10,000 MANIACS – Their Time In Eden
1. Hello and welcome to our magazine. You are such an old band but most of the fans know you from the late 1980s. How do you explain this?
We spent more time touring and working in europe in the eighties and early nineties. we have maintained a solid fan base here in US and actually expanded into south America. Especially Brazil.
2. Let’s go back to the early 1980 when you started. Did you ever thought of still being active after all these years. Was there any “Plan B” in case that something would go wrong for the band?
Our Career started out at 100 miles and hour. The best we could do was to put one foot in front of the other and play the next show. Write the next song. Make the next album. never thought about long term future but then again never planned on doing anything else.
3. What is the secret of being active and loyal after all these years?
We love each other and we love making music. We share the credit and the money equally.
4. How did you face the financial difficulties during your early years? Any funny or sad stories to share with us?
We lived on $5 a day. we slept on the floors and couch’s of our fans. we camped and slept in tents. Our first time In NEw York City our old School Bus van broke down in traffic and we had to push it through the streets of Greenwich Village to get to Folk City for our Show. Our first show in NYC. We borrowed money from friends and family to make our first two independent records and lived with our parents when not travelling. I lived at home until I was 32!!
5. How did you sign with Electra Records and how this fact affected your career?
We were brought to Elektra by Howard Thompson. The John Peel Radio Show on BBC1 was very influential in getting record companies interested in us. Obviously signing with Major label made our entire career possible.
6. Did you have any pressure after signing with a multinational company?
Always pressure.They asked about changing our Name. Didn’t hear any “hits” on our record and made us record “Peace Train” but it all worked out. We had a comfortable business relationship with Elektra and Warner Music Group. and With Geffen Records later in the ’90’s
7. You have a new recording coming out, please share with us all the details about it.
We have always been fans of British folk music and especially Fairport Convention and the 1970’s folk rock revival in Britain. During our tour in 2013 in support of our last album, Music From The Motion Picture, Mary would stop during our set and play solo Viola and sing accapella a version of a William Butler Yeates poem Song of Wandering Aengus, the crowd loved it and it inspired us to put together a few songs for our fans that we would release online. We asked our old bandmate John Lombardo to help us pick some songs. one thing lead to another and we came up with 12 and had a whole album.
8. How different is your current fanbase compared to the previous decade?
Pretty much the same fan base. They’ve aged along with us.
9. Do you have any strange stories from your live shows, to share with us?
I did fall off the stage in Portugal once. I was wearing sunglasses indoors and the lights went dark after the song. My Bad.
10. How was the experience in MTV Unplugged?
Unplugged was a great experience. we worked hard ahead of the concert to be the best we could be. David Byrne was a lot of fun to work with. I enjoyed that opportunity immensely.
11. What is the best market for you in terms of commerce and fan feedback?
We have fans in every corner of the world. Over the last few years we’ve developed quite a following in Brazil. That’s a lot of Fun! Rio is fantastic. in the States we spend a lot of time on the east coast between Washington DC, NYC and Boston Mass. Chicago has a vibrant summer festival culture and we spend a lot time there every summer.
12. How technology has affected your career?
Technology has made everything easier and cheaper. Writing and recording new music is so much easier now it’s great for creativity and for capturing those elusive musical moments. also the social media has made it easier to keep in contact with our fanbase and mold it into a little community. It has also helped us finance our last two recordings.
Info: http://maniacs.com/
