This is my first attempt at a semi-serious interview using my new digital recorder.
Recording the interview is just the first step, after listening to the interview and deciding on whether or not the interview is OK to use I must type out the words while listening to the playback. This is a rather long and tedious process so I will continue listening and typing until the entire interview is complete.
Joe Tell (JT) attempts to interview local music singer and his Forever Green songwriting partner Dan Manzella (DM) with a special, rare guest appearance by Cheryl Manzella (CM) as "the ghost" .
Special thanks to Dan and Cheryl.
JT: Howdy folks, this is Joe. I am a local underground Buffalo music blogger and I'm here with Dan Manzella...
DM: (Sings) Hello, Hello, Hello...
JT: A fine local singer. Well Hello to you Dan, How are you today?
DM: I'm OK, How are you?
JT: Good. OK the reason why I'm interviewing Dan is because he's got a high profile with his Eminence Front band and he's got other stuff going on with 55 Main.
DM: I wouldn't call it a profile.
JT: Well that's what it says on your Facebook profile so I just copied it off there.
DM: Does it?
JT: Ya. I stalk you every other day don't you know? but anyway ya...
DM: Stalking is corny.
JT: Dan sings with Eminence Front...
DM: Get it corny?
JT: ...with Randy Barnard and Dave Nuemann...
DM: Did you say barnyard?
JT: ...barnyard
DM: No it's Barnard
JT: Barnard in the barnyard
DM: A ha ha ha...
JT: ...Bill Mason
DM: ( in Porky Pig voice) a ba de a be da a Bill
JT: We're just here hanging out trying to do a tryout for a interview here with my new digital recorder, we're trying to catch ghosts in Dan's basement now...
DM: Ya, there could be a couple down here who knows...
JT: So how would you...
DM: Ha ha ha ha ha!
JT: Dan tell us what's going on with all your projects after you stop laughing...
DM: I'm sorry, OK, well most recently we released a CD that's gone over pretty good on reverbnation, big thanks to Joe Militello who's doing this blog site right now...blogsite, I don't now if that's appropriate or not but the CD is called Repercussions it's a recent Forever Green, it's like the third in a series of three, Forever Green the trilogy...
JT: I'm just here as Joe Tell I'm not here to represent that project...
DM: OK so he's not Joe Militello at the moment, he's Joe Tell...ha ha
JT: Tell us about your other things Dan...
CM: I'm here as the ghost...
DM: Oh this is the ghost right here, the ghost of Mrs. Mwyer, it's Cheryl my wife, my lovely wife so...
CM: I wanna be the ghost.
DM: Oh maybe later...ha ha ha...
JT: Cheryl local photographer...
DM: Cheryl yes, local photog extraordinaire...
JT: What's your Facebook? facebook...cheryl joetell... cheryl photos dot com or something?...
CM: I have no idea what your talking about...ha ha ha
JT: ...photo page? facebook page?
CM: I actually don't have a photo page yet I'll work on that. You can promote it on your blog page when I do have a photography page set up. I'll work on that soon, thank you.
JT: ...cherylmanzellyphotos@aol.com
DM: Manzelly? what the?...
JT: cherylferrisphotos...
DM: cherylmanzellaphotos...I don't know what's wrong with Joe Tell but...plus we're also doing Eminence Front which is a Who, Bad Company tribute band with Bill Mason, Dave Nuemann, Randy Barnard. We're also doing 55 Main which is a ongoing thing that's been going on for 5 years now. A party rock band that is done pretty well for itself over the course of 5 years and people like us for whatever reason and I'm grateful to God for that blessing every time. That's 55 Main, Danny Gore on the drums, Tony Chimera on percussion, Dave Nuemann on bass, Randy Barnard on lead guitar and Danny Manzella, me on vocals.
JT: Dan it's weird because you've been together for 5 years and the name of the band is 55 is that kinda weird?
DM: You know what else is weird about that? That number comes up all the time, like registers, clocks
CM: At least twice a day on the clock...
JT: What would say are your 3 main singing influences?...
DM: Main ha ha ha...I have 55 main influences oh ha ha ha...
JT: When you go out in front of the people and sing, the 3 singers that influenced your style of singing and phrasing and lyrics the most...
DM: There's way too many to pick just three but I will pick three. Ronnie Van Zant, Paul Rodgers and Greg Allman. Those three guys the way they sing is what is I always dreamed about singing like as a kid. You know how a guitarist would maybe emulate Peter Frampton as a kid in the 70's growing up, wanna play guitar just like Frampton. Obviously you're not gonna be just like Frampton, you're gonna be your own Frampton, ya know? Capiche? You know what I mean? That would the thing, you'd be your own Frampton.
JT: When you're coming up trying to learn how to sing...
DM: Right, I'm not Ronnie Van Zant, I'm not Paul Rodgers. Remember that one drunken dude "You're not Paul Rodgers!" Me and Joe were doing a Forever Green show once way back when in Brant. This little burg of nothing south of Buffalo...
JT: It was a benefit show...
DM: It was a benefit, it was great. It was actually a really great time but, there was this one drunk dude whose old lady, I think, was liking us a little bit too much. Dancing around us and stuff. She was enjoying us so when we introduced "Wishing Well"...which is ironic because we do that now in Eminence Front with the full band but it was just me and Joe doing everything just acoustic guitar and singing and some percussion shaking. We introduced "Wishing Well" and we introduced the song talking about Paul Rodgers and Free before Bad Company this and that and this chick's husband whose was hammered and drinking all day yells out "You're no Bad Company!" ya know and as quickly as I could retort I said "We know we're not sir, thank you" ha ha ha...and he didn't know what to say to that so I still remember that, that's funny.
JT: That was the beginning of an interesting...
CM: Well, if you tell it a little different, I'm sorry for interrupting here but, the funny part is it started off as the guy yelling out stuff and heckling and then...
DM: No, no, nobody was heckling us...
CM: Well he was in that way by yelling out "You're no Bad Company" but then after that his girlfriend, wife whatever went up and was dancing all over while you're singing so was that an insult to him?...
DM: She was dancing like that before that too that's probably why he hollered that.
JT: Ya that was back in the day when we were playing for free before we actually started doing recordings. Before Dan was in full bands, that was fun. So we got the three best singers that influenced you what's your three favorite songs of all time?
DM: Believe it or not one of my all time, I think one the most beautifully written songs is "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" by Hank Williams. Always has been since the first time I dropped the needle on the vinyl, if you ever listen to that song it's just beautiful.
JT: Ya he was awesome...
DM: Yes definitely, songwriter extraordinaire. I know I've already used the term extraordinaire describing Cheryl's photography but...two other songs as my favorite all time songs, boy that's just maybe too tough, how do you narrow it down? the song list goes on forever...
JT: There has to be at least three that come to mind right away...
DM: Well I love "Nantucket Sleighride", remember that song by Mountain?...
JT: I think you played it for me quite a few times.
DM: "Songs of Yesterday" by Free, a lot of Free songs. I love just about any southern rock song.
JT: When we do stuff as Forever Green how do you and how did you learn to improvise so well? How do the lyrics come to you from out of nowhere? Is that creative side influenced by what you're doing or who you're hanging out with at the time?
DM: Ya, that's a good way of describing it. My creativity is also inspired by what I'm thinking about at the time. A week's worth of thinking about something, it's been in your head and all of the sudden you get a chance to liberate those thoughts into a song. That has been the case when me and you get together, just like you when you're noodling around the guitar and you come up with something. Maybe we'll be down here with you on the guitar and me on the harp and I'm guilty of not working on the harp, like I should, at all. But as far as songs go you know alot of that comes from reading alot and creative writing as a kid. Listening to alot of music, obviously, and digging all kinds of media.
JM: The songs that you mentioned are really good so you get alot of ideas from your influences.
to be continued...
