A Sit-down with The Manatee Room
Formed in 2017, the band consists of Kallan Imhoff on vocals and guitar, Zayn Dweik on bass guitar and Rob Shield drums. We sat down with Kallan and Rob to talk all things inspiration, challenges and the local music scene.
What are the most common difficulties that you and your bandmates face?
Kallan: All of us are very busy and involved people, sometimes Rob is working 60 hours, Zayn and I in are involved in a couple of student organizations with leadership roles which makes it difficult to find time to spend on music and rehearsing. In terms of shows, Zayn sometimes comes straight from internships, or Rob is coming straight from work. All of these factors impact our time to perform together.
Rob: One thing about this though, I love being in a band with very driven people. My bandmates aren’t missing rehearsals because they are lazy, no. They are always working and driven in own lives, which can cause difficulties to record and stuff.
What’s been your experience been playing at Wild Goose Creative?
Kallan: Definitely, playing at Wild Goose is more so a different conglomeration of art: different people show up. Playing at Wild Goose leads to an interesting blend of creatives, which provides a very good environment and atmosphere. I think it’s interesting to meet people from different fields of art, and it’s exciting to talk to people and challenge perspectives. It also makes me consider how our performance can be more open to exploration. For example, most artists are influenced by the space and know that their work will be presented in Wild Goose, and it makes me think about how is our art can also be influenced by the space.
Rob: I personally know very little about the visual arts, and usually those spheres don’t mix but Wild Goose has the venue that mixes them. This helps create a community, which is important to build a community of artists in this day and age.
Who/what is your inspiration for your band name?
As told by Kallan, Rob would bring homework to the zoo, because it was quiet during the day, and would sit in Manatee enclosure. Kallan decided The Manatee Room would be the name.
How has the band developed over the years?
Kallan: When we were first starting out, we played very timidly on stage, and we didn’t know what direction we wanted to go. Before joining the band, I performed solo and most of my lyrics had a serious and deep vibe to them. Once joining the band, I would describe our sound as more seriously written music, but the sound is very easy listening. There is a contrast between instrumentals and lyrics, and as time has gone on we have grown more comfortable and developed high energy style to our live performances, a little emo but definitely fun. We want audience participation, and we like to see people up and moving. Our style is shifting more, and I think it could be categorized currently as indie-pop. Kallan’s style was more R&B based, Rob and Zayn are alternative rock, but as a whole, the sound is shifting to more alternative.
Rob: Everyone had their own vision going into it, but it shifts and changes for the better. For example, one of Kallan’s more serious songs, Ithaca, transitioned from sad to more upbeat. With all of these different influences coming together, it’s great to see the music take a life of its own. Our goals for this upcoming year is to finish up the EP, release merch, perform at bigger venues, and having fun while also staying the same goofy people the formed the band in the first place.
