NRT's Jake Frederick chats with Manic Drive, who will be heading up next year's Pre-Jam Party at Winter Jam, about performing, connecting with their faith and writing music that matters.
Winter Jam is less than two months away from the first show, and it will be NewReleaseToday's first year as a media sponsor! If you haven’t seen the lineup yet, head on over to 2019.jamtour.com. There are 11 artists and 2 speakers set to take the stage and one of those artists is Manic Drive, who I recently met up with on their 1-Night Music Circus tour. Brothers Shawn and Michael Cavallo opened up the show and sent sparks flying, both figuratively and literally! Amidst technical difficulties and delayed schedules, Shawn took the time to chat with me and give a quick peek behind the scenes of Manic Drive.
You just released a music video for “Into the Wild.” When you started the process of making the music video (the vision, the storyboarding, etc.), what image did you want the viewer to see?
With our latest record, I wanted to be as transparent as possible. I just want people to see through us, to see our passion, to see what really drives us as a band, no pun intended. As Manic Drive has been growing, a lot of people have looked at our lyrics as something just on the surface and easy to digest. With this album, with a lot of our albums really, there’s a little deeper undertone that few people catch onto. “Into the Wild” is talking about Christians getting out of their comfort zones and getting into the places that Christ needs to be heard. I know our primary listener base is Christian, so I wanted to reach out to the Christians portraying that we have to be a little more evangelical with the way we’re pursuing things instead of just staying within the safety of the church walls.
You mentioned a moment ago how you wanted to be more transparent and write from the heart. What stories or feedback have you heard that connect with that openness?
We’re getting some good feedback. It was a little bit scary doing this writing process, throwing away what radio could think, what fans could think about it and get back to the basics of writing the best song we can for Jesus. With this last album, a lot more people are connecting with it. I’m getting a lot of people calling me personally and talking about how encouraging this album has been to them, even from within the industry like NRT and some radio personnel. It’s finally writing as an artist, just being open with some subjects. We’re having a lot of fun doing it. We put it out there, and it’s been received really well.
Reading NRT's Behind the Music interview for “Easier,” you mentioned that your wife said that the song wasn’t done yet after you first showed it to her. How much does she drive you and push you?
She has been one of the driving forces that have completely redefined my vision of what Manic Drive is supposed to be. I feel like just being challenged like, I’m going to be a provider in my family. I’m going to be a leader in my family. I need to be there physically for my wife. All those struggles and mixing that up with Christian music, then having to be like, where do I compromise a little bit? Do I start writing these lyrics for just the listener and the radio and then provide security and financially for my wife and my family? Or do I take a leap of faith and just say what’s on my heart and kinda throw everything out there? She was the first person to hold my hand and walk me through that leap of faith. She was like, “It doesn’t matter about the money, we’re gonna make it through, just write what’s on your heart.” That spun me around in a circle and redefined where I was going with Christian music.
On the Manic Drive YouTube channel, you did a cover of Linkin Park’s “Numb” as a tribute to Chester Bennington, saying he was one of your heroes. How has that changed your perspective on music and what you’re doing?
I didn’t really do that to make any kind of statement. I think it’s just a part of Christians connecting with non-Christians. Something we had in common is the loss of a great artist. Not making too much of a statement with where his salvation was at the time, but just saying we have a loss here and finding common ground with that while doing something artistic in the process.
I saw the emotion in the cover as it was recorded. I’m a fan of Linkin Park as well. Hybrid Theory became popular when I was in high school and trying to be cool (still hasn’t happened yet). Sometimes, these things affect you a little bit more than you think.
Obviously, one of the purposes of us doing music is to be an encouraging voice for the people who need hear stuff like that. I think Chester would have been a huge fan of Disciple if he had the chance to listen and hang out with these guys (motioning to Kevin Young and Joey West of Disciple, Kevin responds “We were a fan of him”).
What are you looking forward to the most about heading on the road for Winter Jam?
I don’t know yet! I’m so in the moment with this tour that we’re currently on. Any performance is a blessing and getting in front of any crowd is just a lot of fun. I just enjoy hanging out, meeting some new friends, some new friends, some new people we can connect with.
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Check out the tour schedule to see if Winter Jam is coming your way. Join the Jam Nation to get early entrance, an artist Q&A, a 40-song exclusive sampler for NewReleaseToday and to make sure you get in the doors so you can meet the guys from Manic Drive!
Jake is a longtime fan of Christian music, Jesus Freak Cruiser, a techie, and a softball player. He lives in Texas with his wife and daughter.
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