Ryan Kattner
(aka Honus Honus)
Man Man, Mister Heavenly
* The interview was originally published on the 'old' Basement in April 2013.
It was about two years ago, when I was in a bar celebrating a friend's birthday and stumbled upon my "music buddy", a very good friend of mine; I call him like that ("music buddy"), because we share the same passion and love about music. Whenever we meet each other (not very often), we start talking about our latest music obsessions and discoveries, we keep exchanging information and details, until someone stops us, usually saying: "Come on you music weirdos! Stop doing this, it's not very polite, you know?". Well, this is exactly what happened that night at the bar, when we met each other. We found a relatively quiet spot and started our favourite discussion. My friend was full of new material that night, he reeled off more than a dozen new music discoveries, one of which was "The Men", the New York 5-piece punk band as I later found out.
The following morning, I woke up and I immediately started doing my homework. Given the amount of bands I was told to dig on and along with the respectable amount of alcohol I had consumed the previous night, I have to admit that I found the whole thing a little bit difficult. When it came to "The Men", I typed "The Man", because that was how the name of the band was stored in my mind's hard disk. The results on YouTube were naturally chaotic, so I tried "The Man music". The results that appeared on the right hand side were equally obscure, but as I scrolled down I came across a link that seemed somehow encouraging: "Man Man - Knuckle Down". I opened the link and pressed the play button and that was it! I listened to a superb song, the tune of which caught me instantly. But the most striking thing was the singer's voice - one of a kind! The magnificence of Ryan Kattner (aka Honus Honus) had just been revealed to me. I started searching more on the band, thanking my "music buddy" again and again. Such a fortunate misunderstanding... Soon (within hours actually) the music of Man Man spread like a virus to the whole Basement Team. The band had just released their amazing fourth studio album Life Fantastic (May 2011), so it was so easy for us to fall in love with them and then go and check out their equally awesome previous releases: The Man In A Blue Turban With A Face (2004), Six Demon Bag (2006), Rabbit Habits (2008). Some months later (Aug.2011), Honus Honus' side project Mister Heavenly released their debut Out Of Love, and that was clearly the 'last straw' for us. Well, here's the very interesting and cool interview we had with one of Basement's most favourite musicians, Ryan Kattner.
The Basement: Do you remember the first time you played the piano? And what came next, how did you first 'mess' with rock 'n' roll, bands, gigs etc?
The first time I was probably 3. My grandfather had a piano at the top of his stairs on the landing of this big, old house and I'd run up and down the stairs banging my head, arms, face, whatever was around on the keys. And the kitchen was right under the stairs and I used to reach thru the stairs, which were open, and steal ice-cream cones off the storage shelves. I'd take a break, eat a cone, continue running up and down the stairs banging on the piano. And for years, I used to check every single piano bench I came across for a seat belt because of Victor Borge and Sesame Street. Jerks.
Years later, I took piano lessons for about 8 or 9 months when I was in 7th grade but I hated practicing and never mastered left and right hand coordination, sight reading, dexterity, patience, scales, chords, hand positioning, keys, etc. You know, all the things necessary for playing the piano. And I never practiced. When I was forced to practice, I'd wait till bedtime and I'd play as loud as possible until commanded to stop. In the end, my parents and I accepted that lessons were just a scam to have them buy me a fancy keyboard because all I really cared about was messing around with the preset sounds of "ice cavern" and "gunshots" and seeing what I could do with those sounds. I only really stuck with lessons for as long as I did because of my pretty piano teacher and because I used to walk to my lessons after school with a very pretty popular girl who also was learning to play and who otherwise wouldn't be caught dead talking and walking with me in any other circumstance. When the pretty teacher quit and was replaced by the NOT-pretty teacher and the pretty girl started hanging out with popular boys and stopped walking to lessons with me, I quit.
I didn't play music again till towards the end of high school when I bought a cheap, heavy-metal looking bass because I thought that learning how to play 4 strings had to be way easier than 6. Not true. The only thing I ever learned how to play, and not well at all, was a short bass solo that Flea does in "Funky Monks". And that was from reading bass tab in a "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" book. Painstakingly.
When I gave up on bass, I borrowed a crappy acoustic guitar and taught myself how to play basic chords but that never really evolved into writing songs or being a very good guitar player. Never started any bands in high school or university.
When I was about 22, after being out of university for a year, a friend mine told me about a piano warehouse he knew of that was going out of business and they were liquidating their stock. The were actually chainsawing all these beautiful old pianos and throwing them into dumpsters so that they could empty the building and turn it into condos. I went with him to check it out what they had left and discovered they had a 73-key Rhodes in wonderful condition. I still didn't really know how to play piano but I was tired of playing guitar, wasn't looking to start a band or anything, and figured I'd bang on it in my spare time and see what happened. Eventually I started writing weird little songs. I didn't really know what the hell I was doing but that was probably better. I didn't know any "rules" of song writing, I didn't care what I came up. Out of this evolved Man Man. My first band. I never thought the band would ever play anywhere outside of Philadelphia and even then I didn't think it'd last more than one record.
The Basement: What kind of music you liked as a kid?
My father played a lot of classic rock around the house growing up and although I dug it, I didn't really connect to as much as I probably should've. My first cassette tapes were Fat Boys, Cocktail Soundtrack, and Weird Al. I remember loving The Jungle Book soundtrack. The soundtrack to the film "La Bamba" was my first CD I ever owned. We moved a lot when I was a kid and I didn't have any friends that ever turned me on to "cool" music.
The Basement: You have said that “the band names are always the hardest to come up with”. What's the story behind the name 'Man Man'?
We were originally called "Gamelon" and it was a reference to an old Japanese cartoon named "Star Blazers." Gamelon was the name of the dying planet on the show. However, it was also, as we learned, the name to an acid-jazz trio from Buffalo, New York, and we had to change the name. "Man Man" seemed simple enough and non-offensive. Before "Man Man" we had plenty of very offensive names that we submitted to our first label as potential replacements. Gamelon was a pretty terrible band name too.
The Basement: Our favourite Man Man album in the basement is definitely Rabbit Habbits. Do you have a favourite album or song throughout your career?
They're all pretty close to my heart since they all encapsulate specific periods of my life, whether or not I even know it at the time. I'm really proud of SIX DEMON BAG because that was a record that I had full creative reign on after my first line-up quit. I had no real budget, was scrambling to put together a band, scrambling to write songs to fill an album. Like I said earlier, I didn't think the band would last past one album but I think everyone quitting on me challenged me to continue on. Spite can work wonders for fortitude. LIFE FANTASTIC was also very special since I was really on the fence about continuing to play music. I had really reached a point of wanting to throw the towel in and do something else.
The Basement: Honus we deeply love your work in general, but your lyrics for 'Poor Jackie'... absolutely astonishing, amazing stuff, pure poetry. Under which conditions and circumstances you wrote them? What was your inspiration?
Thanks so much. It might be surprising for you but I hate writing lyrics. To me, lyrics aren't poetry. They are lyrics and have to exist in that realm. Yes, some lyricist are poets. Leonard Cohen is a poet, brilliant, a master. Me? I'm a condensed story-teller. My main concern is to have interesting lyrics that are "okay" enough that they don't do a disservice to the music wrapped around them. If the words are bad, it's hard to keep the listener around for the music and that's not fair to the other band members. The challenge is marrying abstraction, straight up confessions, and narrations into shapes that are as equally personal as universal. If I can't make a song that's about ME feel like it's about YOU, I've blown it and I'm pretty hard on myself when it come to this. And as far as the basic writing goes… lyrics, melody, and the music all come together at the same time for me which makes my writing very un-prolific. And I work thru repetition. Sometime's I'll sing and play a single verse to myself three or four hundred times before it feels natural, before the cadence rings comfortably, before I have the lyrics nesting snuggly, before I feel confident enough to present it to the rest of the band. Now, imagine being in a relationship or being a roommate with someone like that. It can drive the most pure of heart person evil.
My inspiration for Poor Jackie? It's a combination of the before-mentioned aspects of my song writing approach. I was also inspired by a very real death threat made to me by a very unstable person. I figured "fuck it," I would ask that person, in song form, to go ahead and murder me. If they heard the song and got the message and followed thru at least it'd be a dramatic ending. And I wouldn't have to worry about paying bills anymore, or falling in and out of love, or being depressed. You know, very healthy thoughts.
The Basement: Of course, your entire work is poetic, your words and music give the impression that you are an extremely sensitive and emotional person. True or false?
Sometimes. But I ain't watching "The Notebook" with you.
The Basement: 2011's 'Life Fantastic' was awesome... We've come across a lot of articles and reviews that suggest that it is the best album Man Man have ever made. Do you agree?
I do. Where are these articles? I've never seen them. I'm very proud of the album. I think it's beautiful and chaotic and strikes a perfect balance of the two. But I don't think anyone really gave the album a chance. Other than me. And you. Bless you.
The Basement: Would you mind sharing the best live moment with Man Man? We so much envy all these people that have seen you performing live. God bless youtube!
The best? How about a funny moment? A year or so ago I was looking in the mirror one night after a show and I was like, "Holy Fuck! I have a permanent welt on my forehead!" After years of pretending to bash my head into my keyboard, there were so many nights of accidentally actually doing it, that I have a bump on my head now. Forever. It's not as drastic as Wesley Willis' (RIP) but you know…it's a bump. Or maybe my brain is pregnant.
The Basement: Your Take Away Show for Blogotheque was absolutely fantastic, we can't stop watching it again and again. It seems it was early in the morning; what time was it really while you were screaming your lungs out under the people's balconies? Could you describe your experience with Vincent Moon for us?
Vincent, Benoit, Christophe and that whole crew are simply a gift to music. I love those guys. Pure magic. Which Take Away Show are you referring to though? We did another one a couple summers ago, when Life Fantastic was released, and it was a lot of fun. Drunken fun. It was late at night after we had already played a show and were a little drunk to begin with and as the shoot continues we get more and more hammered. What a mess. My voice sounded like a dying cat.
The Basement: We know it's a longshot , but is there any chance you came in Greece? How's the band's relationship with Europe in general?
We'd love to come to Greece but outside of you guys, does anyone know who the fuck we are? Outside of France, we do terrible in Europe. We've only been over a handful of times but really lost a lot of money each time and it's become more and more bleak for us. I wish we did splendidly over there but it's just not in the cards it seems. Europe's loss, I say. With that being said…we are planning a small tour in mid-July. Kind of building it around the "Colours of Ostrava Festival" that we're playing. Get your people to talk to our people, rob a couple banks, and let's see what happens!
The Basement: What are your plans for the new year? We see that there's a tour commencing in February... Any new songs, any plans for a new album?
We finished recording and mixing the new album with Mike Mogis. He also produced Life Fantastic and it was great being able to work with him again. Hopefully we'll drop the record sometime this summer.
The Basement: Mister Heavenly – an awesome and absolutely cool side project! How did the whole thing start?
Nick and I were just going to a do 7-inch, two songs. Ended up writing an entire record. I asked my buddy Joe to play drums. SubPop heard the demos, offered to put the album out. History was made.
The Basement: The video for Bronx Sniper, is absolutely insane (and brilliant)! Who thought of it? It seems symbolic, what's the message behind it?
Corey Adams, the director, had full control of the idea. I saw his ManWolf characters in a commercial he did and I was all "I don't care what you do, just use those psychos in it". He complied. The message? Don't fuck with your kids shit. Period.
The Basement: Do Mister Heavenly still exist as a band? Or was it just an-one-album occasional collaboration? Should we expect a second album?
Yes. No. And Yes.
The Basement: In Mister Heavenly you teamed up with charismatic Nicholas Thorburn and superb musician Joe Plummer. Are there any other bands/artists that you admire and would like to collaborate with?
I'd love to do something with Satomi from Deerhoof someday. And I really think my voice would sound great with Shilpa Ray. Mostly, I would love to do a cameo in a Wes Anderson, P.T. Anderson, or Coen Bros. film. Or at least have a song used in one them.
The Basement: We are so excited for this interview that we got carried away and must have tired you with all these questions. But since we have a thing for lists in the basement, would you mind sending us your top ten favoutite artists or tracks of all time?
Here's some that always keep me going…
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put A Spell on You
Gino Washington - Puppet on a String
Faust - The Sad Skinhead
Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man
The Rolling Stones - Beast of Burden
Karen Dalton - Something on Your Mind
Hank Williams (everything)
Pavement (all albums)
CAN - Tago Mago
Misfits - Hybrid Moments
Solomon Burke - Cry to Me
James Brown - Please Please Please
Nick Cave - Into My Arms and The entire Boatman's Call album.
Bob Dylan - The Man in Me
Also, check out Shilpa Ray. She's amazing. She should have a solo album sometime this year. And METZ. They are fucking amazing live.
