A CONVERSATION WITH... THE MANATEES
In the middle of tours and shows galore, the genre-exploratory trio The Manatees explain how they’re finding their sound (and maybe how you can find yours.)
Photo Credit: Solen Collet
Credit: Mhari Dougal
Sometimes you just have to wait.
But sometimes, you can get what you want.
And if what you’ve been wanting is a band whose music makes you feel like you can scream your deepest insecurities out in a crowd with hundreds of people, you’ve got it.
They’re a trio from what’s commonly called ‘a sleepy town off the coast of England’ who have made their way to London like many before them. I wouldn’t say their move made them start taking the UK by storm because they’ve been taking it by storm since they jumped onto the scene with their 2018 hit ‘Milan’. Now, after years of continuously enrapturing audiences with their crushingly candid lyrics, cross-genre sampling, and woody guitar riffs, they’re seemingly only getting started.
“Originally I was in another band called The Manatees,” lead singer, Jay, remarks as he adjusts on the leather couch. He’s sat between Miller and Tyler, his two bandmates as we’re all getting cosy in The Lexington’s green room before their London show.
As cosy as you can be when you’ve just spent 30 minutes lugging your band’s equipment up flights of stairs in the rain. (But these three would agree it’s always worth the stress, struggles, and sweat.)
“I think it makes more sense to say that I was originally in The Manatees, but I think of it as a different band because these guys weren’t in it. The story’s a bit patchy,” Jay pauses as the other two let out a laugh.
“It was me, a drummer called James, a guitarist named Max, and then the bassist, also called James. Funnily enough, we got a lot of James’ back then. But then one night, we played a gig in Southampton at The Alexandra, where I was playing the same night as Tyler who was in a rival band at the time.”
“The Daisy Chains,” Tyler chimes in. “I think that was the first time me and Jay were in the same room for a prolonged period. We lived in a small city, but that’s really how we got introduced to each other.”
“I think secretly, we wanted to know Tyler anyway and I secretly wanted him to be in our band,” Jay grins. “And then when James, the bassist left the band, we wanted Miller to join us. I was aware of who he was, even though he’s a few years younger, and I was also aware that he didn’t know how to play bass. But where we come from, musicians are thin on the ground.”
“It was really a thing of ‘You wanna play bass in my band?’ ‘Yeah.’” Miller jokes. “I had a bass with three strings because one snapped, but there I was, ready for rehearsal.”
Well, as the band jokes, not everyone was so ready at first.
Credit: Mhari Dougal
“My old band religiously rehearsed twice a week, so imagine my surprise when I book us rehearsal time and I show up and it’s like ‘Oh yeah, the singer’s on holiday.’” Tyler jokingly rolls his eyes, as the two others burst into laughter.
What could be described as a slightly rocky start with missing lead singers and broken basses has led to some relatively smooth sailing into brand-new waters.
“Every artist talks about Covid being a big thing for them, but it’s true. We were supposed to go on a massive tour and it got rescheduled three times but we just got fed up with it. So we spent that time writing and we got rid of a lot of shit songs. We were forced to stop and think about what features and distinct sounds we wanted to go forward with. Before Covid, it was just write song, play song, repeat.” Tyler explains as he looks around at the colourful walls of the green room.
“We’ve been spending all this time figuring out what we wanna sound like and what we wanna look like. We started this when we were 18, and Miller was even younger.”
“A wee baby!” Tyler interjects.
Credit: Mhari Dougal
“A wee baby,” Jay continues with a smile. “It wasn’t relentless, but I don’t think we ever took the time to stop. No time to breathe. But when we did, we got to understand who we are. We started as indie pop and a lot of our earlier songs were more jangly pop and fit more of the indie stereotype. But now within the last few years, we’ve wanted our individual influences to shine through more and create that sound.”
Adding Jay’s love for hip-hop samples and creative beat breaks to Tyler’s signature guitar riffs allows for that strong connection to the band’s core as a guitar-centred band, while Miller’s love for funk music with groovy basslines balances out the band’s lyrics that can lean towards existential and/or quarter-life crisis.
Like one of their latest songs, ‘The Sound’, that comes off their latest EP Dream in Colour.
“Our lyrics can be metaphorical but quite literal in a funny way,” Jay clarifies. “The song is about searching for a sound, our sound, and the journey that we’ve been going on to find it through this period of writing. But it comes along with this feeling where we have no idea what we’re gonna do. So metaphorically, it’s about chasing that epiphany and finding out what you want to do. I think everybody goes through that kind of existential crisis of figuring out what your life is about it.”
The Manatees also write about it.
Without designating this 2023/2024 season a ‘new era’ for the band, they’re certainly finding their footing and finding that sound that can be metaphorically and literally be theirs. With their second EP Different State of Mind dropping in February, the trio is creating a harmonious balance between the old and new Manatees. While still holding tightly to their indie roots with relatable and occasionally existential lyrics and their signature guitar riffs, they’re diving deeper into a love affair with airy synths and a heavier and funkier sound.
“We’re pushing the boundary, and arguably doing something a bit more interesting again,” Jay says. “In terms of concepts, sonically, and the lyrics — it’s similar with how introspective and personal it is, but we really pushed the boundaries with synths, sampling, and all types of weird vocals.”
“We’ve never really produced before, so at first we just wanted to throw everything in the pot and see what works. But we really wanted to figure out what we can do without and what makes us sound more interesting, more different, more pronounced. So we swing from rock to pop, putting in all these different-sounding guitar and drum parts because we want to make the most of every single thing we put in the EP,” Tyler finishes.
Like with ‘Get What You Want’, an intense song that once again captures listeners with heart-wrenchingly relatable lyrics paired with powerfully stacked vocals and sweet synths.
This year of releases, like ‘Get What You Want’ and ‘The Sound’ are tantalising contradictions of these deeply infectious songs with lyrics that discuss darker moments of the human experience.
But if you see them live, you won’t see a flicker of those darker moments in the eyes as the boys in hilariously large trousers perform. You’ll see the passion and intensity of people who know the power their music holds.
“If people are gonna hear our music for the first time, I want it to be in the room with us at a gig. That’s where our music comes across best. We channel a lot of our energy into making sure that our music sounds the same live as it does on the record, but our on-stage energy really paints the whole picture of who we are and what our music is,” Jay explains.
These three don’t let the moments of intense vulnerability written into the very fabric of their music stop them from rocking out on the stage, complete with high jumps before launching into a riff and intense guitar playing that shake the walls of venues they play at.
But after the gig is done and dusted, with fans leaving with autographs and new songs to obsess over, these three guys are left with the same grateful and awestruck smiles they had at their first gig.
“Honestly, the love of it all keeps us going,” Jay reflects. “You don’t make as much money as you would in the 60s or even the 90s, and it’s tough. But I think the reason anybody is in music is because they love it. We love it. Simple as that.”
“The main thing is the passion. Being around passionate people is so much more interesting than the corporate world, where people do what they do for the money because that’s what they have to do. But being around people that are in love and interested in what they do, that’s what I want,” Tyler adds. “That’s where I’m at.”
“Absolutely all of that, and it’s the creative part to it, too. We get to create something together, something that doesn’t necessarily make sense on paper but makes the music I’d want to listen to,” Miller finishes with a bashful smile. “Maybe that’s cringey, but it’s true.”
And maybe it’s true after all, you can get what you want.