The Charles Manson Experiment

“If you’re into rock, you’ll like this band. If you’re into grunge, you’ll like this band.” Music Feeds, June 2008.

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“If you’re into rock, you’ll like this band. If you’re into grunge, you’ll like this band.” Music Feeds, June 2008.

Alternative rock group The Charles Manson Experiment hail from Newtown in Sydney’s inner-west. It was here living side by side with the hippies and goths, art galleries and Thai restaurants that the four members, who had each grown up without much of a sense of belonging, pooled their collective interests and hang-ups and became The Mansons.

Bound by a love of heavy, melodic music and an interest in conspiracy theories, The Mansons “are predominantly a gritty band. They like their rock, and they like to wail” (Music Feeds, June 2008). With their straight-up rock & roll line-up and flair for the dramatic, they have often been likened to Ziggy Stardust and The Pixies. A love of the 1960’s has seen them cover the Rolling Stones and Jefferson Airplane, and their musical influences are also rooted in the gothic and glam melodrama of such artists as Bauhaus, T-Rex and Adam Ant. Australian artists Snowman, The Easybeats, Ratcat and unsung 60’s rock & rollers The Throb are their main influences closer to home.With their well-constructed songs and a massive live sound, The Mansons’ show has been described as “a finely tuned wall of sound that is at once arresting and strangely beautiful” (Joel King, Secluded Records). In 2008 The Mansons supported Rocket Science at the Miss Rock & Roll pageant (Sauturdays in October at The Annandale), appeared in the “Local Legends” gig series at their local Sandringham Hotel for the “Under the Blue Moon” inner west gothic festival (alongside Brigitte Handley, Mz Ann Thropik and Belle Phoenix), as well as being invited to perform in The Jager Uprising Half-Year Finals.

The Mansons are as fond of recording as they are of playing live, and their self-funded debut EP Blood, Love & Rhetoric (recorded and produced with Andrew Beck at Damien Gerard Studios and mastered by William Bowden) was described by Nic Dalton of Half A Cow Records as “dark, fuzzed up rockers with lyrics that are both gloomy and uplifting at the same time. Maybe it’s because the songs have such strong melodies and the arrangements are full of the right sort of riffs that make me think these guys have got something special going on… Highlights for me are ‘Latchkey Kid’, ‘The Creep Crawler’, ‘Infinity Plus One’ and ‘Good Cop Bad Karma’. Then there’s the very poppy ‘Unmanned Canyon’ just to show that they can slip a bubblegum-coloured dress on as well as the black leather… As good as these recordings are – and they rock! – I reckon it’s up on stage that the Mansons would definitely impress. I can visualise the opening track ‘Never Help Anyone’ live and can see the fans going mental until hometime.” The record was featured as CD of the month on the HAC website in October 2008.

The opening track Never Help Anyone (Dig Your Own Grave) appears on the soundtrack of upcoming Australian indie horror film The 7th Hunt, and Unmanned Canyon “the poppiest song on the CD” (Iain Murray, Music Feeds) was featured on Foghorn Records’ compilation Grow Your Own Vol. 10 and received consistent airplay from FBi Radio.

The EP has also received airplay on 2SER, 2RRR, Skid Row Radio and even some college radio stations in the United States. In a Drum Media retrospective, Dr. Vern Pullen named The Mansons one of his “favourite bands of 2004”. The Mansons have been praised for their stripped back, semi-acoustic radio performances, leading FBi’s Naked City host Jay Katz to proclaim them “one of the most important bands in Australia, maybe in the world”. The Mansons are planning to record again in early 2008, this time engineering and producing it themselves in true DIY fashion.

The Mansons look forward to broadcasting to their audience via radio, internet, television and intergalactic transmission.

Band Members

Cassady Maddox - Vocals/Guitar
, Dereck Cannon - Vocals/Guitar
, Nikki Ponymeadow - Bass/Vocals
, Anthony Matters - Drums

Band Influences

• Sonic Youth
• Nirvana
• Bauhaus
• Joy Division
• Radiohead
• Jefferson Airplane
• Iggy Pop
• David Bowie
• Muse
• Screaming Lord Sutch
• The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster
• The Rolling Stones
• Led Zeppelin

Keywords

Charles Manson Experiment Alternative Psychedelic The Mansons Glam

Boooring……

Seems like the band owners have been pretty boring here, you should get in contact with them and find out why it's empty!