Wraith Manger

10.08 V1.3

RBN: Wraith Manger seems to fall into the post-rock or experimental category. Is that a fair judgment?

Mark: Yes, I would say that is fair.

J: What do you think?

Bobby: Depends on what era of our song writing you're listening to. The early stuff is definitely closer related to the post-rock genre. Some of the newer material is leaning toward post-hardcore and doom psychedelia.

Gabe: Yes, progressive.

RBN: What are your influences and if you had to identify with a particular genre what would it be?

Mark: My influences... Skinny Puppy, The Flower Kings, Yes, Pink Floyd and Phish are just a few. I have far too many.

J: Of course Faith No More are the top dogs, Frank Zappa, I guess non-gangster hip-hop. The stuff that's not about beating' women or selling' drugs. The genre I could most relate to would be doom although I do feel close to contemporary Christian.

Bobby: This question could be answered by a thousand names, all of which are vital in my lifetime. Including the ones already mentioned, four more would be Neurosis, Black Sabbath, Grails and Robert Rich. However, that leaves out so many. It seems unfair not to name them all. All the friends and touring bands I have played shows with have all made an impact on me in one way or another. As for a particular genre, I would say that is impossible for me to answer.

Gabe: My biggest influences would probably be Fantomas, Mr. Bungle and Faith No More.

RBN: From what I've heard you could be described as instrumental, although there are vocal passages within the songs. Is this correct and is it a direction you will continue?

Mark: At the moment we are instrumental with few vocals. Hopefully, in the future, all that will change but, vocals aren't everything.

"I would say we are a concept group and the ideas and the titles of the tunes paint the picture."

When everyone catches wind of the names and what the song means they can visualize the picture; when they hear the song and drift to wherever they choose to drift to.

J: Yeah, that's basic truth in the form of a question.

Bobby: The early music is all instrumental with no distortion. The more we play those songs, we look for something different to try that makes us enjoy the music, without getting to repetitive. It has been a natural progression for us to get heavier and start working on vocal concepts and layers. After all, we enjoy a lot of different stuff musically so we all want to do different stuff musically.

Gabe: Yes, that is correct. This is probably the way we will keep going.

RBN: What other bands were you in before Wraith Manger and how did this one come together?

Mark: This is really my first real band. Gabe and I had a small project called "Oracal," which was basically a home project. From that I spawned off to do my own thing over the internet as The Wizard of Synth which was a real success for me. Then one afternoon, I contacted my friend Gabe, who I hadn't spoke with for over a year. We talked, let bygones be bygones, and both agreed we needed to be playing music. At this time Day Star was in effect which was Bobby on Guitar and Gabe on drums. Then I came along and so did J. I remember the first time we practiced, it was all improv but magical. Then we decided to change the name to Wraith Manger and here we are 10 months later.

J: Hygopian, Failure Vs. Mumra (Kuru), several bands that didn't leave the room where the practice was being held. As for how we got together, Bob called me.

Gabe: The Butchers Daughter, Calm, AFC, and Head Cleaner. I read a bulletin that Bobby was wanting to start a project, that's how it began. We accumulated people and it snowballed from there.

Bobby: I have been in a lot of bands and meant a lot to me. Once again, it seems unfair not to mention them all. A few would be Nethinem, Calm, Double Dick Slick, The Butcher's Daughter and Moscow Theatre Siege. I also have a side experimental project with J, as he mentioned, called Kuru.

"I wanted to start something a little more personal and vulnerable. Not so aggressive in a fury of sound but more aggressive emotionally and psychedelic."

I sent word out for anyone who played bowed strings, woodwinds, brass or anything large group oriented. Gabe replied and said he wanted to play drums.

We got together the next week as a two piece and called it Day Star, a name I got from a Steve Von Till lyric. I knew I wanted J to be involved from the start but he couldn't join us immediately for personal reasons. Gabe had mentioned Mark's name as a viable candidate for a band mate as well. Ironically, they both showed up the same day 2 months later. The more research we did, we found Day Star in all kinds of stuff. J mentioned the name Wraith Manger and we announced it at our first performance, the rest is becoming history. The ironic part is, I didn't actually get any of the instruments I originally casted for. However, I couldn't have asked for anyone better to jam with than these guys. They are all open minded and that packs a lot of weight with me.

RBN: You've been involved, in one way or another, with the local scene for sometime now. How do you feel about playing locally and do you think it's changed much since you first got involved?

Mark: Playing with Wraith Manger has been a blast for me. I love it, playing live. I love to play the places we've been and look forward to moving on to bigger venues, but all that will come in due time.

J: It's good, playing locally. It has changed in the fact that there are more venues to play which is beneficial to everyone. It's also changed in that people actually come to our shows. We used to play for 5 people, now there are 6 or 7.

Gabe:

"I feel great about Chattanooga cause it's my hometown. It has changed a lot as far as venues and types of bands around."

Bobby: I have always liked to play locally in Chattanooga. As long as the venue or promoter is cool with us, I have no complaints. I must admit it is hard to predict the crowds though. Sometimes they come and sometimes they don't. As far as changes go, I think we have gotten older. When we were younger, we wouldn't miss any show. Now that we are older and burdened by bills, we have to pick and choose what is the best option for us out of necessity. The day, venue, bands, etc. Facts of life, like it or not, it's the way it is. Also, there are no "valid" all ages places to play anymore either. Most of the people that have become my long term friends over the years met at the only all ages venue we knew of then.

I miss the bands who wanted their music to come from their heart and soul and to give them a sense of pride. Seems at times, we have, in the music world, grown up and forgotten how much music means to us. I miss the quantity of bands that possessed that emotion. There are some that still exist though, and I applaud and support them. I hope to continue to be in one of those bands.

RBN: You're currently recording, what can you tell us about the process and when can we expect a CD?

Bobby: The songs for the first Wraith Manger release are emotionally developed, cross referenced musical themes tied into elemental, atmospheric themes. Everything about it ties into one basic energy with no distortion and no vocals. That doesn't mean it's not heavy though. We have already started to work on our second release as well. Another concept based on darker imagery and emotions with distorted passages, vocal overlays and a more progressive songwriting approach. Both albums will be released on the Inherent label when they are finished.

RBN: Where can one go to obtain merch or learn more?

Mark: You can buy directly from the myspace page at myspace. com/wraithmanger but you can get info from my page as well. www,myspace. com/pointedearproductions.

Bobby: You can get it at all the live performances, the myspace page or e-mail merchandise questions to wraithmanger@live.com and we'll send you a paypal link to buy it.

RBN: Anything you want to add?

Mark: Come see the performance September 6th at Ziggys. It will be an experience.

J: There's nothing smart ass I could say to the last question. Thanks for including us in your zine.

Gabe: Thanks for the interview with RBN.

Bobby:

"We really appreciate all of the people who have come out to support us in this project or shown us support in any way."

E-mail us about the tunes, bought merchandise, show attendance, artwork or anything else. We all thought it would fail miserably but got a pleasant surprise with the positive feedback we have received. Thank you all for your support and thank you for including us in this issue of RBN. Don't neglect to check out wraithmanger. com. Gabe has worked really hard to get the site running for the band. Next show is September 6th at Ziggys with Gravebound (featuring members of Hoth), Argentinum Astrum (Knoxville) and Eloquence of Suffering. Hope to see you all there.

myspace.com/wraithmanger

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