After reaching one million followers on TikTok, going viral and gaining massive press coverage, the new boy band in town now needs a record deal for their goal: getting their fourth member a US visa.
Followers initially thought that the creation of Boy Throb was satire.
In their debut video, the group confidently declared they were going to win a Grammy, all while dressed in matching pink tracksuits, dancing, and openly asking viewers to help them reach one million followers.
But the self-styled “people’s boy band” turned out not to be joking.
In just a month, they actually gained that many followers on TikTok – going from making meme-style videos, dancing to song parodies, to having Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and BBC write articles about them.
The faces of Boy Throb
At the centre of all this are four members of the group who, despite the internet’s scepticism, have been building toward this moment for years.
Anthony Key, Evan Papier, Zachary Sobania and Darshan Magdum did not appear out of nowhere; each had an existing online presence, years of solo work and a shared frustration with trying to break into the music industry alone.
Key and Papier first connected after auditioning separately for American Idol in 2021, bonding over the experience and staying in touch.
They later met Magdum online, and together, they discovered a musical chemistry that quickly solidified.
The final piece came months later with Sobania, a Berklee College of Music alumnus, whose bass vocals completed the group’s sound, according to Teen Vogue.
“It’s very tough when you’re just trying to get your music out there, and sometimes, if you really want to make it, sometimes you’re better together,” Key said in a Teen Vogue interview.
Today, three of the four members are based in Los Angeles, in a home they all rent.
Chasing a dream across continents
At the heart of Boy Throb’s momentum and its most pressing challenge is Darshan Magdum.
While his bandmates rehearse, film content and perform together in Los Angeles, Magdum, in his own words, is “stuck in India”.
The visa, reserved for individuals with “extraordinary ability” in fields such as the arts, requires extensive documentation, third-party validation and evidence of national or international recognition.
It is a high bar for any emerging artist, let alone one still building mainstream visibility.
On social media, Boy Throb has been transparent about what that process entails.
The group has openly credited their immigration lawyer’s advice in shaping their strategy: build a measurable public profile, secure press coverage, demonstrate audience demand and release original music.
These steps are set to build a strong foundation for Magdum’s “extraordinary ability,” but the outcome remains uncertain.
For Magdum, though, the visa represents far more than paperwork.
“It isn’t just a document for me – it represents a real chance to keep growing and sharing my music with the fans who’ve supported me from day one,” he said to Teen Vogue.
Very recently, the group have finally released their K-pop-leaning single, “Finger”, which now has more than 800,000 streams as of this writing.
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Boy Throb’s first live performance and need for more streams
Recently, the group managed to land their first-ever live show – in a retirement home in Los Angeles.
In a video documenting the moment, the group framed the show as a rite of passage, joking that while past musical icons had legendary first venues, breaking through in 2025 in Los Angeles comes with its own challenges.
Dressed in their now-signature pink velour tracksuits and yellow trainers, the band performed a mix of cover songs and their debut original track, “Finger”, for an audience of senior residents.
Despite the distance, Magdum still took part in the performance, appearing via laptop placed onstage.
Meanwhile, in one of their most recent videos, the boy band directly asked fans to stream their debut single and support their push for a fair record deal, framing it as the final step toward becoming a full-time band rather than a side project held together by their day jobs.
For now, Boy Throb is entirely self-funded.
Evan Papier teaches vocal lessons; Anthony Key drives for Uber and Zachary Sobania is currently in law school.
In a characteristically playful move, the group even sang about their financial reality, joking (and not joking) that they are close to running out of money.
But until then, the band has made its message clear: every stream counts – for them to break out in the music industry, and finally bring Magdum to the US.
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KC Maderia 
Newsjustnews writers 
John Christopher Aquino