Building upon the success of their 2013 album, On Oni Pond, Man Man will return to the triangle this week to perform at King's Baracade. This Philadelphia based band utilizes a wide selection of musical instruments to create a sound that is unlike most other artists out there today. Man Man frontman, Honus Honus, provided The Triangle Beat with some insight as to what we can expect in the future of the band and from this week's performance in a recent interview.
The Triangle Beat: Is this your first time playing at King's?
Honus Honus: This will be the first time for Man Man to play at King's, although we have played in Raleigh several times over the years. I think our first time in Raleigh, we played at a small venue called the Berkley Cafe and several other venues since then, but we are excited to get to play at King's this week.
TTB: Man Man has created a very unique sound. How or where did that sound originate?
HH: We started out of Philadelphia and some of the band still lives there, but like many bands we have experienced a lot of changes. Ultimately you want to find people who are interested in playing the same music as you do and we were able to do that. For me, all that matters is that we are liked and with that we just try not to over think it. If it
sounds good and it happens to be supported by our listeners, then it works for us and we've just stayed with it.
TTB: What has it been like for the band since producing your first record back in 2004?
HH: Progressively it becomes more difficult as you try to get recognition, but luckily we are writing songs that people are enjoying. We have certainly had to take the pain with the gain as a band, I mean it's certainly not all wine and roses. We are very fortunate to have people wanting to see us play and so every time someone hears our music and enjoys what we are doing, then we consider it a success.
TTB: Do you start with a vision of what the band is going to
become, or does it develop more naturally over time?
HH: You never know what can happen, I didn't know what it was going
to become. You spend years working on music
and in minutes people determine if you can be successful or not. We
honestly try not to think about the future, we just have to think about making
another record. Once you break it down
and start looking at the numbers, you have lost the purpose of being a
band. You have to be grounded in reality
and so we focus on the present and hope that it will reach more and more
people. Fortunately we are not a band
that is reliant on other bands that are out there.
TTB: What do you want the experience to be like for listeners when they come to a Man Man show?
HH: We hope that we can create an urge to want to see us again.
Regardless of turnouts, we still try to give the best show
possible. You never know when the run
will be up so you have to enjoy it while it is out there. For the people that are familiar with
our music, they come out and they are willing to move. My hope is to regenerate culture and hopefully listeners are
inspired to go out and make some form of art based on what we do. I believe that is our role as a band and it is a
great part to play.
This event is presented by Cat's Cradle and will be at King's on Wednesday, May 7. Joining Man Man will be local act, Octopus Jones. More information on Man Man can be found by visiting their website. The doors open at 8pm and the show is scheduled to start at 9. Ticket prices are $14 in advance and $16 on the day of the show.
