Man Man, a five-piece, multi-instrumental, experimental band from Philadelphia will be performing in Gainesville next week. They are known for their bizarre antics and energy on stage.
The show is June 13 at Double Down Live, which is located at 210 SW Second Ave.
The doors open at 9 p.m. Local band Black Box Jungle will start playing around 10 p.m. with Man Man going on just before midnight, said Pat Lavery of Glory Days Presents!
Black Box Jungle is extremely excited to share the stage with Man Man. Lavery sent a handful of local music to ANTI- Records booking agents, and Black Box Jungle was selected.
Ryan Michael and Collen Derby of Black Box Jungle classified their music as experimental with punk influences.
“It’s an untraditional format,” Michael said. “There is no guitar with a lot of different effects.”
Man Man is headlining the show. Its latest album, “Life Fantastic,” came out last summer. It was produced by Mike Mogis, a member of Bright Eyes.
Lead singer Ryan Kattner, also known as Honus Honus, plays the piano and is accompanied by a diverse mix of instruments played by the other members, ranging from saxophone and French horn to pots, pans and toys.
According to Kattner, music lovers may not get a chance to see the group for a while after this tour.
“Hopefully people come and witness what we do,” he said. “Not only are we playing after a long period off, but after this little tour, we’re not going to be touring for a while. We are just going to be focusing on working on the next record.”
This small East Coast tour is only 17 days long. It began in Pennsylvania and ends in North Carolina
“The flip side of a short tour is that there is a show almost every day. My voice is guaranteed to be smoky and sexy.”
Kattner said the group is already working on their next album and hopefully it will be out sometime next year.
Q&A With Ryan Kattner
Q: Doing anything interesting with your release?
RK: We were actually going to have them burned to metal plates. It’s gonna be cool. And they’re each gonna come with a little dog.
Man Man hasn’t been to Florida in about two years, Kattner said. The band hasn’t been to Gainesville in nearly six.
Q: Can you provide any insight as to why bands never tour in Florida?
RK: Because of bath salts..?
Florida jokes aside, one of Kattner’s favorite venues is The Original Cafe Eleven in St. Augustine.
Although the tour only kicked off a week ago, Kattner already had a tale or two.
Q: Do you have any good stories from this tour yet?
RK: We’ve been playing a lot of small rooms that we haven’t played in a long time, so that’s been fun for us, because the energy is a lot different.
Q: A little more intimate?
RK: Yeah, the only downside is that kids steal your s--t.
Q: This tour? You got some things stolen?
RK: Yes, it is aggravating. Like the other day, someone stole half of my mustache.
As well as being a part of Man Man, Kattner is a member of Mister Heavenly, a “supergroup” comprised of Joe Plummer from Modest Mouse and The Shins, Nicholas Thorburn of The Unicorns and Islands, and actor Michael Cera, who was the touring bassist.
Q: Does anyone else have a side project, like you with Mister Heavenly?
RK: Yeah we are all doing stuff. Our drummer does a thing called Spaceship Aloha. One of the guys is in a band called Buffalo Stance. Billy is a sculptor, and another member plays in a band called Extraordinaires. So we are all really busy.
With all of the members taking on so many projects, Kattner said scheduling is difficult.
“This takes precedence with me. It’s my baby,” he said.
Tickets are $12 in advance and $14 the day of the show. They are available locally with no service fees at Hear Again Music and Movies, located at 201 SE First Street. They are also available online at www.ticketweb.com.
