Interview with Manafest
Interview with Manafest - February's Artist of the Month
Note: This transcript was automatically generated and lightly edited. Some errors may be present.
DJ Kidd: All right. Effect radio, this is DJ Kidd here with Manafest. How you doing?
Manafest: I'm feeling great, brother. Good to be talking to you, man.
DJ Kidd: Good to be talking to you too, buddy. So, hey, let's start this off with the basic question everybody ask. I'm sure, Manafest. Like, how did you come up with the name? Why is the name there? And what's important about it? And does it mean something more now to you than it did when you first, enacted it?
Manafest: Yeah, definitely means a lot more now that I've been doing music as long as I have. I think full time, about 15 years. Well, jeez, longer than I had the name Manafest, probably in 2000. So for 24 years. Right. I guess I've been Manafest. I was in a group before that, but, my nickname, when I was in the group was speedy, and so I just we just didn't think that would fly. No offense to any of the artists named speedy out there.
DJ Kidd: There's, you know, a whole lot of them out there.
Manafest: And. No, no, I just wanted a name that meant something to me. And again. Yeah, when you're first. Oops. I just close this so nobody can call me. You know, when you're first starting out, you don't you don't know what's going to happen or, you know, like, some people are a little bit more prayerful and deep about it. But to me, it was just like, that sounded cool. But then when I dove into it and saw the word Manafest in the Bible about, you know, the Manafest light and the glory of God and God just showing up and something being exposed by the light. Yeah. You know, that brought a lot more meaning to it. And, you know, I've been always a pretty serious dude about my faith and wanting to put a message of hope and tell people about Jesus. And so just I felt like my music was at a place where allowed me to shine light in dark places. And that's what we've kind of done the last, you know, couple decades.
DJ Kidd: Okay. Okay. Well, in my research on you show that you were a pro skater before your musician, but before that, like, how did you come to know God and how did that influence the avenue that you decided to go in life?
Manafest: Yeah. I wasn't actually pro. I was sponsored, but I never, never got to the pro level. Wanted to got sponsors and free stuff, and whatever. And, you know, some of the companies actually ended up sponsoring my music tours, which was.
DJ Kidd: Really nice, but.
Manafest: God always works out cool stuff. But, you know, I hurt myself skateboarding. And then that's how I kind of got into into music, because it's like one dream got buried. Yeah. And then another dream came alive. And so it's really interesting. I like to think God has a sense of humor because music wasn't even on my radar. But, I believe God always, always had a plan. You know, I was at a Bible camp. My mom bribed me to go. I was, like, the only skater there, but I heard there were going to be girls there. So I went.
DJ Kidd: To. Right?
Manafest: Right. And I did meet my wife there. I've been married to for 21 years. Even through this crazy music industry. Right. Because we've seen a lot of stuff, and, but we're still happily married. But most important thing, I still got my faith. I still go to church, you know, still in my Bible, listening to stuff. And, you know, that's always been the foundation. And I like to think that's why I'm still here, you know, because it was more than just music or money or, you know, it was the both the message.
DJ Kidd: Right. So how did you come to know God, though, in that aspect?
Manafest: Well, like Bible camp, really, my mom bribed me and forced me to go. And so, you know, hearing hearing the word of faith, and hearing about Jesus, you know, and I was a really angry kid, and, you know, so that my anger issues that I'm working through every, every now and then, but. Right, but, you know, I, I lost my dad to suicide when I was five years old and gone through crazy stuff as a kid. But I really remember being at that camp, like, God loved me and forgave me. And it's like, you know, you can almost feel like the spotlight is on you. And Holy Spirit spoke to me, you know, and having this personal encounter as opposed to this dragged to Sunday morning church encounter, I really believe at that camp there's a lot of worship time and obviously word and, you know, you're pulled out of your regular atmosphere, right? And you're immersed in just the word everyday. Like what was cool about this camp was like, sure, there was some sports. I hated sports, but there's a lot of attention on church, you know, and hearing the message in worship each day. And I really believe that's what really broke through to me, you know, and really, really melted my heart. Like, dude, like when I came to that camp, they took my magazines, like, I didn't have porno magazines, but I had like a skate mag that had nudity in it. Yeah, I didn't think think anything of it. And, you know, had a bunch of different stuff. Like I wore a really gnarly shirt to the first Bible study, like I was.
DJ Kidd: Man, this kid, these.
Manafest: I always like that. I yeah, when I think about like how raw I was, like, yeah. And and I didn't care. You know, I wanted to be the, the punk kid, you know. Yeah.
DJ Kidd: Wow. That's that's amazing.
Manafest: Those miracles man.
DJ Kidd: Absolutely. So do you, in turn, because of what happened to you at a camp? Do you like to do camps? Do you like to go and perform at youth camps and stuff like that?
Manafest: Well, I became a counselor there, which was rad. And so I kind of got to give back and, you know, mentor a bunch of actual other skate punks. Right. But the worst stuff than me, and, and so that was really rad. I ended up performing there as an artist, which was cool. And then, yeah, we ended up doing lots of camps. I haven't performed a show in over 4 or 5 years now. We took a year off before Covid.
DJ Kidd: And then Covid just killed everything.
Manafest: It just really threw everything, especially in Canada. Like I couldn't get back into the country without being quarantined while, so it was really messed up, you know? So.
DJ Kidd: Are you in Canada now or are you in LA?
Manafest: I am, I'm trapped in Canada still lovely.
DJ Kidd: Just can't get out anymore.
Manafest: I don't I don't have my green card anymore. We could get it back anytime we want and. Right, you know, perfectly. One day we will. We'll see.
DJ Kidd: And you were jokingly commenting that you'd like to have Canada be the 51st date.
Manafest: All about it. Dude, I'm all about it. America.
DJ Kidd: That would free up to be able to come back and forth. You know who cares, right?
Manafest: Let's make America Great again and Canada great again at the same time.
DJ Kidd: You know, it's a little side spin on the whole Gulf of America thing. Like, we gotta remember. Like we are all like, it's it's all America. It's like the Americas. So yeah, it's literally like, oh, it's the United States. They're just being jerks. They were all in America anyway.
Manafest: You guys are like a couple hours from the border. It's just like it's so close, man.
DJ Kidd: And yeah, yeah, so far away.
Manafest: Yeah. It's amazing how different the countries are. Like how close we are. Like, literally when you cross the border, you know, you're in America and you know, I've been to 22 plus countries. And honestly, there's nothing that no other country like America. Man, as much as people want to say things like, it's the most amazing country in the world and, I'm very thankful for you guys. Oh, wow.
DJ Kidd: Wow. Well, you know, Yeah. I'm gonna we want, musically, you've kind of been everywhere in the rap genre that you can be, you know, urban rap and rock rap and everywhere in between. What's your favorite format and why?
Manafest: Yeah. I like both of them for different reasons. You know, it's hard to pick because I really bounce back between. I've been doing so much for TV and film lately that it has been leaning more hip hop alternative, you know, I'm beginning to sing a lot more, which is really cool. Still rapping a bit as well too. But I, I really enjoy there's nothing like hearing a great song mixed back. Like, still just gives me the tingles. I still get excited. I still love trying to figure it out like a puzzle to make the best song. But, you know, I honestly, it's like 5050 to me. I just I just love both of them. I, I'd like to do, you know, another rock heavier record again. I will probably next year, maybe. Maybe later this year too. Just depends. But, I just love them both equally. Man, it's just so fun that they use different parts of my creative brain, which is cool, right?
DJ Kidd: Right. So as an artist myself, you know, I go back and I listen to stuff I've done before and, you know, I, I expect that I would like remember every little part of that recording as I went through, but I actually listen to it to them, you know, and I go, oh, man. Like that's actually really good. And I forget that it was like me that was doing that. Do you ever have that issue?
Manafest: Yeah. We're we're I'm writing so many songs because like, I used to tour like 150 shows a year. Like it was crazy how many shows we used to do. And then we would take time off to do songs. And so it's like when you go into the studio, it was like more of the special moment, and it's still special now, but right now, do you like, like we released or recorded finished like 27 plus songs last year? Well, I'll probably do 40 to 50 this year. Wow. And you know, sometimes, like last Monday, we wrote a song recorded. It's done ready for TV film stuff and like you now, it's like a bit of a blur. Sometimes you.
DJ Kidd: Forget you did.
Manafest: It. Oh, yeah. Like it's just so fast. Like we're just cranking out so and so. Obviously certain songs mean more and hit you differently, but like. And yeah, you do go back. It's like, oh, I forgot about that one or just, just forgot that we did that. Like because it's just like you're just cranking out so many now and, what a blessing, man. Right.
DJ Kidd: So do you have a favorite song? Yeah.
Manafest: Man, I really like, glitch in the matrix. That's that's a new one. I just love the title. I love the hook of the production. You know, one of my all time favorites is, also save you. I really like that song. That came as a surprise. Yeah.
DJ Kidd: Awesome. Well, so, you have a family, right?
Manafest: I have a daughter and a wife.
DJ Kidd: Do they tour with you at all? What do you do? When do you have.
Manafest: My daughter's been to like 1 or 2 shows, but she hasn't been to a show recently because I haven't done one. But, my wife used to tour with me all the time. She used to. She's been around the world to me. She's been with me to Japan and UK and all across US, Canada.
DJ Kidd: Like, nothing like having a wife by her side. And just know when you have the security of your special person there with you, right?
Manafest: Better than a bunch of stinky dudes.
DJ Kidd: I'll tell you what.
Manafest: Like, look at this beautiful moment I get to share with a bunch of men.
DJ Kidd: Yeah, and we all need a shower. Yeah. So that's nice, man. On the next one, you're a solo artist, but you do play with a band. You have a band that you work with, right?
Manafest: Yeah. I just hired young guys. Yeah. You know.
DJ Kidd: Any kind of stories related to those guys? You know, me went through stuff, man.
Manafest: Like, you know, there's, Honestly, dude, it's been so long. Like, you know, there's been times where we hit deer. I'll never forget that. I was pretty crazy.
DJ Kidd: This man got sausage on the side of the road, right?
Manafest: Yeah. Just, like, just just goes flying. It didn't die, thank God. Oh, wow. One time we were driving all the way to Minnesota. I forget that club. They used to have that cool, and it had, like, a hairdresser place in it and stuff was.
DJ Kidd: I could tell you I showed it.
Manafest: It was freezing. Club three degrees, I think it was called.
DJ Kidd: That would make sense.
Manafest: Yeah, yeah. And, I remember we smacked a wolf, and I remember I was fast asleep and my buddy was driving and he was like, man, it wanted to die, dude. It wanted to die. He's like, I was in this one lane. And I moved over, over, over, over. And he says it just like ran ran right into it.
DJ Kidd: I was driving to LA one time. I live in Idaho and, we're driving through Nevada in middle, and I probably had two been 2 or 3 in the morning and, and, you know, when you drive in that particular part of the interstate is nothing but rabbits and. Yeah, nothing you can do to, to move past them. Like you just gotta go straight and his every little thing plop, plop. Right. And then, and I'm in this little van thing and all of a sudden, like, the biggest rabbit I've ever seen could have been a coyote. But he had big ol floppy ears, so I know it was a rabbit, but it was huge. And I hit that thing and it's splatter the entire undercarriage with that car in a way that I've never seen before. Oh, man. All right. So, let's let's move along. A recent thing that I've seen from you in social media, and, and I would love to pick your brain on the outside of all this, being an artist myself. I was, I had a conversation with K.J. five, two some years back about Spotify and how they pay, like, 100th of a cent per play. Streaming wise. And then he was frustrated because, trying to make money in the streaming world as an artist that isn't signed is near impossible. But you've got a book out on online book. Right. Trying to help, fledgling artists like myself and others to be able to be successful in the market. Is there anything, any way that you can share some of that information with us right now? Like what? What what about is important and and how can you help us? And then where can we get it to for sure.
Manafest: Yeah. This is the book. It's on Amazon. You can get the physical or digital or audio version. It's called Spotify Profits 2.0. Awesome. And I know everyone focuses on, you know, the per streaming rate, but that's because you didn't grow up in the model of what it used to be. And where you had to sell albums. Right? And sure, I've had success in Japan selling 10,000 albums a week, and, you know, in the US over 500 a week. And, you know, CJ has sold a lot of albums in that system. But you know, you're also beholden to distribution labels. And I've been on both sides of the track where you're just not selling albums. Right. And there's so much that you just cannot control, can't control getting it in the stores, the placement, getting people to walk in, you know, getting enough copies ordered, like they're like it was a disaster compared to what it is now.
DJ Kidd: And people forget that as artists, we're also we have to be businessmen too. So we have to be mindful of even those little tiny things in a store as they go, you know? And you're how can you get your product out over the other?
Manafest: Yeah. Like I would never want to go back to the old model. Spotify has allowed me to have a full time career. And, you know, I signed what was called a licensing deal with the label, tooth and nail. And so I eventually got my albums back, and that's what allowed me to do music. And, you know, we always just tried to make the best music possible, and some songs just kept streaming and kept streaming, and Spotify allowed me to have a full time income and even be able to do what I'm doing right now, having the time to talk to you and not tour. And so I always say to artists, it's just you just got to get more streams, you got to get more awareness. And that's just like anything that could be on YouTube or wherever. You just need to get known more. And, you know, and it's not always about the best song that wins. It's the best marketed song, right? You know, I get frustrated back in the day, and this is the days of touring where, you know, some of these bands are music was okay, right? But their show was incredible, so they still, so many CDs, but like, this music was okay, but their personality and their charisma and this is the same thing with social media, man. Like, you know, it's that charisma or your story learning to tell your story because, like, nobody wants to hear my new song dropped. But I wrote this song because I was struggling with suicide. I was in this dark place. Yeah. I remember I was in my car.
DJ Kidd: They weren't. They weren't related at this point.
Manafest: Yeah, yeah, they want to know the story behind stuff. You know, but like, I'm very, very thankful.
DJ Kidd: So for those or for those listeners and stuff like that out there that, that see this, social promotion, it's not just a moneymaker for Manafest. It's actually like, hey, I want to try to help people succeed the same way that I did. That's what the purpose of that book is, right?
Manafest: Yeah. It's just shows all the strategies and everything that I did to do it right. Because one of the biggest mistakes a lot of artists do is they don't release singles, they release the whole album. Still. Right? And second thing is, is they don't tell anybody about it. They just put it out there and they think it's just going to get found and you know, you know, what's really cool about social media and just the online world is not even like I've had more success of people using my songs and then getting millions of streams and people finding my music. Right. Versus even the videos that I post don't don't get as much. But you know, people have to know the music even exists, right? For it to get used.
DJ Kidd: So that it has, you know, hey, this hook fits with this particular film I'm doing. You know?
Manafest: Yeah.
DJ Kidd: Fan base university. You have that going to.
Manafest: Yeah, it's a coaching program that we have, where people have to apply to to work with this, and I do some, one on one coaching. Yeah. Every, every week. We actually have our call tonight with some of our students. And again, I'm very, very thankful, like, oh, I'll tell you, one of my biggest mentors, who really poured into me was Trevor McNeil. Even from a thousand for.
DJ Kidd: Right? Yeah. I've had the pleasure time on him.
Manafest: He's a real dude. And he really poured and he just one of many, many people who have poured into me and, I've hired so many different coaches and so thankful for the mistakes that I avoided. And so, you know, it's been cool to be able to coach other art, especially other Christian artists as well, too, that, have the same heart. You know, we work with everybody, but, you know, it's cool when they're also believers as well.
DJ Kidd: All right. Well, if you, we're giving you a chance right now to say anything you would like to say to our listeners, what would you like to say?
Manafest: And putting me on the spot here, you know, you know, I really believe everybody's called, you know, I know we hear the Scripture all the time. Jeremiah 2911. God's got a plan to prosper you, to give you a hope and a future. And I believe that for me, and I believe it for you. But the question is, do you believe it for yourself? And also that second Timothy one seven says that I wasn't born with the spirit of fear, but the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind and, to not get caught up in, you know, the politics, the crazy stuff in the world get caught up with God in his presence. It doesn't matter who's in the office. It matters who's inside of your heart. And that's Jesus. And he'll lead you and just focus on your dreams and helping other people and what God's called you to do. And, everything else will line up. I believe.
DJ Kidd: Awesome, awesome. Well, what can we expect from Manafest in the future? Near and far?
Manafest: I did two albums last, Oh, no. Oh, I guess it was an album last year and I'm doing another. I got a new album dropping this Friday, Silent Beast. Okay, I will probably release another album. Just lots more music, more stuff and TV shows and just more songs. I don't know about touring, but we'll see.
DJ Kidd: Man, and you are our artist for February. And so, let's.
Manafest: Go, let's go.
DJ Kidd: We appreciate, we appreciate you, donating your albums to our crew and respect. And, we also, we will pump you up like nobody else.
Manafest: Because.
DJ Kidd: That's what we like to do is, Amen. Thank you so much. We're going to call it quits for now. Hang on the line. After we get done, we'll do some stuff, and you and I afterwards. But, I just want to say thank you for being our someone for February. We appreciate you and the music you produced. That helps us reach people as well. That probably wouldn't be able to be reached for God in the same way, because your your music is different than others, right? And we also want to say thank you for the sacrifices you've had and your hard work for, you know, in working for the kingdom. And, we stand with you as you continue to do that, buddy.
Manafest: Awesome, man. Thank you guys for being around too man. We're like OGs here, so it's awesome.
DJ Kidd: All right. Effects radio. We're going to go ahead and take off for right now. And, he and I will discuss some things here in just a few minutes. Thank you so much. Tuning in. God bless you.
