BLACK MANALISHI
Questions asked by Jon Wilde, added to Rock Realms 18th June 2010.
Black Manalishi - Nathan Moore on guitars, Adam Ward on vocals, Lee Gallagher on drums, and Sean Gallagher on bass - is a rock band from the North of England.
We caught up with Nathan and Adam to find out what makes them tick.
Photo credit Geoff Kay
Can you give us a brief history of Black Manalishi – how you formed etc...?
Nathan: Since I first starting playing I've always had a band in one form or another, but by the time I decided to form this one I had a definite idea of what I wanted. It was around this time I met Adam Ward (Vocals), whilst jamming with a mutual friend. We gelled instantly and it was obvious that he was the one for the kind of music I wanted to be playing. So, later on, I asked if he would join and thankfully he said yes. There have been various line-ups, with the other new members being auditioned to find the best people available. The line-up we have now, with Lee Gallagher on drums and Sean Gallagher on bass, is by far the best so far in our opinion.
Where did the band’s name come from?
Nathan: I got the name Manalishi from the Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac song "The Green Manalishi", firstly because it was a good name and secondly because the song and Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac had the same improvisational jamming sound route that we have taken. I later added the "Black" to reflect the band's heavier edge as well as a nod to another influence, Black Sabbath.
Did you know what sort of music the band was going to play right from the start, or has it developed considerably over time?
Nathan: Yes, it was just a matter of finding musicians that could pull it off. My style of playing has always been improvisational and the band was built around that. In the early days especially, the music could go in any direction. Over time recently we have become more structured, a little heavier, but still retain the raw seat-of-the-pants style of performing and improvising.
Adam: Part of the reason for evolving the way we have done has been as a result of wanting to be more commercially focused. However we've been very careful not to go overboard in our approach. It's always been important to us that we write, record and perform material that we believe represents the sound we're trying to offer audiences - in other words, we don't just write material that fits with whatever style currently happens to be in fashion, we write for the audience and ourselves, and from the feedback we've had, people really seem to respect and appreciate our integrity.
How would you describe the sound of the band to someone who hadn’t heard you before?
Adam: Classic Old School Heavy Rock
Who or what would you list as your main influences?
Adam: The main influences for the band are Deep Purple, Free, Black Sabbath, Cream, Lynyrd Skynyrd - basically mainly 60s & 70s classic rock bands and musicians. Each of us has his own influences too, for example I'm influenced by soul and blues legends such as Ray Charles and Eddie Floyd. Lee and Sean (drums and bass) are influenced by heavier modern bands, and Nathan (guitar) has a multitude of influences ranging from Elvis to Robin Trower. We all bring those influences to the table while staying faithful to the overall sound and direction of the band.
Can you tell us a bit about your latest album “Trailblazer”?
Adam: "Trailblazer" is our fourth independently funded, mixed and produced album which we recorded and finished in 2008/9, then released it via our website, Amazon and iTunes. Since then we've updated our rhythm section and spent time getting the new line-up on track while gigging and preparing to record the next album, which we anticipate doing this summer with producers and studios in London.
How long did it take to write and record?
Nathan: I'm constantly writing new material so the songs are usually there when needed, it wasn't like we had to start from scratch. There were also a few re-worked versions of older tracks on there. We recorded and mixed the album in numerous sessions which added up to no more than several weeks.
How does it compare to your older albums?
Adam: It's stylistically and overall sound-wise the most focused album we have done, it captures the improvisational and rawness of the band while retaining the focus on the songs.
Do you enjoy the whole studio/creative experience? Was creating the album fun, hard work, or a combination thereof?
Adam: It was certainly a fun and creative experience without a doubt, but as everything was self-produced, including the recording, production, mixing - even Nathan's album artwork - then yes it was hard work, but very rewarding.
Where do you find your writing influences? Where do you look for inspiration?
Nathan: My inspiration usually comes from just picking up the guitar and letting things flow from there, the musical tools I must have inside me come from a lifetime of listening to lots of different kinds of good music I suppose. It's rare I'll intentionally take influence from one source, but on occasion I will, for instance the last song on the "Trailblazer" album, "You'll Ride", I wrote straight after watching the film "3:10 to Yuma", and was directly inspired by the story.
Is there a single story behind the songs, or are they all standalone tracks?
Nathan: It's not a concept album as such, certainly where the lyrics are concerned anyway, but there was a definite attempt to give the album a Southern Rock feel, whilst still maintaining our style.
How does the writing process in Black Manalishi work? How would a typical song be created?
Adam: We've used many methods in the past, but usually Nathan will bring a finished song to the band for us to work with. Occasionally he will write just the music and I will fill in the lyrics. Also, sometimes songs spring from jamming ideas together as a band. It just so happens that in this case Nathan wrote all the tracks on "Trailblazer".
Do you do anything special in the studio to get your sound, or are you quite a ‘traditional’ band?
Nathan: If by traditional you mean the band on the record sound like the band live then yes, we are. Our sound is very much based on our playing, so when it comes to recording we record live and then overdub final vocals and other guitars etc.It's the only way to capture the true sound of the band, its the way all our influences did it, and to try and do it another way would kill the magic of the sound. We want to go one further by working with a rock producer next time round, leaving us to concentrate on our delivery and performances.
Adam: On our first album, for example, we recorded all 8 tracks in one day, live, and spent one day mixing them. Clearly we've come a long way since then and we're more commercially aware, but we're proud of the fact that if you come to see us live, we think you'll leave the gig feeling we sounded at least as good as we do on the album, if not better. There are many bands out there who simply can't reproduce their sound live or aren't fun to watch, and we do everything we can to maintain our reputation of being an entertaining live act. So we try to stay faithful to that approach in the studio where possible.
Do you have any favourite moments on “Trailblazer”?
Nathan: My favourite moments are the ones where I know it was spur of the moment, on the spot improvisation, like the intro and ending to the track "Mine's a Whiskey" which I just played off the top of my head, and they made it to the final mix.
Adam: I like the fact that "You'll Ride" was finished in pretty much one take, where we recorded both the rhythm guitar and vocals live together and I didn't need to re-dub the vocals later. Since then I've called myself 'One-Take Ward', hoping the nickname will catch on. It hasn't just yet...ha ha!
Are you already working on new material?
Nathan: I am constantly writing material so there's always something to be working on, which is good because it keeps you moving forward without feeling the pressure of having to come up with something by a deadline. We are currently working on a new album with a producer, Mark Rose, whom we have worked with previously, which will be our first non-independent, professionally produced album. We're really looking forward to that experience.
Are you planning a big tour to promote the new album?
Adam: We have been self-promoting "Trailblazer" through gigs and the media etc for over a year now, but as we have since found our best drummer (Lee Gallagher) and bass player (Sean Gallagher), we are going to hopefully use a big tour (and anything else at our disposal!) to promote the new album, which is set to be by far our best, and will hopefully reach a much larger audience.
What is one of your live shows like?
Nathan: Our shows are different every time, as we feed off the audience and improvise, but you always get a full on in-your-face blast of Rock. That seems to work and goes down well!
Adam: We pride ourselves on being a bit different - balancing an old-school raw, loud, improvisational free-flowing approach with professional musicianship. Providing the crowd enjoys it and they're eager to come and see us again, we've done our job!
Any question you love being asked that I’ve missed? If so, what’s the answer?
Nathan: Q - Do you want a drink? A - Double whiskey, cheers
What are you up to once you’ve finished answering these questions?
Nathan: I'm going to crack on with updating the band's website - http://www.blackmanalishi.com/.
Adam: I'll be warming up for our next gig by popping the cap off a bottle of Jim Beam!
Anything else you would like to mention?
Adam: I guess we'd just like to thank all the fans who've stayed with us over the years - it doesn't matter how good a band is, without fans it's worth nothing - and we are very aware of that, so we appreciate the support we've had and we always try hard to reward that loyalty and faith in us by giving 100% on stage and in the studio.
Thanks very much Rock Realms!
Thanks again to Adam and Nathan for their time. Check out their latest album on Amazon and elsewhere
http://www.blackmanalishi.com/
http://www.myspace.com/blackmanalishi
