Johnny Manchild to share 'Side Effects' with Buffalo audience

Manchild leaving his mark in music

By Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

As it pertains to his touring calendar, what’s next for alt-rocker Johnny Manchild is a stop in Buffalo – where he’ll perform Sunday night at Rec Room.

As it pertains to the big picture, well, that’s something the Oklahoma City-born singer is still figuring out.

His recent album release, “Side Effects,” delves more into this question.

“It's one of those things that there are parts of it that, from the jump, I knew what I was trying to do, and then there are other things that sort of revealed themselves as I went along. But, I think by the end of it, I realized that this record is largely about mental health, which I knew. There's some topics about just queerness and self-expression. There's topics about the dystopian vibes that we're going through right now, a little bit,” Manchild explained in a recent interview. “It started from a place of – for lack of a better way to put it – I suppose a post-suicidal state of being. As in, now you're accepting that you're here; you're not going anywhere; you're going to be aging; you're going to be living through this – into a time of life that you maybe thought you weren't going to be around for.

“That, to me, is where the name comes from, is the side effects of surviving … is everything. It's hard to live. It's hard to survive. Like, now you're here, and there are things that come along with that – and it is challenging – and we're learning how to adapt, and how to survive, and that's sort of my subtext on the record.”

In a press release for “Side Effects,” Manchild noted that, “While this album began as a struggle for catharsis regarding my hospitalization due to mental health struggles over the last few years, it slowly took the form as a sort of protest record. My internal fears and anxieties seem to have become a shared experience that everyone can now recognize; side effects of the world we find ourselves living through.”

Johnny Manchild (Photo credit: Tori Gowland // courtesy of Hired Gun Media)

••••••••

With “Side Effects,” and this tour, Manchild provides listeners a chance to join the rebellion.

“I'll say it like this: I think that the thing that's great about touring – and the context that this music takes on when you're doing that – and in a group of people that you're performing for and that are there with you experiencing the thing – everybody's got scars; and they're all a little different, but they're similar, too. And we all, I think, we can see each other, and we know that the fact that we've got those scars, at all, means that we survived something. And we might still be going through it, but there's something to be said about being in a room with your peers, I guess,” he said. “And to me, this music – while it does deal with these things that are inherently negative, the light on it is a positive thing of overcoming and moving past it and learning how to live with it.

“And so, for me, it's what's great about music – and any art, really – is you can take this trauma or negative experience and turn it into something meaningful. Not to dwell in it, and not to be like a trauma pop-type thing, like selling it, but to move past it; to use it as something that can identify with others. We're all learning from each other how to move forward.

“It doesn't feel negative to me.”

“Side Effects” was further described in the press release as a “sound” created “from its solid base of alt-rock with a power pop punk influence and piano to include heavier guitars, a full horn section, and hints of industrial noise, along with rapid-fire vocals.”

Manchild teamed with The Poor Bastards for the record.

“We've been touring as a trio,” he said of the lineup headed to Buffalo.

“I've been molding the live show into something. I always like to play songs a little differently than the record, here and there. This tour, I've been really trying to make it what it's supposed to be in my head. And so, the trio, it’s a really cool show. Oftentimes, the cool thing about a trio is we have some room for improvisation, and that's always a big part of my show. I like having room to do stuff and do different things.”

He added, “Rec Room also is just a wonderful venue. I love it there, and they've always treated us really well.”

Manchild said, “I love Buffalo” and noted, “Rick James is from there, and that's awesome. I always love going to Buffalo.”

For more Manchild, visit www.manchild.band.