INTERVIEW
Andrea Manges = (And)
“ I would say were a honest punk band, with a good poppy-ramoney taste in
harmonies,” That, right there describes the Manges. What else could I say
about this Italian trio? If you have not heard of the Manges until now you are a
fool! They are an awesome band with catches and hooks that will drive your mom
insane with glee. P.S. Check out there new CD.
Matt: When did your band form (how many years ago)?
(And) We formed the band in 1993 but we only knew we wanted to play punk rock at the time, but we were totally clueless about how to play our own instruments. Now we still don't really know how to play but we got a bunch of records out.
Matt: How many releases do you have?
(And) We released more than 8 seven inches (splits and Manges-only), a split cd with the McRackins, a "best of" 93-99 Cd and our first album on cd/lp "the Manges 'R' good enough". We also appear on many European and Americans comps.
Matt: Where do you get your inspiration for song lyrics?
(And) We use to talk about our own troubles
with love and everyday life. 99% of the things we talk about really happened to
someone of us or are ideas out of conversations between the band's members.
Matt: How would you describe your band to someone that has not heard you?
(And) I would say we're a honest punk band,
with a good poppy-ramoney taste in harmonies. We believe in what we do and don't
care too much about what happens around with trends. We are funny but if you get
in to our attitude you can notice it's not just fun. And oh, we like tattoos.
Matt: What makes a "good" show?
(And) First of all a good audience. About
the band, personality means more than being good musicians to me. And of course,
loudness.
Matt: What 5 records are you listening to right now?
(And) Argh I can't stand for my band's
taste in music... I am too bad as a record collector. Anyway:
McRackins "back to the crack" / Ramones "subterranean
jungle" / Van Morrison "best of" / the Apers album and a
all-Sloppy seconds CD my girlfriend did for me
Matt: What do you think of Ben Weasel (the whole wearing
your shirt in the Teen Punks In Heat CD, etc)?
(And) We didn't work that much to make our
band really popular in the past. We just wanted to do things our way. Since SW
covered one of our songs many kids have been checkin' us out and this helped us
a lot to enjoy what we do. This is not the only reason we have to thank Ben and
Jughead and SW. They have been so honest with us and friendly... and they really
like our band. Well I've always been a SW fan so what can I say... this really
makes me happy. They had all my respect as a band and now that I know them they
have all my respect as people. Jughead spent a lot of time with us in Italy and
we all love him here.
Matt: What are some of your influences musically?
(And) We got together as Ramones fanatics
and we still are. Apart from them, we got influenced by the Hard-ons, some 50s
rock 'n' roll, some Lookout! Good bands as SW and Queers and all the pop punk of
90s. But we also listen to h.c.punk or pop music...
Matt: What are some of your influences outside of music?
(And) We all love movies and care about all
kinds of cinema. I think this really influenced us.
Matt: What can be expected of the band in the future?
(And) Our album was released two months ago
so we'll stop for a while, maybe recording a bunch of tunes for a split CD with
YumYums from Norway. We hope to tour the whole Europe once and USA again. Next
year we'll see what chances we'll have.
Matt: Any last comments, web pages, plugs, any thing you want to say that you did not get a chance to day before?
(And) Just thank you Matt for the interview
and yes, we have a website we'd like you all to check out http://www.manges.it
Also see www.interpunk.com to buy online
records (they'll carry our merch soon anyway) and www.stradumbrecords.com
to help our label Stardumb (home of some great undiscovered European bands)
distributing our album. Ciao from the sunny Italy!
Thanks---------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.manges.it
po box 179 - 19038 Sarzana (sp -) Italy