotion, layer complexly and pulse when needed.

Nostalgically, I always reference Enya, because I can recall exactly where I sat on my nonna’s floor when I first heard her music. When writing this album in particular, there were a few artists whose sound circled above, people like Y La Bamba, Alvvays, Hatchie, Maggie Rogers and even Kacey Musgraves. So many talented artists.

Image by: Nick McKinlay.

Buy Diplacusis now on Bandcamp.

Grab your tickets to the album launch on 1 December 2024 at Northcote Social Club.