Seth and Shawn Magill / Photo by Can Türkyilmaz

Seth and Shawn Magill have a great love story. They were childhood friends, and they kept in touch, kind of, through high school. But after college, they met again, on Jan. 1, 2000. And they got married three months later. They have a 7-year-old daughter, Tara, and if you meet them, you can tell right away they are best friends. But if you listen to their music, you won’t hear any mushy love stuff. Their band, Home By Hovercraft, doesn’t really do love songs. “Love is an element in all of them,” Shawn says. But they’re all about the human experience. The Magills discovered they could make beautiful music together shortly after they were married. Shawn is a classically trained pianist. She originally majored in piano at the University of North Texas but later switched and earned a more practical degree, in business. Seth is an actor and acting coach with a singing voice that’s smooth and soulful. Their sound is rock-n-roll with classical roots. “We realized my playing and his singing went together really well,” Shawn says. “About five years ago, we started playing open mics.” Her job took them to Austin for a year, and that’s where they recorded their four-track EP, “Seams”. Later, they moved to Brooklyn, for Shawn’s job again, where they once opened for Marcy Playground. Now they live in Forest Oaks, and they intend to stay. “We’ve been working really slow,” Shawn says. But that doesn’t mean they’re not working hard. Home By Hovercraft has written enough new songs for two albums, so they’re paring those down, and they plan to get into the studio this summer. They’re also working on a rock musical with their friend Mike Federico. They say it’s a period piece inspired by the first hot-air balloon flight, and it involves time travel. The Magills say they are brutally honest with each other when it comes to music, but they almost always agree. “The only problem is, we can’t get away from it,” Shawn says. “We love doing it so much that we would just do that and not eat, which has happened.” Their daughter was given a drum kit for Christmas, and already, she has started a band, “The Sea Flags”, with her cousin. “I don’t know,” Shawn says. “We might be old news pretty soon.”

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Hear the band at homebyhovercraft.com, or watch them perform live Saturday, July 23 at the Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff, 1230 W. Davis, 214.272.8346, thekessler.org.