In The Grips of Transformation, Manwolves Emerge

Words by Ray Mestad  •  Photos by Michael Salisbury

Lycanthropy is described as the curse of the werewolf, poor souls transforming rapidly and uncontrollably into beasts of the night. The old english meaning is straight to the point, were = man, wulf = ...wolf. Manwolves is an apt name for a band of fast-moving, morphing beasts. Jetting to success almost out of nowhere while still at Evanston Township High School, Jamie (vocals), Eli (guitar), Julian (drums), Henry (bass), Ari (keys) and Michael (trumpet) just graduated are ready to begin of their journey together full time. Kids, to men, to Manwolves, tearing up the night. 

The seemingly mild-mannered group of friends become something else when the music starts. Manwolves grew up in Evanston, jamming since the seventh grade and friends before that. They got some free studio time early through a friend of a friend who saw their potential. Now with an organized practice space run by local engineer Jim Tulio, they kept the hard work and dedication going. The band's dynamic comes from hundreds of hours together, a level of ease from years spent kicking it.

The transition from a band of friends to Manwolves began with their debut in a classic garage band setting. Recruited to play a large backyard high school party, they were shocked the next day to hear their hooks in the hallway between classes at ETHS. Similarly, they played Mayne Stage in Rogers Park to a packed room of unfamiliar faces. “What the fuck...how did this happen? That show was in January and we had released our first songs in November. 2 months”, Ari reminisced. In horror movies, there’s often a period of denial following a supernatural experience before acceptance sets in. These events made denial of their musical chops impossible.

Now, their future in music is clear to Manwolves, but they still have a ways to go. They begin by looking to improve on “Everything. Everything possible we could work on as a band”, says Julian. Henry continues, “we definitely recognize the things we’ve done well up to this point, but I don’t think anyone is satisfied. We all want more. We’re all hungry for more...I don’t think we have a whole song where we’re like ‘wow, that’s exactly what needed to happen’ … Business-wise, show-wise, traveling - everything we do now, we can do better, and on a larger scale.”

Better music since those early days, “a lot cleaner, a lot more ‘us’, a lot more Manwolves”, as Jamie puts it. The music is not easily categorized, with elements of punk, rock, funk, hip-hop, etc. Julian’s drums, Ari’s piano and Henry’s bass offer a bedrock of consistency. Jamie, Eli and Michael effortlessly carry the melody. Michael's trumpet cuts through the air, often one handed. Eli’s guitar seems like it may catch fire at times. And Jamie easily maneuvers from singing, to flowing, to screaming. 

Jamie has a sharp pen. In "Sing Along To" he vividly recalls childhood anger, "remember when the weather was nicer when I was a kid / Me and Maddie in Michigan / I ain't talkin' bout Michigan / The water had to cool me off / The temper that I was living with".  The efficient hook that follows has amazing simplicity, “wrote this song just to sing along to / if you like this song you can sing along too / wrote this song just for me and you / sing along to, sing along to.” On "Trip On My Words", he explains what writing means to him, "Wanna, wanna make it, wanna shoot for the stars / Please God make it so I won't fall short / Haven't been the best writer, not been good with these words / But I'm really writing just to show what I am worth.”

All of these talents combine for an incredible sound that will soon be lent to a mysterious new project on the way, what they describe as an evolution of them now. “You can tell it’s Manwolves tracks, but it’s not going to sound like any Manwolves tracks before.” Or as Jamie puts it, “It’s like Bowser’s Castle, you play world 1A, 1B, 1C and then you get to the boss battle.”

Manwolves’ manic energy feeds off their friendship, laid back and comfortable yet bouncing off the walls. Manwolves is who they are, so the band changes with them. Part of that change is in a business sense. Their big break was finding success in one place the backyard couldn’t take them, the internet. 

Playing a private rooftop in Lakeview for a yuppie-ish crowd, Manwolves were hit with inquiries on where to find their music. Responding “SoundCloud”, they were met with blank stares. Seems ludicrous, but they realized they needed more platforms. When they announced the addition of Spotify, fans migrated en masse from Soundcloud, spiking their numbers, setting off alarms of algorithms. “Spotify saw that, threw us in ‘Discover Weekly’, once that happened that’s when shit went off…’You’ was at #6 on the US 50 Viral playlist, eventually it got to 4. That shit didn’t feel real.“ Soon, they had 80,000 followers. They recently hit a million streams for “You”. 

Fans come for the music and stay for the shows. Live performances are their game, howling at the moon and in your face, where the full Manwolves experience resides. Jamie needs a lot of credit,  communicating to his fans like a relatable human being, Manwolves speak the language of their loyal Chicago high school and college followers. He connects with his audience, and his pen and stage presence make for fans screaming every word back at him.

Relatability comes with context. “We became popular in the city because we were kids growing up with other kids. Something about Chicago that is dope now is that kids like to put each other on...people liked being able to grow up with us, be the same age as us, we’re just kids they’d hang out with either way but they’d come and see our shows and have a good time while we play kick-ass music.”  

No transformation is easy, inevitably there was some pain before the claws came out. Jamie had stage fright early on, problematic since “I was the front man, ya dig? I had stage fright, and there was a point where there was a problem...people ended up being like ‘DO YOUR FUCKING JOB’ and I was like ‘uhhhhh I’m not comfortable doing this.’ They told me to suck it up and do it. As I got comfortable with my voice, I got comfortable performing live.” See them live now and it’s hard to believe there was any self doubt previously.

Manwolves played the AMFM gallery in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood over Halloween weekend. That night the monsters came out, turning AMFM into a haunted house. Their reputation for wild shows needs to be seen in person. None of their instrumentation is lost in the madness. Tight as a vice grip, the venue will collapse before their musicianship does. In their element, they almost tore the roof off the building. On a stage about 6ft wide by 3ft deep the band was crammed on there with Eli shredding from the floor. It gave the impression the crowd might swallow them whole. It was the other way around, Manwolves passing on their curse, turning fans into wild things. 

Their exponential fanbase means the need for reflection on what they want out of all this. They bypassed the DIY phase common for local bands, which they see as having advantages and disadvantages. They want to be careful to appreciate their moment for what it is, not getting too swept away in it all. They all have different values to keep grounded. Julian wants to use their platform for something greater than their music. Michael wants to help young musicians navigate the business. Eli finds value in being able to keep their friendship going after all these years, the band being the glue that ties them all together, as does Ari. Henry is thankful for the experiences he wouldn’t have otherwise had.  Jamie just wants to keep making raucous, powerful music that connects. 

They all had different goals growing up. Jazz or classical musicians, engineers, civil rights lawyers. Some wanted to be musicians generally speaking, but never saw this in their future. Even the best laid plans go awry, sometimes in the best way possible. Then there’s Jamie, who wanted to be a rockstar from the jump. Still, their current trajectory would have been hard to predict. Starting out, they thought they were becoming your everyday high school band. They soon realized they were becoming Manwolves instead. They’re looking fearsome.