The Inquisition: 095.Jack Maniak

1. How did you came up with the name of the band?

"Maniac" is a famous song of the 80s. Jack Maniak came to me pretty quickly. Jack is the hero of my albums; a teenager who have special abilities.

2. Do you have a standard procedure of creating a song? Do you just jam around or is there a main riff and the track is build up on it?

It depends, I usually start with a powerful melody; then i construct around this. Or I start with an introduction and I find riffs or melodies to go on. I try to adapt sounds for each story of my songs.

3. What are your influences and what kind of music do you hear when you are at home?

I have metal roots, I play in 2 other bands Idensity (death metal) and Område (avant-garde); my main instrument is drumming but I play more keyboards now. My drumming experience gives me what I need to find good grooves (even for the bass which is very important in synthwave). I don't listen to metal anymore (or just a few), I am back in the 80s for the moment.

4. Which is the one album you can't live without?

Queen - Greatest Hits II

5. What's the first record you've ever bought?

It was Megadeth "youthanasia", Iron Maiden "Live After Death" the same day!, great visual and powerful sound.

6. Name a band that you would like to share the stage or tour with?

Probably Carpenter Brut or Volkor X; I like the approach of Carpenter with live instrument (including drums), it merges the metal and electro world.

7. Did the internet and specially the blogs helped to spread your music around the world? Name a place (country) that you were surprised to know your music has reached to?

Yeah we need a good support to spread our name, I have the chance to have Jet Set Trash as a label but we always need more and more visibility; Jack Maniak just started few weeks ago but my other bands had reviews in Peru or Mexico for example.

8. Do you support the idea of bandcamp where fans can decide the price or services like spotify?

Well it depends, there are good and bad points on it; digital release are the future and you can discover a lot of bands with it and at a lower price; the key is to do music for passion,if you have to earn your life with music, it is definitely not the good way.

9. Where do you see yourselves in 5 years?

Well the only thing I know is that I will always do music. I don't know in which terms but I could do it alone in my room if I have not enough money to spread it.

10. Is the artwork of an album important nowadays in the digital era?

Yeah it is very important, the artwork has to fit with the spirit of the project, well I should say it is better because not everyone can afford to pay professional artworks.

11. What is you favorite album cover?

Mine of course, Jack Maniak - Code 403 cover done by Julian Gamella :)

I like Jeff Grimal's art too, he made impressive paintings for Område project.

12. It seems that a lot of people are turning on vinyl again. Why do you think that is and which is your preferable media format?

I think vinyl replace temporally Cd's but it is a small market. Digital and "spotify(s)" are probably the future.Cd's will be dead soon, only few labels want to work with this media

13. What's the most vivid story or moment as a band?

Jack Maniak is a one man band, so it's very special because you have to manage everything (including the costs). It's a good feeling to decide but sometimes it is hard to think of everything.I try to have joy as much as i can on what i do, but being alone make the project really alive because you have to be everywhere.

More info:
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Recommendation: Jack Maniak - Code 403

Band: Jack Maniak
Album: Code 403
Label: JST Records
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Stripe Is Back
02. No Fate
03. Code 403
04. Final Departure
05. Tribal Mob
06. The Guardian
07. Space Invaders
08. Dangerous Night
09. Sky Demons
10. Glory
Streaming / Buy

Jack Maniak is a new one-man project created in 2016 by French musician Jean-Philippe. Living in Paris and also playing in a number of bands, Jean-Philippe felt the need to delve deeper in the electronic music sounds. Born in the 70’s and having experienced the 80’s as a teenager his love of that era didn’t take long to manifest in his music giving birth to his synthwave alter ego, Jack Maniak.

For a melodist, exploring this genre is a great opportunity and for Jean-Philippe the idea of writing music inspired by the 80’s but with a modern approach and twist soon turned out to be irresistible. Combining melodic synth leads, hard-rock/heavy rhythm guitars, guitar solos (when needed), big distorted basslines and groovy drum/bass patterns Jack Maniak debuts on JST with “Code 403”.

Filled with hidden references to the decade Jack Maniak grew up into (“Stripe Is Back” – Gremlins, “No Fate” – Terminator 2 and so on) “Code 403” is the story of a human teenager with special abilities who is called to face an alien invasion. Will he emerge victorious? 

official site
facebook
bandcamp
soundcloud
spotify