We were lucky to catch up with Johnny Manchild recently and have shared our conversation below.

Johnny, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about the best boss, mentor, or leader you’ve ever worked with.

The best boss I ever had would have to be Jeren Martin at Oklahoma Shirt Company. I thought a lot about this question, and there’s actually a lot of levels to it. I worked there assisting on the printing press, and as a tag printer for most of my time. Jeren was ALWAYS working; he was the production manager, and I saw him there before and after anybody else, everyday. The cool thing about that job and Jeren, is he was so incredibly supportive of the employees creative and personal ventures, and they had the opportunity to use the facilities to create merchandise at cost as long as they did the work themselves. Working there was the only reason I was able to produce the first rounds of merch for my music, and Jeren would take time out of his own day after hours to work on my personal orders, even when he absolutely didn’t have to. The way I see it; that was one of the most amazing displays of local business helping local business. He allowed me the time to pursue my work outside of the job, and it was an absolutely amicable split when I finally left to pursue music full time. I think that was an amazing way of supporting a local musician, and also just a great example of being down in the pits with your employees to get the work done.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve been playing music more or less professionally since I was about ten. I had played in little cover bands before that, but this was the first time I had joined an original band and actually played and toured for money. The band was called Refuje, and many of the members are still very much a part of the scene today. We did surprisingly well for kids, and we even got flown out to LA for this Next Great American Band show. We didn’t make it anywhere, but it was a killer start for a kid playing drums. I fell in love with the recording studio when we worked with Trent Bell at Bells Labs Studio in Norman. After the band split, I used my chunk of the money to get my first bit of recording equipment and started learning how to produce and record. I learned guitar, then bass, and finally keys. I played in several bands through out highschool, usually a drummer, but never a front man or singer. I helped start a recording studio, one which I still operate today, and kept chugging away at producing bands when and where I could. I joined the army band in 2014, and that was the first time someone put me on the mic in the rock and pop MPT’s (Musical Performance Team). Everything in the Army has a fancy acronym. I got comfortable performing during my time in the army band, and eventually I had a good archive of songs I had written. I started my Jazz performance degree at UCO in 2015, and I slowly started to convince people I had met to jam on my songs with me in 2016, starting with my still current drummer Ethan Neel.

Since then, things kept accelerating slowly. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say I became obsessed with writing and performing and recording. We played a ton of shows, and put out an EP and an album over the first two years. We did pretty well locally, but things kicked up a lot in 2019. I had graduated college in december of 2018, and I decided that I wanted to put a single out every month for the entire year. I didn’t know how to pay for it, but we figured it out as we went and it worked out. In February, we did a collab with a youtuber friend of mine, and the video went nuts. It jumped us up to somewhere around 20,000 listeners almost immediately. The timing was lucky, since we were releasing new music every month already, and now we had the first steady royalty income that I’d ever seen. So the singles had funding!

Since then, it’s been a lot of work and writing. Covid was a huge change, and I pivoted to live streaming and patreon. I managed to build an even stronger fanbase, trying to communicate and respond to everyone online as much as I could. Ultimately, I think that time was what really solidifed the fans and my relationship with them. We FINALLY got back on the road in March of 2023, as a duo with Ethan and I. We booked a 6 week run of just house shows, going all across the east coast, canada, and the midwest, playing in people living rooms, and on patios. That time will probably be one of the coolest things I’ll get to do for a very long time. I’m not good at taking time to feel good about things sometimes, but I am truly proud of what we pulled off on that tour. Now, we have a new album out, and we’re on the Rapture Tour! We’re touring as a trio, with ethan and my new, super snazzy bass player Alex Coleman.

This band to me has always been about self expression, and just trying to make the music I care about. It’s been amazing to find that the fans are also finding the band as a way to express themselves and that they find so much to relate to in the music. I’m always grateful to work with so many amazing musicians, artists, engineers, and crew all over the country. It’s always hard work, but it’s work that I love.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

For me, I want to make good music, with good people. I want to create art with great artists, and I want to support the people I work with the way they support me. The best part of this job is the people you get to meet and collaborate with. I’ve run into more than enough people that try to squeeze everything they can get out of people, and not pay them or credit them fairly, and it’s always important to me that everyone I work with feels supported and that they enjoy what they’re doing. I have my own goals of course, and I’m always reaching for the next thing, but I try not to let that get in front of treating people well. There’s nothing more discouraging then being ripped off and taken advantage of in the creative field.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

It’s hard to choose lately. I always love the recording process. Getting into a writing space, and jamming out parts to find out what makes a song work or not is always satisfying in the end. Being able to actually meet the fanbase, and talk with the people that support this project is a new experience for me, and it’s one that I can’t fully explain the feeling of. I never had the thought that the music I was making could impact peoples lives in any big way, but I’m lucky enough to have seen it happen, and to have heard the stories from real people. You really never know who your music is going to affect, and how important what you create can be. I think if you want to be a creative, you just need to follow your gut, and make the things that speak to you. If you do that, you’ll find your people eventually.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.manchild.band/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poorbastards/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnnymanchild
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnnymanchild
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@JohnnyManchild

Image Credits
Photos by Joy Neel (first Two) Selfie by Johnny Manchild Last photo by Negahr Rastguiy