THAT OLD TIME RELIGION with MANOS SIX!

THAT OLD TIME RELIGION, with MANOS SIX...

AN INTERVIEW BY E.N. WELLS, APRIL 29, 2023.

Before we dive in, let’s take a look at the musicians behind the music. Manos Six + the Muddy Devil are an acoustic duo created by :Skull & Dawn: members Manos Six and Stamos Abatis (aka the Muddy Devil). The music on their debut EP, "Swamp Suicide" is a blend of Dark-Americana, Death-Country, Neo-Folk and Black Metal. The band's setlist is based on original songs and its main instruments are banjo and acoustic bass.

Apart from these musical elements, the duo builds its stage atmosphere with a conceptual presentation that takes its audience to the empty fields of the American south and the loneliness of its swamps, with Lucifer being the light and the veil of death being the ever-existing darkness.

Now, let’s head deep into the murky swamp for a further look into Manos Six and the Muddy Devil with Manos Six himself…

E.N. Wells — Congratulations on the release of Swamp Suicide. I thoroughly enjoyed this album (and I am not typically a listener of this style). Now that it’s been out for awhile, how do you feel the album has been received by listeners?

Manos Six — Hello, thank you very much for your kind words. It's important for us to hear from people who don't listen to this type of music that they enjoyed listening to our album.

So far, the response from the audience has been very positive. Even though it's a challenging album to listen to, the fact that it's been so well-received makes us want to continue what we're doing without fear or hesitation.

E.N. — The project is from Greece, being that there is a strong underground Metal scene there, were you ever involved in that scene.

Manos Six — The truth is, I've been involved with metal music for many years, both as a listener and a player. I started way back in school and formed my first black metal project in 1993. We released a demo, but it didn't go any further.

After that, I got into neo-folk music, but I've always been a metalhead at heart. I've played guitar with Kawir and Disharmony in live shows, and I've also done vocals for Kawir. I participated in some marching percussion and vocals for Rotting Christ's album, "The Heretics."

Currently, I'm also involved in a black metal project, but unfortunately, I can't reveal any further details at this time.

E.N. — Can you give us some background on how the duo came to be? What is your history with Stamos Abatis?

Manos Six — Stamos Abatis and I have been in the music scene together for many years. First and foremost, we have been friends for many years, and we formed our first band in 1999, which was an old-school industrial neofolk collective called Defile des Ames.

Later on, I began to discover the American sound, which made me want to pursue this type of music. This led to the formation of Skull and Dawn, which still exists today. From this band emerged the project Manos Six and the Muddy Devil, which has a black metal aesthetic.

E.N. — Swamp Suicide sounds very rooted in Americana, and I read that Robert Johnson is one of your musical heroes. Was he an inspiration to make this style of music, and were there any other American artists who inspired this musical direction?

Manos Six — Yes, the truth is that Robert Johnson is a significant influence, but more so the story and myth surrounding him. There are many American artists who have influenced, and I am afraid that if I start mentioning names, I will always forget someone important. However, I will make an effort to mention 4-5 names.

Of course, I started with the old ones, such as Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Townes Van Zandt, and many more.

There are also newer, very significant artists, such as Colter Wall, Jay Munly, Hank 3, and the list goes on and on.

E.N. — Lyrically, Swamp Suicide seems to indirectly point a finger at the extremes of Christianity. Were these your intentions?

Manos Six — Yes, that was clearly my intention, because I believe that when heretic Christianity and Christianity in general become too extreme, they become very good friends with Satan. Hehe...

Sometimes, listening to speeches from pastors or priests of various Christian denominations, their fanaticism creates a very intense misanthropy, and their fear of evil creates a huge admiration for the Devil and his deeds, which of course they cannot understand at that moment, nor will they admit it if you tell them later... but it is clearly so...

And I had in mind that I wanted to make an album where I would talk about Lucifer through the words of Christians and it would appear as if it was written by genuine Satanists.

E.N. — There seems to be a lot of folklore and themes of legends in your lyrics also, can you tell us about this?

Manos Six — The primary influence hidden behind the lyrics is the American South, or as we say, the deep south. This is related to the extreme Christianity or Christian sects of the South, sects in general, or anything that characterizes this specific geographic location, such as way of life, urban legends, superstitions, contracts with the devil at crossroads, and other interesting things.

One of the themes that I am already exploring in the new tracks I am writing has to do with houses in the middle of nowhere inhabited by "weird" families or lone psychos… Another element of the American South that provides inspiration...

E.N. — When you play live, is there anything that you do visually to project the atmosphere of the songs to the crowd?

Manos Six — When we perform live, there are no visuals, but there are various other elements that we try to use to create the atmosphere we want to convey. In some of our concerts, we have used the physical presence of people who are dressed appropriately and play their roles.

In other shows, we have lit fires on stage, trying to create the feeling that we are playing around a campfire in the countryside. We use several samples that have to do with nature sounds, including speeches from pastors. Stamos and I wear corpse paint on our faces and dress according to the concept, while the other members who accompany us as session musicians wear masks. In general, there is a theatricality surrounding our concerts.

We pay great attention to the lights, and there is a lot of smoke, which creates a hazy feeling.

And there are still many ideas that have not been realized, but at some point, they will be...

E.N. — Nikos Spanakis (frontman of Dødsferd and the owner of FYC Records) has been crucial to the release of many great albums from Greek artists and artists abroad, can you tell us how your relationship with him came to be?

Manos Six — My relationship with Nikos Spanakis goes way back, even before he knew it himself, hehehe... because I have been and still am a huge fan of Dødsferd.

As the years went by, I started getting involved in organizing concerts, and that's how I got to meet him in person while working together on a live show.

Of course, nowadays, since I also belong to the FYC family, our relationship is essentially friendly, and I feel very proud to have met someone like Nikos because unfortunately, people like him are rare in our times.

Besides being an exceptional musician, he is a great lover and servant of the true underground..

I hope that our relationship will continue to be friendly and creative, and that Swamp Suicide will be just the beginning...

E.N. — Are there any artists you would want to collaborate with, in this particular style or otherwise?

Manos Six — There are several artists I would like to collaborate with, and in general, I am open to collaborations because in the past, I have been involved in various album releases from bands that I respect and love. I have also performed live with several artists whom I also respect and love.

In general, I have to admit that the idea of collaboration suits me. I don't want to name any bands or artists that I would like to collaborate with or any long-standing desires I may have. As I mentioned in an earlier response, there is a collaboration in the works that is very important and emotional to me, and I will be able to announce it very soon.

E.N. — I heard you began working on a new album at the beginning of 2023, when can we expect the follow-up album?

Manos Six — We are currently in the studio writing an EP, which will contain five tracks - 3 original compositions and 2 covers. If all goes well, it will be released by FYC after the summer, and there's a good chance there will also be a reissue of "Swamp Suicide." The EP will have a similar style to the first album, with a bit more black metal influence in some of the tracks. However, this doesn't mean that the same foggy and muddy bluegrass dark country style of the project won't be present...

E.N. — Thank you for taking your time for this interview, is there anything else you would like to say to the readers?

Manos Six — I would like to thank you for the interview, and for the time you took to engage with the project, listen to the album, understand it, as evidenced by your questions, and give us a platform through your magazine to share our thoughts...