MANHOLE was formed on January 21st, 2019 by vocalist Santiago, drummer Jesse, and guitarist Titan from the small city of Lake Jackson. That same day, they wrote and recorded their first song, "I Wanna Get Laid", using the only resources they had, their phones. The song made its rounds at their high school and was generally well recieved, with some light teasing from the fellow musician Josh, who was in a strange indie band by the name of Strawberry Milk Cult. But, this was a learning experience for all of them, none of them had any experience in a band, Santiago and Titan had only started learning their instruments about a month prior, and all of them were broke as FUCK!!! But this was something they all enjoyed doing, so every week they practiced and made about one song every time. After about two months, they decided to throw their first show in Jesse's Sister's garage. They didn't have many songs at this point, so the setlist was very short, but they made it work.
About a month after that, they released their first EP, the "Yellow Fever EP". Once again, recorded entirely on their phones, and mixed in GarageBand. It was four songs long, and every song on it was very basic, but it laid out the foundation and formula that the band continues to use to this day.
After a couple of months, the band had grown, Santiago was refining his vocals, Jesse was getting faster on the drums, and Titan had bought a new amp. They were sounding better than ever, so they decided it was time for another show. Around this time, Dylan offered to play lead guitar, which would bring a new dynamic to their sound. So, on a very hot summer day in 2019, they put on another garage show. This one was much better than the last one, in terms of sound, and crowd energy. This also marked the first time they worked with JVN, who would continue to be their go to photographer/videographer. Things still went wrong, not horribly, but overall it was a good experience for all of them.
A few months had passed, and things had changed, they played another show that was a disaster, Dylan was seemingly out of the picture, and covid was in full force. They had plans to play their first show at a local venue, but that got cancelled because of covid, so where did they go from here? They decided, this would be a good time to work on that illusive album they always talked about. So, that's what they did, the following months were pretty much just grinding out new music, until suddenly, Dylan was back in the picture, and they got an offer to play a show at the Kassette Halloween Skate Jam. And that they did, it was their best show at that point, the turnout was more than they could've imagined, it seemed like a real dream come true.
And that's where the story really begins. Shortly after that, they would hit the studio to record their first album, "No Clue", named that because they had no idea what to call it. They had their first big break by being featured in the first episode of A2B2 Radio, and featuring in the A2B2 Sunset Fest, they played their first show in Houston the same day of Sunset Fest, and shortly after that, they started becoming known within the Houston punk scene. It took a while for them to get there, but it felt good to be there. After the release of "No Clue", they have continued to work on their second album, they eventually found a bassist, Josh, who was in that weird ass band called Strawberry Milk Cult, but he left and was eventually replaced by the guitarist/singer of the same band, Dylan, aka Skizzy.
And that brings us to today, where the band has played many shows, and has made its place in the Houston scene. They even worked on a project that they discussed since the formation of the band with their second EP, "Acardiac Twin", a different sound for sure, but it was a sound that Santiago, Jesse, and Titan wanted to pursue since the very early days of the band. Where will they go after this? Who knows, hopefully far, but while you wait to see where they go, let me introduce the band!
This is Santiago, the vocalist, and heart of the band. He writes almost all the lyrics, and does a good majority of the graphics for us. He mainly writes about the issues he has seen within his life, although he's not afraid to be really abstract with his lyrics and just write whatever sounds cool. He also has a lot of fun with flow in his vocal performance, especially in the more recent tracks. He cites his main influences as Death Grips, Jun Inagawa, Dennis Rodman, Hirohiko Araki, Henry Rollins, Ian Mackaye, Kurt Cobain, Frida Kahlo, and his mom.
This is Titan, the rhythym guitarist. He's a very simple guitarist, but he likes experimenting with his guitar work. Recently he has been messing around with drop tunings, currently using Drop-A. He is also the main producer for "Acardiac Twin", taking what he has learned from his solo work, and applying it to the context of Manhole. He cites his main influences as Death Grips, Repulsion, the Shizit, and Machine Girl.
This is Jesse, the drummer, and backbone of the band. Not originally a punk drummer, he has taken his originally psychedelic influence, and merged it with the classic punk sound, and even taking influence from breakbeats, as heard on "Virgin Eyelids". Not only that, but he is also the drummer for Strawberry Milk Cult, in which he can let his psychedelic background take full force. He cites his main influences as Sublime, Dinosaur Jr., and Black Flag.
This is Dylan, the lead guitarist of the band. The first to join after the band was formed, he has become a mainstay since, bringing an added layer to the bands sound with his blisteringly fast and beautiful solos. He is also a guitarist for Strawberry Milk Cult, Rinas, and Cereal, so he's a very busy and hardworking guy. He cites his main influences as SRV, Greg Ginn, Kharma, Agent Orange, and Descendents.
This is also Dylan, aka Skizzy, the bassist of the band, and the solidifying link between Manhole and Strawberry Milk Cult. His playing of bass adds another layer of groove that the band really wanted, with his constant fills and flourishes. He is also the lead guitarist/vocalist of his band, Strawberry Milk Cult. He cites his main influences as probably something like the strokes LOL!!!
photo credits in order of appearance: @fifth.wave.photo, @impulsivereality, @sleepgray, @fifth.wave.photo, @jessxnbdy, @fifth.wave.photo, @fifth.wave.photo, @fifth.wave.photo