It’s easy to be blown away by the fact that the Manzano brothers — second-grader Luca, fourth-grader Kian and sixth-grader Miciel — have amassed almost as many views to their cover-singing YouTube channel, Interval 941, as there are citizens in the state of Florida.
Musical inclination is a common interest within the family, as the brothers’ father Daniel Manzano and their uncles, Alejandro and Fabian, all of whom are Pine View alumni, are part of a famous band that heralds over 13 million subscribers and nearly five billion views on their own YouTube channel, Boyce Avenue.
When asking the brothers about their exemplary success, however, the numbers have not taken to clouding their visions; Luca and Miciel both claim that though they love their channel, it’s not something that consumes their lives, while Kian said that the channel is not something he regularly shares with his friends.
Although the boys have been exposed to the high successful numbers since the channel’s genesis in September 2017, they still follow the mold of any other student: immense curiosity, a bit of competitiveness and busy schedules outside of school. Considering the time it takes for the boys to find new songs they all mutually love, working out who needs to sing which part based on everyone’s strengths and taking the time to both record and edit the videos together, it is beyond evident that the boys possess a grand amount of grit for their ages.
“They don’t have child star personalities. They’re boys who like singing and want to play basketball and all other kinds of sports,” Daniel Manzano said. “I’m really proud of them for not focusing on the statistics behind the channel. Months can go by, and they’ll have no idea how many subscribers or views they have. A lot of people will praise them for their channel, but they’re not wrapped up in it.”
It was their father and uncles’ own experiences with Boyce Avenue that inspired Luca, Kian and Miciel to create a channel of their own. Traveling with Boyce Avenue during their tours and getting a firsthand look at the behind-the-scenes aspects of working with music led to the brothers developing a love for singing, all before they began singing themselves — Miciel at seven years old, and the other boys following soon after. It was not a matter of “if,” but of “when” they would follow in Boyce Avenue’s footsteps.
Boyce Avenue traces its roots back to the Pine View Variety Show, when, in their first performance together, Daniel, Fabian and Alejandro performed a rendition of Richard Marx’s ‘Now and Forever’ nearly twenty years ago. After a few years of practicing together and performing shows at the University of Florida, the brothers decided to make their YouTube channel in 2007. Within a span of one year, the brothers decided to quit their day jobs and commit full-time after millions of views steadily began coming in.
Despite the overarching similarities between Boyce Avenue and Interval 941, both consisting of a trio of brothers working with YouTube platforms, the two hold their own individual qualities. While Boyce Avenue started as a serious project dream for Daniel, Fabian and Alejandro, Interval 941 exists as what Daniel considers to be “almost like diaries or travel logs” for his sons, in which the boys focus on not only music, but creative video aspects as well. With Boyce Avenue having focused on the music itself, Interval 941 remains as a platform that allows the boys to express themselves on a more relaxed level.
“They haven’t posted many videos; when Boyce Avenue had started, we were doing videos every week to get as much out as possible. With the boys, we do videos when they like a song and want to put something up on the channel, and if that works out to be three times a year, it’s three times a year. I’ll always be there if they need advice and something to grow off of, but right now, they’re in the stage of loving singing and video-making without any huge plans for what the future holds,” Daniel Manzano said.
As for the future, the boys’ standing in remaining separate from the numbers behind the channel has made the possibilities for the next few years endless. The boys are interested in adding instruments into the fray, with Miciel playing piano, Kian playing electric guitar and Luca playing drums. Performing in front of live crowds is also an option on the horizon, but the boys are focused on continuing to improve their vocals and maturing as singers before such becomes a tangible option. Their general focus, however, remains on the singing and working to grow as a trio together; their relationship as brothers has grown stronger with singing together, and the boys plan on that mutual love and respect continuing to grow to carry them into new stages with their music.
“We sometimes get into arguments, but usually we just joke around. I love singing with them and I wouldn’t want to do [the singing] if they weren’t with me,” Luca said.
“If you sing with your friends, it would probably mean they would be more impatient, but we’re brothers and we’ve been together for a long time so we know each other really well and what our strengths are. We don’t really get impatient with each other because we know if something is too difficult for someone, and we don’t get mad with each other if something is hard,” Kian said.
“We’re all very close and we tell each other a lot of things. We have good chemistry together with the singing, and that relates to our relationship, too. I wouldn’t want to sing with anyone else,” Miciel said.
The existence of Interval 941, regardless of its stance in the coming years, has left an undeniable mark on the lives of the Manzano brothers.
“Them having a channel has been so fun because it allows them an opportunity to talk among themselves and with me about entrepreneurial concepts and getting an education you can’t get out of textbooks. Thinking about things like song selection, targeted audience, the branding and everything else requires a level of realism and knowing that not everything is always going to work out for you. Being aware of the world around you and knowing that the real world doesn’t always turn out the way you want to has given them opportunities to grow, even when those conversations are on a more childish level given their age,” Daniel Manzano said.
Interval 941: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBZiMjS455Os-kFGRf4WuGg/featured
Boyce Avenue: https://www.youtube.com/user/boyceavenue/featured
Photo provided by Shelly Manzano