Pop Singer to Physics Teacher: An Interview with Juan Botella

As Mr. Botella reviews the projectile motion learning goals for the hundredth time in my half-asleep Physics class, my mind wanders to a certain piece of information nonchalantly mentioned to us on the first day of class. Mr. Botella was in a boy band! While the Fieldston community can agree that Mr. Botella has earned the title of being one of the funniest teachers on campus, most remain oblivious to his history as one of the original members of Mexico’s very own Magneto. 

Magneto was one of the most popular boy bands of the ‘90s in Mexico. The band formed on February 14, 1983. Their first record, Dejalo Que Gire (their own spin on Michael Jackson’s Beat It), came out in 1984, and was followed by nine other albums, including Super 6 Magneto. Their breakthrough dance-pop hit Vuela, Vuela, a cover of the 1987 hit single by French singer Desireless, remains their most memorable song. Malherido, Para siempre, and Mi Amada prove to be just as catchy as they are uplifting. The exuberance and confidence the teenage boys radiated on stage through their fiery vocals and elaborate dance choreographies won the hearts of practically every teenage girl at the time. Magneto disbanded in 1996, but only after winning the Lo Nuestro Award for Pop New Artist of the Year and receiving two nominations for the Lo Nuestro Awards of 1993.

As co-leaders of the Music Appreciation, Analysis & Curation Club (and students of his class), Elsa Lyons (V), Chantel Mager (V) and I decided to invite Mr. Botella to Room 533 to sit down and share his story.

Arshie Chaudry: To start things off, please tell us a little bit about yourself.

Juan Botella: For those of you who don’t know, my name is Juan Botella and I use he/him pronouns. I’m very honored to be here! I’ve been teaching physics at Fieldston for five years. For 12 years, I taught at a public school in Wisconsin, and before that I taught at the American School in Mexico City, and before that I studied oceanography in college and grad school. When I was in highschool like you guys, my dream was to be an oceanographer. I never attended a club like Music Appreciation, because I hardly knew music at all. I didn’t listen to music when I was younger. I never had the dream of becoming a member of a boy band. In fact, it happened by accident. Being a part of a boy band taught me a lot about humans and society…enough to realize that I wanted to be an oceanographer. 

AC: What inspired you to join Magneto? When did you first realize you wanted to be part of a boy band?

JB: Like I said, there was no dream. I was 15, in high school, and we had a free period because the teacher didn’t show up. I was playing football outside in the courtyard. I didn’t know at the time, but through the window, the producer of the band was watching me. This was because one of my classmates at this point was barely forming a band that no one knew of. When the school doors finally opened and we were free to get to the real world, two random adults approached me. They were like: “do you want to be in a boy band?” Of course, I said no. My mom taught me not to talk to strangers. But then my classmate offered to buy me lunch, and I was like “okay.” They brainwashed me, really. They said, “you’re gonna be famous and travel the world,” and I was like, “that’s actually not that bad.” I didn’t really know what that meant but I figured I wanted to do it.  

I went home and told my mom that they wanted me to try to be in a boy band. But unlike most people, my mom had actually heard me sing before. She obviously didn’t want me to join, but she was wise enough to say “yeah, okay” because she figured they would never pick me. I sang a Mexican version of Happy Birthday for them. I’m gonna be honest – I am not a good singer. But crazily, enough I soon got a call saying that I got in! 

There was a really famous band from Puerto Rico called Menudo, and the record company behind Menudo lost a lot of money when the band tried to expand their audience to the US. The owner of the record company figured: why not create the next Menudo? All they had to do was find five guys that could sing. They found four, and then they found me too. 

AC: Were you a part of the creative process behind Magneto’s songs? What inspired the music? What did you have to say?

JB: I was not really a big part of the songwriting process. We did have a lot to say, at first. We had an Argentian composer who was really good at making covers, rather than original songs. Our first song was a cover – it was Beat It, but with totally different lyrics than the original. 

But after five years of being in the band, I have to admit there was no contribution to the art world. There was no art in what we did. But it’s a concept that is effective. It works. We could go to the most random venue in Mexico, and people would go crazy. When I say people, I mean mostly females, between 12 to 18 years old. That was our target audience! I would come out and wonder to myself: what is magic? It was nothing revolutionary. It could be me, it could be you. Like 200 years from now, no one’s gonna say, “oh look at the huge contribution of boy bands”. It’s not a lot.

AC: What were the highlights of your career? 

JB: I loved to dance. Since I was on the soccer team in highschool, we all had to hate dancing. We were super tough – dancing was just too feminine. And then I was like, “wait this is actually fun”. Looking back at it now, I realize it was an unhealthy and homophobic environment. In my school, the right thing to do was talk about cars and parties. But it wasn’t for me. This is an aspect of my culture that I’m not proud of. 

But specifically, I remember one time when we were performing at a nightclub. And surprisingly, the crowd was not entirely teenage girls. It was not going well – the guys did not like us. They threw coins at us. I guess they thought we were trying to steal their girlfriends, or whatever. But then our producer told us to sing Mariachi, since one of our guys always does that when he’s drunk. We did, and the crowd went crazy. They loved it. It amazed me how the mood turned 180 degrees.

AC: What was most challenging?

The loss of privacy was one of the biggest challenges for me. I don’t mind people on the street asking for an autograph, but I couldn’t do anything without being noticed. In fact, my girlfriend at the time was my “cousin.” The idea was that people could not age, so I would also lie about my age. I was 15 years old for three years in a row. I was convinced people would figure it out, but they never did. But ultimately the hardest thing for me was seeing people with a lot of talent that don’t have the opportunity. As opposed to me, with opportunity but not a lot of talent. Talent deserves to be rewarded. 

AC: What was behind the drastic shift in your career? Why did you eventually leave the band?

JB: The thing is for most people, it seems drastic. But for me it was the most natural thing. I never wanted to be an artist. There are so many hardships. I didn’t make a lot of money. Being on stage …my brain transformed. Having 2,500 people willing to do whatever you want – it’s intoxicating. That intoxication is dangerous, because then you start thinking it’s you and not the concept. I saw that with some of my band members. Some of them believed that they were special, but really they were just a part of a team. Some of them walked out and started solo careers, and we never heard of them again. 

When it was time for me to go to college (I had already taken a gap year), I thought that it would be the best decision for me to go. I was programmed to go to college, not to be dancing around. My parents were definitely, definitely in support of me going to college. I ended up leaving the band at its peak in the ‘90s. 

When I reunited with them a few years ago, I did not feel they had grown. Or had anything to show. They didn’t even have money. We just didn’t have a lot in common. So I would say I am really happy I left when I did. We brought joy to so many people. I enjoyed it, I experienced new things, and was intoxicated by it – I left before I let it all get to my head. 

AC: What was so appealing to you about physics and later, teaching?

JB: When I was in highschool, I promised myself that I would never be a teacher. My grandma was a highschool teacher all her life in Spain. When I visited Mexico after she passed, my dad showed me a letter that was written to her in 1934. It was a letter from a student thanking her for all she had done for him. I couldn’t believe the impact teaching had on people. I was told I was good at explaining things, and I realized I liked communicating science more than sitting in front of a computer all day. Working at the computer was too isolating and since I was seasick, I could never go on oceanography cruises. I was like: “what am I gonna do with my life?”. So I started teaching. 

AC: And finally, are there any lessons you learned from Magneto that you still use today?

JB: I would say: take advantage of opportunities that come to you. Even if it’s not something you necessarily had in mind. That’s what I’ve always done in my life and it always worked out for me. Being in a boy band helped me see society from a point of view I would have never have had the opportunity to see before. But I have done so many things in my life that are more important to me than being in a boy band.