Oakland, C.A. (Top40 Charts/ Audio Crush PR) Hundreds of bands will be playing SXSW this year, but only one is fronted by two indie music influencers and that's cross-continental pop-rock act, Maniac. Co-frontmen Shawn Harris and Jake Grigg will perform at Alternative Press magazine's showcase on Saturday, March 19 (doors are at noon and word has it, the early bird gets the worm).
The publication names Maniac as one of the 100 Bands You Need to Know 2011 in its April issue, on newsstands now. In a full-page feature, Alternative Press describes Maniac's debut full-length, MANIA, as "tight, vocal harmony-rich songs intended to explore the very basic meaning on the word 'pop'- but not in a Top 40 focus-group sort of way."
Harris and Grigg share vocal and on-record instrumental duties in Maniac, however, the band consists of five members live, including
Vanessa Harris (Shawn's sister) on keyboard and vocals. Maniac spent the past year recording and touring in Australia, in support of its Extended Play EP. The sales of the EP and Maniac's self-produced merch funded Grigg's return to the States for SXSW.
MANIA is available for purchase at http://maniacvinyl.myshopify.com/collections/all.
Produced by Maniac and Matt Radosevich (30 Seconds to Mars, The All American Rejects), the album features 11 tracks recorded in America and Australia. Among them is "3 Kings Day," the video for which was filmed on both continents for $0. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpHqduuBPZ8
ABOUT MANIAC:
Maniac is the cross-continental indie/pop duo co-fronted by Shawn Harris, formerly of Oakland, California's the Matches, and Jake Grigg of New South Wales, Australia's Something with Numbers. Live, the band consists of five members, including Shawn's sister
Vanessa on keyboard and vocals. Through direct contact with fans via beach meet-ups and jam circles, Maniac exudes a convivial energy adopted early by Sydney crowds. Now relocating to California's coast, Shawn and Jake are finding it easier than ever to make a living as musicians- releasing their art and music independently, directly to fans via their self-run web-store:
http://maniacvinyl.myshopify.com/collections/all
