{"id":79331,"date":"2023-10-10T17:11:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-10T22:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/?p=79331"},"modified":"2023-10-10T17:11:02","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T22:11:02","slug":"johnny-manchild-crushes-his-set-at-the-replay-lounge-a-qa-and-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/2023\/10\/10\/johnny-manchild-crushes-his-set-at-the-replay-lounge-a-qa-and-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Johnny Manchild Crushes His Set at the Replay Lounge: A Q&A and Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

***Trigger Warning: mention of suicide***<\/strong><\/p>\n

Written by Sabrina Kopecky<\/p>\n

Mashing together rock, punk, soul, and\u200c jazz might sound intimidating for some, but for Johnny Manchild it comes like second nature. I attended Johnny Manchild\u2019s set at the Replay Lounge on September 17, 2023 – and to say it was enjoyable was an understatement. There is simply no way to describe the raw and chaotic undertones of the three-person band, with strong beats and high-energy tempos. I found myself dancing and head-banging along to the music with my friends often during the 13-song set. Several of the songs were from Johnny Manchild\u2019s new Album, \u2018Rapture Waltz,\u2019 which is set to be released early next year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0I found the new music to lean slightly darker than his earlier albums, pushing into punk and grunge undertones while still emphasizing some theatrical piano riffs. A standout song for me was a brief pause in the otherwise electric energy of the set, where Johnny Manchild performed a piano ballad that, although slower paced than the rest of the night\u2019s music, struck a chord with me for its gorgeous musicality and powerful lyrics.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/b>I would recommend this band to anyone who enjoys the alt-rock, punk, grunge, or jazz scene. Johnny Manchild\u2019s music undeniably has a theatrical element to it, which can be seen through the minor keys and emphasis on piano riffs present in his discography. If you enjoy Will Wood, Jukebox the Ghost, Cake, or The Narcissistic Cookbook, I think you would love Johnny Manchild and the Bastards. Standouts in his discography (without including his new album as it hasn\u2019t been released yet) include Gestapo, You Want A Song, and One Big Beautiful Sound (E).<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q&A:<\/b><\/p>\n

When explaining the style of your band, I\u2019ve struggled to categorize your unique sound. What genre (generally) would you say best represents your music?<\/b>
\n<\/b>
\n<\/b>\u201cThis new record is alternative, I\u2019ve called it art rock in the past. My favorite thing I\u2019ve ever said is \u2018junk sock\u2019, which is jazz punk soul rock\u2026I view genre the same way I view human emotion, and I just don\u2019t feel the same way all the time, so I write in whatever genre I\u2019m feeling at the moment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Where is your hometown?<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cOklahoma City, Oklahoma\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Can you tell me a little bit about each member of the band and their role within the group?<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWell, that\u2019s a tricky question, our members change and have changed a lot. Right now we\u2019re doing the bastard trio and it\u2019s me, Ethan Neel on drums, and Alex Coleman on bass. For the \u2018We Didn\u2019t Ask For This Room\u2019 record, that was the last time this band was operating as a \u201cband,\u201d I guess. I\u2019ve always written all the music and the parts, but with this new record coming up, \u2018Rapture Waltz\u2019, actually Ethan and I decided to go in the studio as just us two. He played drums, and bass on one song, and I played almost all the guitar and all of the key parts. Right now this band is sort of cemented into a solo project which involves a large cast of members.\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span>What bands have inspired you most growing up and coming up with your sound, or any specific songs?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s different eras for sure. I think that growing up I was really into The Dead Kennedys, Green Day, Queens of the Stone Age\u2026I\u2019ve always liked grunge. I went through a big grunge phase. Grunge is definitely an important thing to me. I got into jazz in high school, and I started falling in with Esperanza Spalding, and The Bad Plus – Hiatus Kaiyote is one that I loved when it came out. I kinda got more jazzy, and I\u2019ve always liked musical theater, and that came out in One Big Beautiful Sound. With the newer stuff I think it\u2019s going back to the grunge thing, some of the songs on the new record are definitely some of the heaviest stuff I\u2019ve ever done. I\u2019m playing guitar on this record, so it comes from what I listened to growing up, which was a lot of grunge and punk.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your 2018 album, One Big Beautiful Sound, has a variety of tempos and instruments, including strings and horns instruments. What inspired you to include these instruments in your music?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, when I started this band I didn\u2019t realize I was going to have horns, and I went on this big two-week trip for my 21st birthday so I could visit jazz clubs\u2026I realized I really want horns in my band. They\u2019ve become less of a staple in the new music I\u2019ve been writing, but at the time I really dug it. Big Beautiful Sound specifically, I had this song on the back burner that was this musical theater kind of bit. It was almost kind of a joke of a song, and that\u2019s the one people like the most\u2026I think it is the song that is most often passed around, and I think a lot of people think that\u2019s where we\u2019re at.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is your favorite song from your discography to perform live?<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cLately it\u2019s hard, we\u2019ve played a lot of new stuff, but out of the stuff that\u2019s been released one of my favorites to play is Gestapo\u2026I like The Message too, The Message is always fun to play and it\u2019s one people seem to like a lot.\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

What advice would you have for those looking to get into the music industry, or start a band?<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThe group we\u2019ve got right now, it\u2019s homies, it\u2019s friends. I\u2019ve been in other bands as a musician, and I know that if you don\u2019t get along, it doesn\u2019t really matter how good the music is\u2026if you want to make a serious thing out if it, I think the most important thing is to be supportive of other bands and collaborate as much as you can. Do show trades with people, or hit up their Instas\u2026 I think it\u2019s just about supporting each other, and remembering it\u2019s supposed to be fun. \u2018Cause if you\u2019re not having fun doing it, people are going to pick up on it real fast. \u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is the future for Johnny Manchild & the Poor Bastards? Do you have any big projects coming up (maybe something on December 8th)?\u00a0<\/b>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDecember 8th we are releasing our first single from the record. The album is called Rapture Waltz, and it\u2019s going to come out in spring of next year. A lot of it was written during Covid, and a lot of f***** up family stuff that happened, so the album ended up revolving around the theme of isolation. I think We Did Not Ask For This Room ended up being a lot about suicide and things like that, and this is not exactly the same – there are definitely pick me up songs, but yeah, that\u2019s coming out in the spring and I\u2019m really excited about it. \u201c<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Anything to shout out\/ Where is the best place for people to support you?<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cPatreon and Merch is everything, and for Patreon I always feel guilty because I feel like I\u2019m not doing enough, but people tell me I post more than most people do. But that is the thing – if you\u2019re talking about how I pay my bills, or how I pay rent so I can do this full time, like that\u2019s it, it\u2019s Patreon. I put out sheet music, I put out pictures, I do this thing called wheel or more wheel. I\u2019ll have everyone on Patreon comment a genre, comment a lyric, and then I\u2019ll spin a wheel to randomly mix them up, then I will write a song for the next week\u2019s livestream that\u2019s in that genre and uses that lyric\u2026so I try to keep it interesting.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Johnny Manchild\u2019s Patreon: <\/span>https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/johnnymanchild<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/a>Instagram: <\/span>https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/poorbastards\/<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/a>Facebook: <\/span>https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/johnnymanchild\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

***Trigger Warning: mention of suicide*** Written by Sabrina Kopecky Mashing together rock, punk, soul, and\u200c jazz might sound intimidating for some, but for Johnny Manchild it comes like second nature. I attended Johnny Manchild\u2019s set at the Replay Lounge on September 17, 2023 – and to say it was enjoyable was an understatement. There is simply no way to describe the raw and chaotic undertones of the three-person band, with strong beats and high-energy tempos. I found myself dancing and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":79332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8747,15,4,3234],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-concert-reviews","category-featured-on-kjhk","category-music","category-music-interviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/JohnnyManchildMain.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79331"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79346,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79331\/revisions\/79346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}