Based in their
adopted hometown of
Cardiff,
Wales, Manchild consist of Max Odell and Brett Parker. It is difficult to pin one single
style onto this
big-beat/
breakbeat/
atmospheric
electronic soundscaping allrounder of a band. You want
drum & bass? You got it. You want
hip-hop? You got it.
Rock,
dance, some call it
glitchcore... I just call it
ace.
Odell and Parker met at nursery school in Longwick, Buckinghamshire and made music together all through their teens. At 16, in 1990, they formed Confusion, an indie-dance outfit in the style of Bomb The Bass and Jesus Jones.
Manchild were formed in 1997, with influences ranging from Talk Talk to Iron Maiden, Ultramagnetic MCs to Ennio Morricone. "We don't adhere to any specific trend," says Odell. "That, more than anything else, is what's going to date music." They recorded their first demo in the summer of 1997, which Odell sent to various London based record companies.
That summer also saw them play their first gig – an Under The Sun event at Cardiff University Union. The buzz around Manchild was increasing with over 35 A&R people turning up to the gig. The result was a two album deal with One Little Indian.
In 1999, the band expanded to include an awesome, 8 man strong, live line-up and promptly took the show out on the road. Manchild now consisted of:
They were spotted by The Prodigy's manager, Mike Champion, who soon came on board as the band's own manager. In 2000, the band hit the studio and with vocal collaborations from Kelly Jones (Stereophonics) and Andy Cairns (Therapy?) came the release of the critically acclaimed debut album Untied States, produced by former Jesus Jones singer, Mike Edwards.
2001 brought a Top 40 single in the form of "Nothing without me" a dancefloor filler featuring Arianne Schrieber on vocals and the promise of a new album for March 2002, with collaborations with the Lostprophets lead singer and Arianne Schrieber.
The beginning of 2002 saw Nathan the Watcher and the band part ways and as of yet, a replacement has not been found (at the time of writing the band had held auditions last night at Cardiff University Union)
Two tracks from Untied States appeared on the Playstation 2 game 'F1 2001' by EA Sports, Sky One recently used "Return to the Dragon" as background music for an ad for their Bruce Lee season and the band recently completed a mix for Annie Nightingale. The band have yet to gain the public recognition that they deserve, but insiders in the music industry seem to think that it is only a matter of time.
Discography
Sources:
http://www.manchild.co.uk/
http://www.landofsong.net/manchild/biog.shtml
http://www.phase9.tv/musicinterviews/manchild-brettparker-a.htm
I will update with further news and the names of the new album and single as soon as I get hold of Colin Cowlan and prise information out of him... He owes me a pint ot two anyway... :)