MAÑANA
The SiS Interview by Dany Sloan

Mañana came at my by accident as their album Interruptions landed on my desk when I still worked in Boston. All I knew about them was that they were from Switzerland and that I would like them. After a few listens, I was hooked by their epic yet polished tunes, giving me every indication that good music can come from anywhere. We sent them a letter last month, and the carrier pigeon just flew back their responses. Here is what they had to say.

SIS: How did the band get together? What were your initial goals? How has that changed?

M: We started out as an acoustic duo (Manuel - the singer, and me) and didn't really think about what we did a lot, we just had fun making music together. This changed drastically with the time, when we felt it would be cool to have some more musicians in the band so we could make some more noise. And with that came the ambition to play proper shows, write more & better songs, and put our music on tape.

SIS: What are you guys up to in 2008?

M: We recorded our album last fall/winter and it will be released in August, so hopefully we can have a first go at conquering the world with it!

SIS: Who do you often find yourselves compared to, and do you like or dislike that comparison?

M: We used to get a lot of comparisons to Coldplay when we released our first EP, which is called Fast Days EP and was recorded in 2003, so quite some time ago. We were still pretty young and freshly together as a band, still it was a great experience to record 5 songs in just one weekend and to have the result on a CD.

SIS: Who are some of your favourite bands to play with? Do you think any of them will take over the world?

M: Definitely one of the best and most impressive bands we ever had the chance to play with was Mew from Denmark, they are such an amazing live band, everyone should go see them and be blown away! Apart from them, we had a great time playing with I Am Kloot from the UK, they manage to touch an audience on a completely different level than Mew, but are no less amazing. Then there are some really great bands from Basel (Switzerland), which have become really good friends with the years, of course. One of them is The Bianca Story, which are a truly energetic live band, and are on the same label as we are, by the way. :) Another really great band and a bunch of old time friends are the guys from Cloudride, who have their rehearsal space in the same little town as we do.

SIS: What is your favorite and least favorite thing about being on the road?

M: Favorites would be seeing different countries and cities, people, food and other parts of their cultures. The least favorite would be the time spent waiting, which is a lot of our time.

SIS: If any member of the Mañana were on the cover of a tabloid, who would it be and why?

M: I guess I follow the cliché on that one and say the singer. He would be on the front page because he spent the last two weeks rehearsing and writing new songs non-stop, had a nervous breakdown and fell in a coma.

SIS: When family ask you what your band sounds like, what do you tell them?

M: I would tell my family, since they all don't really listen to that type of music, that it's really sad & melancholy pop/rock music. Although this isn't really true, it's what they would say because they are used to our Swiss radio stations, which play anything in the range of DJ Bobo and the Backstreet Boys.

SIS: What's something about your hometown that most people don't know?

M: Basel is the most beautiful city there is, that's what all the people from abroad tell us whenever they come here (our producer Ken Thomas, for example, said it was like paradise to him). And no, I don't get paid by the Basel Tourism office.

SIS: In 15 words or less, why should people buy your records?

M: We spent the last four years making it and we think it's worth listening to. That's exactly 15 words, by the way