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Off the Record features interviews with local and national musicians as aired on WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2.
Manta Ray - WKNC Interviews.mp3
Meeting created at: 9th Oct, 2026 - 2:34 PM
00:00
Kendall
Hello and welcome. You're listening to WKNC 88.1 FM HD-2 Raleigh. I'm your host, Kendall, and this is off the Record. Here with me today is the up and coming band from Raleigh, Manta Ray. Welcome to the show. So Manta Ray just released their first song on Spotify called Breathless. So walk me through what that process was like for the first time.
00:21
Alan
Ooh, it was. It was a long process. Tbh. Yeah. So we. It took us like almost a year to write this song. I feel like it. I don't know. We all have very different styles of music that we play, so it was hard to find something that we all liked, I think. But yeah, just like the recording and mixing and everything, it took like almost a year to write this song. So. Yeah, a year. I would say so, right?
00:54
Jake
Yeah. I mean, I don't think he was necessarily like, coming up with the music itself took a year, but I think there was a lot of, you know, getting it together, getting put together, like the processes of making music besides the actual music itself. That took a long time out of.
01:07
Frankie
Remixing and remastering and recording tracks over and over again, that sort of thing.
01:13
Alan
This is all recorded in our. In my bedroom. So yeah, we didn't have any like. I mean we had like production equipment, but it wasn't like professional by any means. It sounds very made in my garage kind of vibes, which I think is what we're kind of going for.
01:29
Kendall
Totally. And what's the story behind the lyrics? Like what inspired you guys to write that sort of song? I know Alan, you're like the songwriter. What was that like for you?
01:38
Alan
It was, it was weird because I think my biggest. I think one of the biggest, like downfalls I've said about myself is like, I am terrible at writing lyrics. And me and Frankie actually kind of like tag teamed this, like the lyric writing. I think a lot of like the inspiration from it comes from, I think, just like past, not past relationships, but just like past. I don't know, just like my past. I don't know, with people. Like, I can't hold my breath, but you take it away. You know what I mean? I don't know, it was just like something that, I don't know, me and Frankie definitely felt before.
02:16
Frankie
So I feel like it's not so much we had to have a kind of learn that the lyrics themselves don't matter as much as kind of the energy and the attitude behind the lyrics.
02:24
Kendall
Yeah.
02:24
Frankie
And the feelings behind them.
02:26
Alan
Yeah.
02:27
Frankie
Because you listen To a lot of songs. And, like, I listen a lot of Sublime and they just sing whatever they want. Like, the lyrics are just, like, nonsensical, and it's kind of like, energy behind it. You got to. You got to be comfortable.
02:38
Alan
Yeah.
02:39
Frankie
Saying them and that's all that matters.
02:40
Kendall
Totally. And you said you listen to Sublime?
02:43
Frankie
Oh, a ton.
02:44
Kendall
What other, like, music artists are you guys influenced by or, you know, who do you listen to the most?
02:50
Alan
You can go down the line, because I think we all listen to very different kinds of music. Yeah.
02:54
Kendall
You want to start us off, Jake?
02:55
Jake
Yeah, I'm definitely more. I grew up classic rock, old metal from 70s, like, Zeppelin, Metallica type stuff. And then, you know, as I've been in a band, they've definitely influenced me a bit, for sure. But that's been my main influence.
03:12
Joe
Yeah, for me, it was really, like, a lot of heavy music, like, metal. I know. I know that whenever I started growing up, I didn't really listen to a lot of, like, different types of music. It was mainly just, you know, stuff on the radio. But I think it wasn't until, like, maybe high school where I started figuring out. Figuring out exactly what I like in my type of music that I, you know, like to listen to. But it was mainly, like, you know, heavy music, like, progressive metal that I like a lot.
03:41
Alan
But, yeah, I grew up listening to a lot of Latin rock and, like, kind of 2000s rock. I don't know, like, a lot of my. My brother's CDs, I would just, like, take off and, like, plug, like, put them in. There's a lot of, like, Foo Fighters and stuff like that. But, like, as I got older and started learning piano, I grew up playing jazz. So going from jazz to hard rock was definitely the biggest change in, like, my genre of music.
04:14
Frankie
Yeah, I listen to a lot of, like, jam music, like Fish and Grateful Dead is what I really grew up on. And a lot of grunge, too, and then, you know, Sublime, Stevie Wonder, some of my other favorites.
04:25
Kendall
Yeah, definitely. And, okay, now I want to go into the origin story, like, how did. What. Birthed Manta Ray, if you will.
04:33
Frankie
Tucker Redgens Hall.
04:36
Alan
Yeah, we. Yeah, Jakey.
04:40
Jake
Yeah. So Frankie and I have known each other for a long time. We grew up since middle school. We've always played music together. Just messing around, nothing serious. But we roomed together in college at Tucker, and Alan was a floor below us, and we met him just randomly one day. We became friends, like, without even talking about music. But, you know, we found out that he played music as well. And I think being in a band, I'm speaking for Frankie, I think it's something we've always thought of, you know, wanted to do for sure. And then it kind of just happened naturally where were like, okay, we have, you know, two of us here. You know, we have two parts of a band. Then we found Alan that could also play guitar and piano.
05:23
Jake
And I was like, we kind of just need a drummer here. And then, very conveniently, Alan knew Joe because they're. They're cousins who plays drums. So it was very, like, natural. It wasn't, like, forced at all. It wasn't like we posted any, like, any signs or flyers that, like, we need someone for a band. It kind of just happened, which was awesome. Yeah.
05:46
Joe
I remember when I was working and I remember getting a text message from Alan. They said, hey, you know, me and a couple buddies are about to start a band. Would you be interested in playing the drums? And I was like, oh, yes, I'm dropping everything. No.
06:06
Alan
I remember one of our friends, she, like, had posted on her spam Instagram of like. Like, a voice memo of, like, our first jam in Frankie and Jake's dorm. And it was crazy to hear. I was like, Whoa, we're, like, 18 and we sound like children. It was like, we're just. I don't know. It was crazy to see how far. I don't know, we've. We started, like, in a dorm, and now we're podcasting.
06:34
Jake
Yeah. I would also like to say I feel like were very heavily influenced by. By the house show community in Raleigh. You know, it's gone, like, up. It's gone through ups and downs at the time. But when were here our first year, it was, I would say, like, the biggest. Yeah, it was.
06:49
Frankie
It was all we did.
06:50
Jake
Yeah. It was all, like, literally every single weekend, there was, like, three or four shows we could go to within walking distance of our dorm. And I think, you know, at least for me, I would go there and I would definitely just, you know, I, like, wanted to be there. And I definitely thought we could do it, and. Which is, I think, what drove us, some of us, a lot.
07:09
Frankie
I remember at first there was more of a. A decision. We kind of wanted to start a house venue, and then we ended up taking the band route and get a house.
07:17
Jake
Yeah.
07:18
Alan
Try to get a house. But we couldn't get a house, so we started a band.
07:20
Jake
I don't even remember that.
07:22
Alan
Yeah.
07:22
Kendall
Talk about the house show, like, environment. What is it, like? To play at house shows. How did you guys get into that? What does it feel like?
07:30
Frankie
I mean, it's the best shows are the best shows.
07:32
Alan
Yeah, I think energy wise, it's definitely like. I guess as a singer I definitely feel like the most like fluid. Like I can just grab the mic and like hop and mosh in a crowd and like, that's like the only environment where I can do that, I feel like. But yeah, it's definitely one of my favorite places to be playing. Like house venues.
07:53
Jake
Yeah. I think just energy wise, I think I always have the most fun when I see everyone else is having the most fun. And those are definitely the best places to be, you know, having a good time at. Especially in a college town, like around.
08:06
Frankie
Here, everyone's just there to have fun and it's great.
08:10
Joe
Yeah, it's like nice to see everyone having fun. Like for a second, you know, I'm just focusing locked in on the drums and I look up and I just see everyone jumping around and just having a blast. So you know, it's awesome.
08:21
Kendall
How do you guys choose the songs that you play at the house show? Like, what goes into that?
08:25
Jake
That's a very painfully.
08:27
Alan
Yeah, yeah. That is like the biggest. That's like the hardest thing I think about this band is like, what do we even play?
08:34
Kendall
Yeah, what do you play? What genre would you classify Manta Ray as?
08:38
Jake
I always tell people just rock because I feel like we kind of stick to rock and then we branch out from there. Like, we will do jam rock, we'll do indie rock, we'll do hard rock, we'll do, you know, some metal sometimes. So it's like, it's all centered around rock for the most part. But yeah. So kind of just trying to stick around there and finding something that we all can agree on, whether that's easy or not.
09:02
Alan
Yeah. I think like we said earlier, like, we all come from very different backgrounds of music, so finding something that like feeds the middle ground of that is difficult. But when we do find it, I think it's like it clicks.
09:16
Frankie
If we can all agree that a song is going to be good to play, then usually it's, you know, received.
09:20
Jake
Well, yeah, sometimes it's really easy. Sometimes there's like very obvious things that it's like, oh, yeah, that we just got to play that. But then sometimes it's like half of us are like, I don't know. And then the rest of us are excited about it. So it gets. It can be difficult.
09:32
Kendall
Yeah. Is there any, like, drama with that. Have you ever, like, wanted to kick someone out of the band?
09:36
Alan
We've had long FaceTime calls and gotten nothing done. Yeah, it's kind of like. I don't know, it's kind of the name of a game of when you're a cover band is like, not everyone's gonna like the music that we're playing, like, within us. But, I mean, we find pretty decent common ground. Like. Like sublime. Like we said, we cover a lot of sublime. I think grunge in general just kind of like, fits a good middle ground for us, too. But, yeah, it's definitely. Definitely been, like, a hard thing to try to figure out. And, like, I don't know, because people's tastes and music change, and that goes for the crowd as well. So I think a lot of us want to, like, please ourselves as much as we want to please the crowd.
10:20
Jake
So.
10:20
Alan
Yeah, I think it's just always, like, a balance.
10:23
Kendall
Yeah, that's a good thing to point out. How do you balance that? Like, the public's perception of you while also, like, doing things for your own enjoyment?
10:31
Jake
I think that there's always just, like, a level to it where I always just try and put myself in the people's shoes of, like, okay, if I was somewhere and I was listening to the set list, would I do? I think I'd have a good time, you know, because, of course, I always think it's fine to throw, like, songs that. Well, maybe no one knows, but. But, you know, we all want to play it and have fun. Yeah, that's totally fine. But it's like, you just have to remember that they are there to have a good time. So it's like, yeah, you do have to find the balance, like you said.
11:00
Frankie
Yeah, I feel like our, like, freshman experiences, going to all these house shows before were playing in a band kind of informed us to, like, how. How songs are going to hit. Yeah, we, like, play that, so we have, like, an idea.
11:11
Joe
It's also, like, the environment too, you know, like, you know, we really don't mean when it's like, the first time we play a house show or venue, you know, we don't really know what people like or, you know.
11:23
Jake
Yeah, the crowd.
11:23
Joe
The crowd.
11:24
Alan
We don't really know were playing, like, a brewery. That set list is going to be very different than if we're playing at, like, a metal venue. You know what I mean? Yeah, it definitely changes.
11:34
Jake
So I guess that's also good about having different genres that we're interested in that we can kind of. We can be flexible with it as well.
11:42
Kendall
Do you guys have, like, a harrowing house show experience story? Like, something that went really poorly or something that went really well? Like, give me a story from a house show.
11:53
Jake
I don't think anything specific, but I think. I think what's cool that we've been able to do with house venues is that we've been, like, kind of able to start a few ourselves. So there's a couple house venues that are going on now that we've were in contact with the people who live at the house, and we're setting it up, and we pretty much had to walk them through how to set up a house venue. And, like, you know, we're good friends with those people now, but, yeah, we had to pretty much, like, walk them through how to do a house show, like, what people are gonna want and what, you know, needs to be done for the bands as well.
12:28
Jake
Which has been really cool because it's like, at this point now, all those house venues are, like, way bigger than when we started them. So I think it's been really cool that we've been able to help those people out and, like, kind of harbor this community that we're a part of.
12:40
Alan
Yeah, I think that also, like, came out from, like, a rut of not there. Like, there not being a lot of house venues at the time. I think it was, like, a year and a half ago. It was like the house scene was kind of dead, and, like, these, like, venues just started popping up. I don't know where we've been able to, like, play a lot of first shows. Yeah, a lot of first shows for a lot of venues are, like, pretty decent now. Now they got, like, their foot in the ground and are getting, like, artists that, I mean, have, like, tens of thousands of followers sometimes, you know, it's insane.
13:11
Jake
Yeah. I'll hear people around campus talk about these places, and I'll tell them. I'm like.
13:15
Jake
Like. I was like, were the first ones that did it, and I'm good friends with them. And then they, you know, they get really excited by that, and they think it's cool.
13:23
Kendall
That is cool. How do you think that your identity has changed as a band? Because, I mean, you started, you know, in a dorm and then progressed to the house shows and then recording your first song in your room. Alan, like, how do you think your identity has changed through those years, and where do you want it to go?
13:40
Alan
I think. I think our identity has changed in a way. It's like, I Think we first started off very scared and maybe like playing it safe almost when we first started out, just because we wanted to get our foot into like the Raleigh music scene. And I think the more comfortable we got performing live because, like, I mean, it was our first time. I mean, our first show was our first time performing live anywhere. I mean, like, our first show ever was my first time singing in public. So, like a lot of the identity change, I think just came out of coming out of our shell more and more as we became more comfortable with like, who were in the band. So, yeah, I think that's like the biggest. I think that's the biggest difference.
14:23
Alan
I notice personally, I just see videos of when we first started and I was like hiding behind a mic because I've never seen in front of somebody and now I'm just like ripping it off and like, I don't know, starting mosh pits. It's so fun. I think it's like, I don't know, a lot of. Maybe like our music style hasn't changed much, but I think our presence, definitely.
14:46
Frankie
Our attitude towards it, our energy.
14:48
Kendall
Yeah, yeah. And Joe, how do you think that your personal identity has changed since you've started being in the band?
14:57
Joe
Oh, gosh.
14:58
Kendall
Is this your first band that you've been in?
15:00
Joe
Yes, this is my first band that I've been in. I mean, like, yeah, gosh. I mean, just what, you know, what Alan said, like when we first started, you know, we're all really shy and, you know, we're kind of scared of playing. Like, I remember, for example, Jake, when he started playing live, I remember you had like, where you're kind of like stiff and, you know, looking at the guitar all the time calling me out.
15:29
Alan
Second looks so dumb.
15:31
Joe
But then over time, you know, like what Alan said, we all kind of just started.
15:34
Jake
We're talking about you opening up.
15:36
Alan
Yeah. How did your identity change outside of the performing?
15:39
Frankie
How did this change your life, change you?
15:42
Alan
Because you don't. You don't. One thing that I don't know if the listeners listen to, I don't know, whatever. The listeners probably don't know this, but Joe doesn't go to state. Yeah. So, like, how did. I don't know. Can I. Am I allowed to ask him a question?
15:54
Kendall
No.
15:55
Alan
Okay.
15:55
Kendall
No, I'm just kidding.
15:56
Alan
How did. How did your, like, identity changes come into, like, the Raleigh scene with us and like, tagging along?
16:03
Joe
I don't know, man. I don't know.
16:06
Kendall
I just feel like that.
16:10
Joe
I don't know.
16:12
Alan
He doesn't know.
16:12
Frankie
Would you be doing right now at work?
16:15
Kendall
I mean.
16:15
Joe
Yeah, I mean, either. Either. Either I'd be here or I just be like, you know, I just be drumming at home.
16:25
Alan
I'll say this for Joe, I think the biggest person that got out of their show was Joe for sure. Cause, I mean, I've known him since I was a baby. You know what I mean? And, like, we've, like, he never, like. We didn't really do music stuff too much in high school, but, like, ever since he came to Raleigh and, like, I don't know, you're a drummer, you gotta have some sort of aura. So I think just being on stage and, like, seeing him, like, just drum his life away is insane. I don't know. I don't think I ever, like, imagined seeing, like. I don't think I've ever imagined seeing Joe in, like, that scene. I don't know. It's cool. It's cool to see. Cool to see him do that.
17:03
Kendall
No, totally. And Joe, how would you describe your aura if it were to be a color aura?
17:08
Alan
If a color aura?
17:09
Kendall
Yeah, your drummer aura.
17:13
Joe
Red. Because I'd be going crazy on it sometimes, you know.
17:20
Kendall
And you and Alan are cousins. Were you guys close growing up or describe your relationship?
17:23
Joe
Oh, yeah, no, were super close growing up. Like, we live, like, three houses down the same neighborhood.
17:29
Alan
Yeah. So me, him and my older brother Brandon would hang out, like, every single day. Insane. But I think, yeah, we. Yeah, we grew up, like, super close and we're technically second cousins. But I don't know, Joe was, like, always, like, almost like my family's other brother, I guess, to my brothers. They were. He was like, always there, always hung out. And especially during COVID like, me, him and my brother would do absolutely, like, everything and nothing at the same time. We were just, like, together 24 7. It was insane.
18:02
Frankie
Yeah, me and Jake totally used to always hang out too. Like, all the time.
18:06
Jake
We're pretty much like, cousins.
18:08
Frankie
Yeah, we're pretty much like, you know, we're like. Imagine like, friends that are, like, good friends.
18:15
Alan
They're like, best friends.
18:17
Kendall
So, you guys, is it hard to find time to practice since Joe, you don't live in Raleigh and the commute and being in college and, like, how hard is it to find time?
18:25
Joe
I mean, it's. It's usually just if everyone is busy, but most of the time, we usually find a lot of time to practice during the weekends. I mean, I. You know, I live like an hour away from here, maybe almost Close to an hour away. But I, you know, usually don't mind driving all the way to Raleigh. I mean, yeah, we, most of the times we have time to practice, it's just usually if the guys or if I'm busy.
18:51
Jake
Yeah, we usually just got to coordinate, you know, make sure we're trying to get planned ahead. Usually ends up the best. It doesn't always happen that way.
19:00
Frankie
Yeah, typically we got like one practice before, like three shows in a row.
19:04
Alan
Yeah, I think one of the biggest changes too is we used to practice at Frankie's parents place and he lived like 40ish minutes from here.
19:12
Jake
40 Minutes away in a completely different direction.
19:15
Alan
Yeah. So. But now it's different because Frankie has a house that we can practice at, like right near campus.
19:20
Frankie
So we can practice more than ever. Expect us to sound better than ever before next time you see us.
19:25
Jake
And Frankie's never leaving the band because we all have nowhere to practice.
19:28
Frankie
Yeah, that's my insurance policy.
19:31
Kendall
All right, on that note, we're going to take a quick break and play Breathless by Manta Ray. Stay tuned.
20:20
song
I can day. Now my breath but you take it away from me Now. I've lost my soul Let me go. Exhausted all the way it draws blurred. Lines cross in many ways. And I hold my breath Will you take it away from me now? And I've lost my soul Let me go. Sam. And I hold my breath Will you take it away from me now. I've lost my soul now you have let me go.
23:32
Kendall
All right, I'm back with the band Manta Ray. It's time to get personal. Would you rather eat a grasshopper or a cockroach?
23:39
Frankie
Grasshopper.
23:39
Jake
I got to say, I'm down to eat anything. Like, I think I would try anything at least once, food wise.
23:46
Alan
Yeah, I've definitely eaten a grasshopper before. I haven't eaten a cockroach, so I won't do cockroach.
23:51
Frankie
Cockroaches are just too scary looking to eat.
23:55
Jake
But what's the method, though? Like what, how are they being served? Raw.
23:58
Frankie
You found it on the ground and you just grabbed it.
24:01
Kendall
Yeah. You snatched it off the sidewalk.
24:02
Alan
That changes things.
24:03
Kendall
It's alive.
24:04
Frankie
It's like dangly sidewalk or grass. Like, this is actually a big.
24:06
Kendall
No sidewalk.
24:08
Joe
I put it on a skillet and then put it in my tacos. So I don't think it's a grasshopper.
24:15
Alan
I would do a. I'll do cockroach.
24:17
Jake
Are we allowed sauce?
24:18
Alan
I think. I think grasshoppers got like so much more like, schmutz in them. You know what I mean?
24:23
Kendall
You think grasshoppers have more schmutz?
24:24
Alan
Yeah.
24:25
Jake
No, they do not.
24:25
Alan
Cockroaches are definitely, like. Like, skinnier and, like, more, like, bony.
24:32
Frankie
Skinier than a grasshopper.
24:34
Alan
What are you talking about, bro? They're like the size of your palm, bro. Whatever.
24:38
Frankie
Like this fat and this long.
24:40
Alan
Slowly be freaky. Geez, I just want to eat one.
24:43
Kendall
All right, if you could only listen to music or watch TV shows for the rest of your life, which would you choose?
24:51
Frankie
Music, Music.
24:52
Joe
Music.
24:52
Alan
Music. Yeah.
24:53
Kendall
Okay. So not a big fan of movies, TV shows.
24:56
Alan
I think I rewatched, like, the same three TV shows.
24:58
Jake
Like, this dude has been watching Suits in the Office on repeat for three years.
25:04
Alan
Yeah, I don't. I don't really dabble with too many TV shows. And if I do, I'll, like. I'll, like, finish a season in, like, a week and then, like, just go back to watching, like, the Office clips.
25:15
Jake
And he also. He plays it off his phone at the max volume, like, shirtless and in the living room. It's the only method.
25:21
Alan
Listen, guy, it's me time.
25:24
Frankie
Yeah, I mean, TV is good and stuff. TV's good. Movies are good. But music is more important for me. More engaging, too, because, like, playing music, too, that counts as hearing music, I'd say, because I play it so I can hear, I listen to other people.
25:39
Alan
You can see music, too. You can, like, see live music.
25:43
Frankie
I mean, like, you can see the sounds.
25:45
Kendall
I thought so, too. I was like, you can visualize.
25:47
Frankie
That's, like, a condition.
25:50
Jake
Are you on board with that, Joe?
25:52
Joe
Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely. 100%, I think. You know, I don't know if I had a T. If I was watching tv, I would immediately just start thinking about music and just have the TV playing in the background, like, oh.
26:06
Jake
Oh, yeah.
26:08
Kendall
Yeah, Fair enough. And, okay, next question. Where are you guys all from, and what's the most, like, nostalgic activity for you as an individual?
26:19
Frankie
Yeah, I'll start. I'm from Wake forest, just about 45 minutes away from here, and my house is over on, like, the woods. And, like, my most nostalgic thing is just going home and walking around the woods.
26:33
song
Yeah.
26:33
Alan
Me, I'm from Winston Salem, so that's like, an hour and a half from here West. Most nostalgic thing for me, I think, was actually, like, during COVID too, is, like, when we'd go to downtown Winston and, like, skate for hours and not do school. I think that was, like, my favorite. Like, that Was a peak.
26:53
Joe
Yes. I'm also from Winston Salem, and I think the most nostalgic thing was probably, like, me and Alan just biking around and finding, like, areas that we never explored or finding shortcuts to get to areas around the roads and backwoods.
27:09
Alan
Because we live near a lake, so we would bike there from our neighborhood.
27:12
Joe
Like, I remember one time were biking through, like, this new construction area to the woods, and we found, like, this big sewer. And were just like, right there at the lake, just chilling. But then they were closing, so we had to head back past.
27:26
Frankie
Good story.
27:30
Jake
Yeah. I'm from Wake Forest. Like Frankie, like you said, we grew up near each other. Nostalgic for me, I'd probably say would be, like, playing video games or something. I.
27:39
Alan
Son.
27:40
Jake
I used to. Yeah, I used to. Frankie and I used to game. We used to put it lightly back in the day.
27:47
Joe
Yeah.
27:48
Jake
I kind of put that life behind me a bit. But, you know, it's still. It's still, you know, it's nostalgic for me.
27:53
Kendall
Yeah. Was it hard for you know, to put that life behind you?
27:56
Jake
You got to grow up at some point, you know?
27:58
Frankie
And I feel like you haven't lost your, like, you know, your chud essence, though.
28:03
Alan
Yeah.
28:04
Kendall
Okay.
28:05
Alan
Yeah. He games. He still games most days of the week, I would say.
28:09
Jake
It's just such a lot. That is such a lot. That is such a lot.
28:12
Alan
He games, like, three or four days a week.
28:16
Jake
We can agree on three.
28:17
Alan
Four.
28:17
Jake
You gotta wind down somehow.
28:19
Joe
Four.
28:20
Alan
It went down from seven to four, but it's okay.
28:23
Kendall
Do you guys have a favorite place to eat in Raleigh?
28:26
Alan
Ooh, it's changed freshman year. D.P. Doe. D.P. Doe used to put up generational numbers for me.
28:35
Frankie
Can we have a moment of silence for the shawarma? Stop.
28:41
Jake
Joe's got something to say about whataburger.
28:43
Joe
No, bro.
28:44
Alan
No, go ahead.
28:46
Joe
Bad daddies with boys.
28:47
Kendall
Yeah.
28:48
Alan
Bad daddies. We get free. Bad daddies free.
28:50
Kendall
Oh. Cause you used to work there.
28:53
Alan
Kinda.
28:54
Joe
We know someone.
28:55
Alan
We know a guy who knows a guy who gets us free food.
28:59
Jake
I gotta shout out the state fair. The state fair. That's. That's one day your favorite place to.
29:06
Frankie
Eat in Raleigh's estate fair.
29:07
Jake
I think. I think the happiest. The happiest day. One of the happiest days of my life is when I go to the state fair and I get to eat.
29:13
Alan
We go to the fair, and I think Jake turns into, like, a feral animal and just eats, like, what? Anything fried. Going down his stomach.
29:22
Jake
Yeah.
29:23
Alan
Kind of impressive.
29:23
Frankie
Yeah.
29:24
Jake
I mean, everything. Everything. I can.
29:25
Frankie
Oreos, your highlights from the state fair to look forward for this year.
29:30
Jake
Oh, actually, the list hasn't come out yet. They don't know what's gonna be there.
29:35
Alan
He gets excited with it. He gets excited with the food drops.
29:37
Jake
Yeah, it's about a week. It's about a week before. So you gotta be on the lookout for that.
29:40
Kendall
When is the fair? When does it start?
29:42
Alan
It's in, like, two weeks.
29:43
Jake
It's October 15th or something.
29:45
Kendall
You don't even know the exact date.
29:47
Jake
Okay. Big fan.
29:48
Frankie
It's your favorite.
29:50
song
I like.
29:50
Frankie
This one's my favorite.
29:52
Alan
You can't have more than one favorite.
29:55
Kendall
Okay. I want to talk about the future of Manta right now. Let's get into the series questions. Where do you want the music scene to take you as a collective or as an individual? Either one.
30:08
Jake
Me personally, I try not to put expectations on it. I feel like that's been better for us, you know, take it one step at a time, you know, because, like, I think just in general, if you told us, you know, when we started, where we're at now, we. I'd probably be surprised, honestly. So I think just. Just letting it kind of happen naturally, like, don't force us into anything that, you know, we're doing. Just let it happen and see where we go kind of is where I'm at with that.
30:41
Joe
You got to take your time, you know, you gotta get connections with people, and eventually something might happen, you know, you may never know.
30:50
Alan
Yeah, I think, like, especially the biggest thing for us, I feel like the last thing we want to do is, like, be a cop out and, like, take the easy way out, you know what I mean? Like, just cover backseat lovers and, like, crowd pleasers. I don't know. I don't want to do that. I think if we. If we take this far, I think we want to do it our way.
31:10
Kendall
What is your way?
31:11
Alan
Our way is, like, I don't know, like, playing. Playing for us more than for the crowd. I think, like we said, there's a balance to that. But I think at the end of the day, if we're gonna keep doing this for a long time, we want to make sure that we're enjoying it, too, you know?
31:30
Jake
I mean, I think it's also being unique. I mean, because why go see someone if they're just gonna be doing the same thing as any other band, you know? So, like, I think my head's always at a place where it's like, Oh, I want to try something really cool that we haven't seen a house show band do ever, which I think has been really cool to, like, see some people realize that we're doing something that they haven't seen before, you know, because, like Alan said, we just play backseat lovers like everyone else does, and. But people enjoy it. But it's like, we've seen it so many times before. Like, I can't even count.
31:59
Kendall
Yeah, Frankie.
32:03
Jake
Yeah.
32:04
Frankie
I think just as long as we go in a direction where we keep having fun, that's the most important part. That's, like, why I'm in the band. That's why I love music so much and just, you know, just riding that wave. Not thinking too much about the future, planning too much, but just keep jamming, and opportunities to keep jamming keep opening up, you know, just take persistence. The grass will grow where you water it.
32:28
Kendall
Wow.
32:28
Alan
Quote that.
32:29
Kendall
Yeah. Oh, oh, wise one. And what do we all do on the side? Because I know we can't do music like, 24 7, even though we wish we could. Like, what's everyone's side hobbies?
32:42
Frankie
I don't know. It's a lot of music these days. That's all I really do this with. My roommate plays music, too, and we just jam all the time. And other than that, just going to the gym, really working out, you know, and drinking creatine, which I do in my free time.
32:59
Jake
Copious amounts.
33:02
Alan
I feel like I have. I've done a lot of different hobbies. I don't know. I feel like it's hard for me to stick to one all the time. Recently, I've been biking a lot more. I've been mountain biking a lot more. Yeah, I don't know. I just like to chill. I don't know, just be outside. I hate being inside and whatever I can do to just, like, walk around the lake, like Lake Johnson or bike at Lake Crabtree. Like, I don't know. I think that's been my thing recently.
33:29
Frankie
I do a lot of hammocking recently. That's about doing a lot of my friends who've been just bringing. Even bringing guitars, though, and stuff in the hammocks.
33:37
Alan
Yeah.
33:37
Frankie
So it doesn't count. But I've been doing that, too.
33:40
Joe
I don't know. I don't have too many hobbies, but recently I got into going to the gym with my sister. You know, we kind of just woke up and, like, hey, let's get some, you know, fitness in. We got to get some of that motivation. But, yeah, I mean, were very consistent for that. But what else? I mean, just hanging out with the boys on the weekend, going to, like, downtown and whatnot.
34:06
Alan
Go to the bars.
34:07
Jake
Going to the bars. I'll be original here and say I like to go to the gym. Carmichael has me in a chokehold right now. You know, I'm just there very often. You know, that and schoolwork and work, you know, gets pretty. Gets pretty busy. So.
34:27
Alan
Yeah.
34:28
Kendall
Can you guys see yourself doing anything like else in life? You know, like, will music always be a part of your life in one fashion or another?
34:37
Frankie
Yes.
34:38
Alan
Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I think even, like, before college, I used to be a sound guy in high school, and. And when I came to college, I was like, okay, I need to. I want to find a band. Like, I want to, like, be in a band. And now that we're, like, almost graduating this year, I'm starting to think about, like, all right, how do I keep this going if, for whatever reason, like, one of us moves out of Raleigh or whatever happens? And, I mean, I think me personally, like, I've always played music my entire life, since I was little, so it's gonna be, like, part of who I am until the day I drop.
35:13
Frankie
Yeah, definitely. My musical journey is, you know, always happening and always growing. And I'm, like, now playing new instruments sometimes and learning that and then just. I don't know, it's a lot of fun. I've been playing music for a long time, too. Like, growing up, I was playing music, writing songs with my dad and just jamming, playing with his old band. And so I see that. Definitely continuing, just always having instruments and playing music for the rest of my life.
35:43
Joe
Yeah, for me, everywhere I go, there's just music everywhere. I'm always listening to music every time, all the time. Like, you should, like, look at my Spotify monthly listens. But, you know, it's always just music and music, always finding different types of music styles and just having fun with it. But I don't think music's gonna ever, you know, be out of my life.
36:08
Jake
Yeah, I'm definitely the same way. It's more. So just, like, priorities have shift. Like, you know, why I played before versus why I play now, you know, is very different. You know, I used to only have to play for myself, but now I'm, you know, I'm playing for, you know, for a band and, you know, for people. So it'll definitely be part of my life in some capacity. Always.
36:26
Alan
For sure.
36:27
Frankie
Maybe I'll stop, though, and start watching.
36:29
Jake
TV and stop with music. Don't listen to music anymore.
36:33
Kendall
All right, I'm gonna go down the line. I have a different question for everyone. Frankie, what message do you want on your tombstone?
36:45
Frankie
He totally rocked.
36:51
Kendall
Alan, if you could.
36:53
Alan
That was good.
36:55
Kendall
If you could play any instrument, like, any instrument in the whole world, what instrument would you want to learn how to play?
37:01
Joe
Ooh.
37:02
Alan
Lately, I've been on my bluegrass pick. So guitar. So guitar, piano, and vocals. No, I really want to learn. I don't know. I really want to learn fiddle. I really want to, like. My guilty pleasure is, like, dreaming of being in a bluegrass band. So maybe Manta Ray switches up and write a bluegrass album. No. Yeah, I think fiddle, mandolin. Not banjo, though. I don't want to learn banjo. Not yet. I'll put those first two for that, but yeah.
37:33
Kendall
All right. Joe, if you could live anywhere in the world, where would you want to live for?
37:39
Joe
Wayne, Indiana.
37:42
Frankie
What?
37:43
Joe
Because that's where the Sweetwater corporation is, bro. Walking into that building and see all the music instruments.
37:49
Jake
Gary, Indiana.
37:50
Alan
That's where we're going for Joe's birthday this year. We're going to Fort Worth, Indiana, and take him to Sweetwater headquarters.
37:54
Joe
You're gonna buy me the most expensive jump kit?
37:57
Alan
Yeah.
37:58
Kendall
All right. And, Jake, my question for you. If you were on chopped, what meal would you be making?
38:04
Jake
What meal would I be making?
38:05
Kendall
Yeah.
38:06
Jake
Honestly, probably some slop. Probably some garbage. Because, honestly, they're. They're gonna. I mean, I don't know what I'm getting, you know? So that's that show, right? That's the box show where. Yeah, yeah, I. It's gonna be some garbage.
38:20
Frankie
It's gonna be some slope tells me you do really good on chops.
38:24
Jake
Okay.
38:25
Joe
All right.
38:26
Alan
You're gonna make a Filipino meal.
38:28
Jake
Yeah. Yeah.
38:29
Alan
You'd incorporate it like my roots. Yeah.
38:31
Kendall
All right. And for my last question, is there, like, a piece of advice or what would you tell your younger self, knowing everything that you know now, as a band, as an individual, you can take it in any direction.
38:44
Jake
I would tell myself to not worry so much, just to let things happen, but be proactive about the things you want to pursue, but, you know, just not to, you know, not stress so much about it.
39:00
Joe
Have fun. Don't worry about all, like, the bad things, you know, don't be too negative about what's gonna happen in life. You may never know, but, you know, just be positive, make friends, and stay loving music.
39:18
Alan
I think, for me, one of the biggest things, especially now that we're almost done with school, Is like, really soak in every moment that you have with people because, like, I don't know, this is, like, the small part of life where you're gonna be living, like, right next to all your best friends and, like, you know, all these college things. So I think really enjoying this, like, part of life where we're in.
39:46
Joe
College,.
39:48
Alan
But also looking forward to, like, what's next in store for you.
39:54
Frankie
I would tell myself to make sure to learn all the songs before the show.
40:00
Joe
I got one more.
40:01
Kendall
Yeah.
40:01
Joe
Take risk. Okay. Because you never. You may never know if something will happen. You know, like, just go for it. You know, if you feel like it's the right moment, then just do it.
40:12
Jake
You know, get rid of the think and just do. Yeah, yeah.
40:16
Joe
Don't even think about it. Just do it. Like, if you want to do this, then just go for it.
40:20
Frankie
I'm over talking about doing stuff. It's time to do stuff.
40:23
Jake
Well, but you got to think about it to do it.
40:25
Alan
Unthink. And do.
40:28
Joe
No thinking. Just do, do.
40:32
Kendall
And is there anything else you'd like to talk about today?
40:36
Frankie
Jake looks really nice today.
40:38
Alan
Yeah, Jake looks awesome.
40:40
Jake
When are we practicing?
40:42
Alan
Yeah, we're practicing right after this. We're actually practicing because we got some shows coming up.
40:48
Kendall
Oh, yeah, Talk about your shows. Where can we find your music?
40:51
Alan
You can find. You can find our Instagram. Everything's. You can find everything on our Instagram. It's the band underscore, Manta Ray link in bio. You can find us on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music at the band Manta Ray. Our new single Breathless came out last month, two months ago now. And yeah, we got some shows this upcoming spooky season. Got the. What days are they?
41:17
Frankie
The 23rd and the 24th at the deck House and Harper Road, Harbor Road. And then the 30th will be playing at train yard.
41:25
Alan
Yes. So keep an eye out.
41:30
Kendall
Awesome.
41:30
Alan
Yeah.
41:31
Kendall
Well, thank you all for listening today. Be sure to check out our other interviews@wknc.org podcast and click on off the Record. This is Kendall and Manay signing off. Have a great day.
41:42
song
Bye.
41:42
Alan
Thank you.
41:43
song
Bye. Bye.
Transcribed by https://fireflies.ai/