Everything you ever wanted to know about feel-good electronic music is stopping by Thee Parkside this Friday, August 12th. Their names are Manatee Commune and Shallou, currently in the middle of their Sync or Swim Tour and currently the last word in chillwave and indie electronica, respectively. We chatted with Grant Eadie, aka Manatee Commune, and J Boston, aka Shallou, ahead of their San Francisco show, and naturally, they were the best candidates in answering ten of the world's most-Googled questions. Read more below and don't forget to enter to win tickets to their show!
Manatee Commune + Shallou answer the world's most googled questions:
1. Are aliens real?
Manatee Commune: There is absolutely extraterrestrial life, the probability of life not existing in some form in our massive universe is just too low.
Shallou: Yes. I'm a true believer in aliens and Bigfoot. The truth is out there.
2. What is the meaning of life?
MC: Have fun, feel good, hope for the best.
S: Leave the earth knowing you made it a better place. And more safe from aliens.
3. Who is the Antichrist?
MC: David Schwimmer.
S: Bill O'Reilly.
4. Where is my mind?
MC: Behind Black Francis’ square sunglasses.
S: Swimming in the Caribbean.
5. How to get rich quick?
MC: Sell your holographic Pokemon cards or rare Beanie Babies.
S: Make fire diss tracks on Youtube.
6. Where do babies come from?
MC: The hospital.
S: Really? Who's letting their toddler use Google smh...
7. Who is in the Illuminati?
MC: My DnD group.
S: The Kardashians.
8. How to get away with murder?
MC: Kill someone everybody wants dead.
S: Cut off your fingerprints. Or just wear gloves.
9. Where is Waldo?
MC: My mom’s house.
S: In our hearts.
10. How many beers are in a keg?
MC: Depends on the party I think.
S: 432.
Manatee Commune + Shallou Get Serious:
Are you making music while on tour? If so, how does being on the road impact your creative process?
MC: Yeah, sometimes. Usually I get really inspired by the people I’m touring with and I try my best to make something I think they’d be into.
S: I'm always trying to improve the live show, so I'm either working on edits of old tracks or different ways to play things. I get song ideas at really inconvenient times, so sometimes I'll wake up at 3am in a hotel room with a melody in my head and have to throw it in piano roll before I forget. Tour really disrupts the process, which I sometimes like.
Manatee Commune
Do you show your music to anybody before it’s finished (If so, why that person?), or is un-critiqued, complete freedom more important to you?
MC: I usually show it to my significant other and she gets me out of my head enough for me to see the track clearly. I trust her and respect her taste a lot so every insight I can get from her I deeply value.
S: I used to be terrified of showing people music, and I still can't be in the same room as someone listening to something new of mine for the first time. I'm always worried they wont know it's me and say, 'turn this shit off!' But now I'm very open to critique from other musicians and I'll never release music without 'testing' it on certain people. My girlfriend and manager are always brutally honest with me so they will be the first to hear.
What can the audience expect from your live show that could be missed when just listening to your recorded music?
MC: I make a lot of dynamic changes on the fly, I make new melodies, I have complicated visuals that I’ve designed specifically for each track, and I shake my booty.
S: I have my good friend Emilio joining me on stage and we have a cool chemistry thats fun to watch. We have a ton of control over the tracks, and I'm singing and playing keys/pads live. I'm very behind the scenes with my stuff online, I like kind of letting it speak for itself, but when I play live its a chance to really blossom and connect with my listeners and they can see me at my most vulnerable. Also testing lot of new stuff on this tour so you guys will be some of the first to hear it!
Shallou
When musicians such as yourselves are beginning to produce, there often exists a distinct gap in which their skill has to catch up with their taste. What did you learn during this gap?
MC: Beating yourself up gets nothing done. Learn from your mistakes and take another chance.
S: I learned it's important to just get your ideas out as quickly as possible and not worry so much about the process. You kind of learn it naturally, and when you're excited about an idea you'll try crazy shit to make it work and bend the rules a bit.
If there was one instrument you could play perfectly, what would it be?
MC: Piano, I think every great piano player I’ve ever met has had a deep grasp of composition, theory, and production. I am so envious of that.
S: I already play piano but I would love to become one of those virtuoso guys with the long coat tails in a massive concert hall ripping it up on a giant grand piano playing some Ravel or Gershwin. That to me is cooler than being a rockstar.
If you could have made the soundtrack to any movie, which would it have been?
MC: Castle In the Sky. Amazing movie with an okay soundtrack.
S: Eternal Sunshine. I love emotionally strange films like that. I would also love to have a song in HBO's the Leftovers.
What were you listening to/watching/reading during the creation of your latest work?
MC: Listening to a lot of Pomo and Anderson .Paak’s new record. That meaty, post-disco style production is something I've been trying to pull from.
S: A lot of film soundtracks actually, and ambient music. Jon Brion and Jonny Greenwood. Electronic artists Teebs and Petit Biscuit. I just finished Moby's biography and it was really inspiring.
What’s up next for you, music-wise, things-you-want-to-learn-wise, life-wise?
MC: I really want to get out of just being a dude who produces, I want to bring in more musicians to this project and let it become something fresh, it just feels too calculated right now.
S: I'm in the final stages of a 5 all new song EP. I've been working on this for a while, scrapping music, making multiple drafts trying to make something I'm super proud of. I'm happy to say its the best music I've made to date. We're shooting for a fall release, but I'll put out a couple edits/remixes and a single to keep you all interested. I also want to learn how to be a pilot so we don't have to drive everywhere on tour anymore.
Any parting words for your Bay Area fans?
MC: I’ve never had a bad show with you guys, thank you so much for the warmth and all the love.
S: Can't wait to meet you all! I love talking to people after shows so come hang out.
Enter to win a pair of passes to see Manatee Commune and Shallou take the stage Friday, August 12th at Thee Parkside!
Written by Eva Yavorkovsky
