SINGAPORE — YouTube sensation 2CELLOS are like a chemical reaction: Put 26-year-old Luka Sulic and 27-year-old Stjepan Hauser together, and they combust in an explosion of electrifying strings of madness.

The two young Croatian cellists burst onto the scene in 2011 when they uploaded a video of their frenzied version of Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal, which has to be seen to be believed. They now have two albums to their name and another on the way, have toured with Elton John and were featured in an episode of Glee.

Famous for fiddling fire into songs by Guns N’ Roses, Coldplay, U2 and Nirvana through their duets, the guys will be making an appearance at The Star Theatre in Singapore — the only South-east Asian stop on their international tour.

In an email interview, Hauser told us that 2CELLOS is an interesting case of two polar opposites colliding and forming something greater than the sum of its parts. His and Sulic’s friendship goes back more than a decade, and even though there was always competition between them, they clicked musically. “At the summer camp that we both attended 12 years ago, everyone was going out and partying. The two of us would stay in, get drunk and start playing some duets together,” he said.

Their music still has that head-banging quality — and gets them more screaming fans than Axl Rose would know what to do with.

Q: All your performances are very intense. What does it feel like when you’re in the zone?

A: Feels great! Total ecstasy, madness and enjoyment! That is the power of music — it takes you to another world. We get high from playing the music we love and try to make the entire audience high as well.

Q: How many bows do you go through per concert?

A: We destroy way too many bow hairs! Well, it is only the two of us. We have to make as full and powerful a sound as possible on only two instruments, which can be very demanding sometimes and takes lots of energy. I remember during the filming of a Glee episode, they brought us six bows for filming and we destroyed all of them in only a few hours!

Q: It’s often said that the cello is the sexiest instrument. Would you agree?

A: Sure it is. It even has the shape of a woman’s body, so it feels great when you are touching it.

Q: Is two the magic number?

A: This is something really special: In our case, one plus one is three or more, not two. As soon as we joined forces, it was just boom! We just get special power every time we play together. We are two opposite characters, yin and yang, that are just perfectly complementing each other. And once we join together, nothing is missing any more.

Q: Do you have any pre-concert rituals?

A: Not really. Maybe Luka does, because he needs to sleep, warm up and prepare. I am much more easygoing: I can play any time of the night and day with no preparation.

What: 2CELLOS Live In Singapore

When: May 22, 8pm

Where: The Star Theatre, The Star Performing Arts Centre

Tickets: S$88 to S$148 from SISTIC